This Weekend’s Film Festival Celebrates Paranormal Investigations

If you're the kind of person who would like Halloween to be everyday then This Weekend's Film Festival is just right for you. But it will also provide thrills, chills and fun for everyone as we look at paranormal investigations on film. HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY, which hit DVD this week, is the inspiration. We have mutants investigating mutants. Psychics awakening a haunted house. A desperate mother calling on paranormal experts for help. Scientists saving NYC from ghouls and one giant sugary treat. And we have the mother of all horror films. Prepare to laugh and cringe.

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY kicks things off. While having seen the original film, viewers will find a continuing story, but new comers will not be lost. A centuries' old pact between humans and magical creatures is about to be broken by the bitter Prince Nuada whom wants the creatures of the forest to rule once again. Working for the U.S. government, Hellboy, played wonderfully once again by Ron Perlman, and his paranormal investigation team set out to stop the renegade royal. Director Guillermo del Toro brings his truly original visual style to this adaptation of Mike Mignola's comic book series. Hellboy has a soft spot for human-looking pyrokenetic Liz (Selma Blair), but finds it increasingly hard to fight against other magical creatures when his existence goes public and he's ridiculed for his bright red appearance. As I said in my original review, "Like the first film, del Toro mixes these fantasy creations with jokester material and inner struggles. Hellboy might look like a hulking demon, but he has a soft spot for kittens and drinks in the shower when his girl won’t tell him what’s wrong with her." Within this spectacle of fantastic creatures and monsters, there is an interesting dilemma presented to Hellboy — why does he fight on behalf of those that want to hide him away?

Beginning the Saturday lineup, Robert Wise's THE HAUNTING presents a haunted house tale that plays on the mind more so than one's nerves. Parapsychologist Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson) wants to awaken a haunted house by bringing in psychics. Only two subjects take his offer — lonely spinster Eleanor Lance (Julie Harris) and rich lesbian socialite Theodora (Claire Bloom). Staying in the house with them is its owner the unbelieving Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn). Using shadowy lighting, unsettling sound effects and disquieting camera angles, Wise creates a house of horrors that works on the minds of its characters and the stomach of his viewers. During the course of the investigation, dark secrets from the characters' pasts will come to the surface and push them closer to the edge of insanity. Harris gives an engaging performance. As I said in my original review, "The crux of the story is Eleanor and her increasing attraction to the house. We’re set up to like her from the beginning and when we start to doubt her mental stability we care about her future." THE HAUNTING's eerie style slowly builds tension making us question what the real motives of this paranormal investigation really are.

The second Saturday film is another haunted house tale — THE ORPHANAGE. This Spanish horror film from 2007 is one of the best horror films of the new century. Director Antonio Bayona and writer Sergio G. Sanchez bring former orphan Laura (Belen Rueda) back to the orphanage of her youth. Wanting to reopen the institution, she brings her family, including her young son Simon. But upon arriving, the boy seems to have a close connection to possible spirits lurking in the estate, and when he goes missing a desperate Laura calls on paranormal investigator Aurora (Geraldine Chaplin) for help. Drawing a thin line between reality and fantasy, the horror film in the classic sense is paced to maximize the growing creepiness of the story. From the production design to the cinematography to the costume design, each element adds to the unsettling effect that either Laura is going insane or something is truly afoot in the old orphanage. The gore-free story has audience's guessing up until the bittersweet ending. As I said in my original review, "You won’t want to go down into the basement after watching, not because you’re scared of the imaginary, but because you're scared of something real that you can’t image."

Getting in another dose of humor, like this week's inspiration, Sunday's opener is GHOSTBUSTERS. As I called it in my original review, "One of the cleverest comedies to come out of the ’80s, Ivan Reitman’s mix of poltergeists and punchlines has become an iconic film of its era." Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis play three nerdy, but average Joe scientists who open their own paranormal extermination business. Murray shines as Dr. Peter Venkman whom tries to woo their pretty client Dana (Sigourney Weaver), when she discovers a demonic dog in her fridge. These unlikely heroes not only have to battle ghosts, but petty bureaucrats like EPA agent Walter Peck (William Atherton). In the end, along with the fourth ghostbuster Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson), the ghostbusters must save world. Through its mix of witty humor and working class hero themes, this sci-fi comedy works as a fantasy for a wide range of people, which must attribute to his lasting appeal. The fact that it's still hilarious doesn't hurt either.

Closing this week's lineup is a classic that is considered by many, myself included, as the scariest film ever made. THE EXORCIST is a masterful example of perfect tone and craftsmanship. I presented this in my original review, "Why is this of all the horror films so haunting? It’s the balance between the real world and the fantastic." Oscar-winning writer William Peter Blatty and Oscar-nominated director William Friedkin create a world and characters that feel real. They approach unnatural occurrences with rational Earthly solutions, only increasing their and our fear when the occurrences get darker and stranger and rational solutions seem hopeless. In Oscar-nominated performances, Ellen Burstyn and Jason Miller play the mother and priest for troubled 12-year-old Regan, played brilliantly by Linda Blair. Burstyn's actress Chris MacNeil isn't a religious person and Miller's Father Karras is going through a crisis of faith. This uncertainty toward the supernatural only makes the situation tenser when faith seems like the only option. Friedkin, with his entire team, brings the bizarre and shocking into the supposedly safe bedroom of the little girl. The filmmakers mix shadowy cinematography with gruesome special effects, unnerving sounds and jolting editing to leave the audience always wondering if their eyes are deceiving them. There are sights within this film that can still shock today's cynical viewer. But like the technical excellence, everything comes back to the story. When the film shocks us, its also trying to shock its characters. Friedkin makes us participants in fantastic and frightening experiences that haunt us because they float in the reality of the shadows of our minds.

To join the investigation head to the video store, update the rental queue, check out Zap2It.com for TV listings, or help support the site by buying the films on DVD via the links below.