#afterlife movies

[thebardostate]

The Paranormal and Film Noir

It may seem odd and counterintuitive to consider that film noir is inextricably bound to the paranormal. But the paranormal is right at the core of what film noir is.

Now, I don't mean paranormal in the sense of there being an afterlife. Afterlife is antithetical to film noir and is more properly the domain of film blanc. Film blanc was the opposite of film noir and included titles like It's a Wonderful Life, A Guy Named Joe, Death Takes a Holiday, A Matter of Life and Death (aka Stairway to Heaven), Outward Bound, The Devil and Daniel Webster, Between Two Worlds, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Heaven Can Wait (1976), Meet Joe Black (2009) and so forth. These pictures affirm that an afterlife exists and that it serves as a basis for morality and justice.

Nor do I mean paranormal in the sense of ghosts or horror or general spooky goings on. There is a series of films that might be termed "film gris" that includes The Uninvited, Spellbound, Rebecca, Dead of Night, and The Night My Number Came Up. These are horror-ish movies that take the paranormal (or at least the Id) seriously, as compared to film blanc in which the paranormal is merely a fantasy setting for a morality tale.

In film noir, the paranormal is present in its guise as Fate. Call it predestination, doom, destiny, prophecy, bad luck, or poetic justice - no matter what you call it, it is present to some degree in all film noir, sometimes explicitly (Night Has a Thousand Eyes) but usually in more subtle ways, as terrible luck (Detour, The Killing).

In film noir, then, we have the paranormal without any trace of an afterlife. This is the realm of HP Lovecraft, where the cosmos is a malevolent presence. Film noir embodies an opposite set of assumptions from film blanc, where the cosmos affirms and enforces justice, and film gris, where the cosmos is neither good nor bad. In film noir, the cosmos is a foe.

As to why the paranormal wends its way throughout these films, it can be seen as a reaction to the death and destruction of World War II. Our convictions and belief in our cradle Gods were severely tested by the War and the Holocaust. Those who still had faith in the old traditions had film blanc. Those who had given up on those Gods had film noir. Those who resisted both of these extremes had film gris.

Perhaps this explains in part why Cornell Woolrich had more stories turned into film noir than any other writer. In addition to detective stories and thrillers he wrote many supernatural stories (for an anthology see Dark Melody of Madness: The Supernatural Novellas of Cornell Woolrich.) Woolrich was a hard determinist who believed that all our actions were predetermined and that we had no free will whatsoever. The clearest statement of his worldview is presented in Night Has a Thousand Eyes. This is a claustrophobic novel of a rich man whose world falls to pieces when he receives certain foreknowlege of his impending death. Time is an oppressive presence as the man helplessly watches clocks tic tic tic away his remaining life, drawing him inexorably towards his doom.

No wonder Woolrich became a recluse.

Mists gather here, and sea fog and eerie stories. That's not because there are more ghosts here than in other places, mind you. It's just that people who live hereabouts are strangely aware of them. You see, day and night, year in, year out, they listen to the pound and stir of the waves. There's life and death in that restless sound... and eternity too.

THE UNINVITED 1944, dir. Lewis Allen

[grey-viridian]

Leonardo

I finished this comic about a month ago but couldn't bring myself to post it. It started as a simple illustration and then I just kept adding more and more and at some point I had to stop myself and cut the story short. I'm still not entirely satisfied with the result but... well. I like it. That's enough.

[butterflyscribbles]

Resilience🌻 (1/?)

I just think a conversation between these two would be……..interesting.

