`Modern Classic' was once an oft over-used term and thank goodness we don't hear it so often any more. However. If ever there was a film that so aptly fitted the title, it is surely Robert Pratten's London Voodoo.
If most genre films of recent times are fast food - easily consumed, a fleeting moment of satisfaction and then just as quickly forgotten (often regurgitated?!) - London Voodoo is a banquet that starts, if a little precariously, with a mouth-watering entrée, builds to a sumptuous main course and climaxes with a glorious, delicious dessert. The film ends and you sit bloated in your seat unable to move for having overindulged. London Voodoo works on so many levels that I probably need to see the film again to appreciate all the detail invested in it. Every character is a real character. Every location feels like a real location.
But is it a horror film? Well.yes, it is. It certainly belongs to that sub-genre known as `yuppie nightmare' - attractive young couple move into new house and life falls apart - but David Morrell tells us that horror > fear. On this measure I believe the film has traded fear for intrigue, suspense and wonderment. Probably those less accustomed to watching horror films than I might find the film scary but for this viewer, desensitised from years of blood and gore, I found myself more in amazement than fear. Amazed that someone would come forward to reclaim the horror film from the MTV/Cabin Fever generation and use the genre to deliver a message about family values.
I am very grateful for Robert Pratten and his wife to have shared the film with the World Horror Con in Phoenix and I'm pleased to repay this gratitude with a review that I hope will encourage others to seek out and discover this film. If you like the films of Roman Polanksi, Peter Weir, Nick Roeg or Joseph Losey then you should check-out London Voodoo and discover a filmmaker that I hope will continue to make such important contributions to this genre that I love.
I believe - and, pray - that this is a milestone film for 21st century horror.
William
If most genre films of recent times are fast food - easily consumed, a fleeting moment of satisfaction and then just as quickly forgotten (often regurgitated?!) - London Voodoo is a banquet that starts, if a little precariously, with a mouth-watering entrée, builds to a sumptuous main course and climaxes with a glorious, delicious dessert. The film ends and you sit bloated in your seat unable to move for having overindulged. London Voodoo works on so many levels that I probably need to see the film again to appreciate all the detail invested in it. Every character is a real character. Every location feels like a real location.
But is it a horror film? Well.yes, it is. It certainly belongs to that sub-genre known as `yuppie nightmare' - attractive young couple move into new house and life falls apart - but David Morrell tells us that horror > fear. On this measure I believe the film has traded fear for intrigue, suspense and wonderment. Probably those less accustomed to watching horror films than I might find the film scary but for this viewer, desensitised from years of blood and gore, I found myself more in amazement than fear. Amazed that someone would come forward to reclaim the horror film from the MTV/Cabin Fever generation and use the genre to deliver a message about family values.
I am very grateful for Robert Pratten and his wife to have shared the film with the World Horror Con in Phoenix and I'm pleased to repay this gratitude with a review that I hope will encourage others to seek out and discover this film. If you like the films of Roman Polanksi, Peter Weir, Nick Roeg or Joseph Losey then you should check-out London Voodoo and discover a filmmaker that I hope will continue to make such important contributions to this genre that I love.
I believe - and, pray - that this is a milestone film for 21st century horror.
William