the groundhog day project

It’s not just feminism that birthed the slasher film. I’m reminded of CNTV 393 at USC, particularly September 27, 1994. Jess’ announcement—“I’m pregnant”—we only hear from outside the window. We are only in the room in time for Peter’s reaction. Essentially, we are with him , not with her. Not right then. That day in class we watched Ten North Frederick , starring Gary Cooper. I barely remember the movie and only generally recall the notion of “male melodrama.” But, fret not, because I still have my notes. Not the quality of notes I might have from more recent forays in the college classroom, but there’s some useful information. For instance, Professor Casper defined the male melodrama as a movie that “traces a series of adventures, professional labors, and sexual episodes of a male protagonist through which the male comes to some understanding about the meaning of life, usually involving spiritual values.” The movie is, on the surface, not about Peter, yet we are with him again—...

And then it gets weird... …because I think I’ve only ever actually seen Prom Night once. There’s no comfort in the specifics here. Still, there is... something nice in the general nature of the film. A regular commenter here, Maolsheachlann said something interesting in response to yesterday ‘s entry; he said horror films made him feel “cozy.” Like me, he has childhood associations with horror films. But, he made a observation similar to some I’ve made... worded nicely: But, sometimes I think it is a strange relief, and release, that you are mentally inhabiting a world where the worst has happened—or if not the worst, necessarily, than a world where it’s OK to be paranoid and fatalistic and you don’t have to rein in your darkest fantasies any more. This won’t connect at first, but bear with me. The topic I had hoped to talk about today was the verisimilitude of slasher films having very specific settings. They tell us the date, the town name. There isn’t much left vague. Psycho ...

(A note, in case you are just joining the Groundhog Day Project : the phase 2 description above suggests that I am watching one movie seven times, but for this month, I am not doing that. Unless you count slasher films as one long film split into weird little chapters… which isn’t that bad a way to think about it, I suppose. But, even then, it is not seven times but 33 times this month .) Saul Bass opening titles—always a good thing. A specific date and time as we come into the window to find Marion Crane and her lover. The Final Girl was not a thing yet, but this movie lets us know first thing that this seeming lead character is not a virgin. There’s no hint of a killer and already some moral grey areas. The film, with its Saul Bass opening credits, it’s black and white (when color was an option, mind you), and the question of respectability (and morality) in the relationship on display, seems like a setup for a film noir more than the horror films that would borrow tropes from i...

Last night, imagining I might actually get to visit Woodstock, IL sometime, and watching the much clearer DVD copy of the movie than my usual copy I've got on my iPad, I spent some time comparing a few locations in the film to real locations in Google Maps . A few locations are easy. The park that served as Gobbler's Knob and the Tip Top Cafe and the Pennsylvanian Hotel are easy to find. The Cherry Street Inn exterior, then a house, is now a Bed and Breakfast called the Royal Victorian Manor, so it's easy enough to find; it's got a specific address. The Alpine Theater is still there (not called the Alpine, of course). And, the alley where O'Reilly dies is right in line with the theater (and just around the corner from where he's standing every morning in the film). (And, I just found another person's site with photos from Woodstock, and apparently there is a plaque in"Old Man's Alley.") Harder to figure out--but I did--was where Phil changes...