[thebardostate]

[victoryrifle]

RESIDENT EVIL 5 (x) / RESIDENT EVIL AFTERLIFE

[incorrectaberfield]

favorite resident evil movie (poll results)

-> [3/6] resident evil: apocalypse (14.6%)

[witchinatree]

so glad they made phoebe spengler queer purely because if she did all that over a MAN? i'd be so disappointed. for melody though? that's just an integral part of being a baby gay

[thebardostate]

The first movie to take the afterlife seriously. Ray Milland was the Existential Cary Grant

THE UNINVITED (1944) directed by Lewis Allen

[adrianasunderworld]

For me, I think the worst part of the Skully being dead theory being true is the fact that Yuu and Company don't remember what happens in the book adventures. They can carry on like nothing happened except for the vague desire to go to the beach or something that they can't explain, but thats about it.

Skully is gone, and has been for a long time. He's an obscure figure in twst, any portraits of him are super rare now. There is no one to remember him. And yeah, it's because he didn't want to be in the spotlight, but it's not about circulating his story and image. It's about remembering our friend, being happy he lived his dream and the mark he left behind. Funerals, memorials, doing things to honor the people that passed aren't for the dead, they're for the living that misses them. And Yuu doesn't really get to do that, they can't really celebrate/do something on Halloween to honor Skully because it's like he never existed to them. There's no one to remember him on this day he made so beloved by the world over. And that's so sad.

@mangacupcake @writing-heiress @fair-night-starry-tears @the-weirdos-mind

[qyrhan]

A Movie Wesker to get into the fall spirits

[do not repost my art to other sites]

[musicwhitemagic]

This is literally them.

[thebardostate]

I have a fascination for afterlife movies. Many are film blanc (A Guy Called Joe, Heaven Can Wait, Defending Your Life, Between Two Worlds...) but Night Has A Thousand Eyes is film noir (or near enough) and it's one of the best. I use the term 'afterlife movie' in the broadest sense to include films about clairvoyance and other survival-of-consciousness scenarios. It's particularly interesting to compare the cosmologies of afterlife films. NHATE suggests a malevolent universe; HP Lovecraft would have felt quite at home here.

#TCMFF Day 3 First Morning Screenings Decisions, decisions. Eddie Muller interviewing Andy Robinson prior to DIRTY HARRY, 9:30 at TCL Chinese Theatres Multiplex House 6 OR a nitrate screening of NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES, introduced by Alan K. Rode 9:00 at American Cinematheque Egyptian? NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES (1948): Edward G. Robinson stars as John Triton, a phony vaudeville mentalist who is one day cursed with the actual ability to predict the future. Gail Russell is the heiress who seems doomed by Triton’s vision of her death. Or is it a scheme to steal her impending inheritance? John Farrow, a director at his most stylish in noir terrain, adapts from the novel by master of suspense Cornell Woolrich. In typical Woolrich fashion, the film careens from one revelation to another, dishing out info that forces the viewer to reconsider everything that’s come before it. Though many have tried, few films have been as effective at capturing the author’s sense of doomed predestination. Dir. John Farrow

[see-arcane]

Jack: Van Helsing and I, the definitely-for sure canniest minds of the team, are keeping a close watch on Mina for signs of too much visible vampiritis. If her teeth get too pointy we'll sadly have to break out the stake and saw maneuver, as his been discussed and demonstrated to the entire group via Lucy and our Dracula plans. Thank goodness Harker is totally oblivious to our suspicions! Isn't that right, Harker?

Jonathan 'Spent Two Months in Vampire Hell, Fresh from Watching All His Allies Swear to Murder His Wife If She Got Too Dracula'd, Has Been Sleeping with Said Wife Every Day/Night, Has Not Let Go of His Giant Fuckoff Knife Since October 3rd' Harker, whetting the kukri until it's an atom wide as he casually takes stock of everyone's throats: No sir :) Haven't even the tiniest inkling :)

Jack: Excellent, you just keep those cold hands steadily sharpening that knife and stay ignorant to our tragic-wise machinations

Jonathan: Will do :)

[arrayed-in-purple]

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐬 (𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟖)

𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐫

(OC)

[chrisitsraining]

[thebardostate]

In the Babylon 5 episode The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari the titular character undergoes a near-death experience and has a life review. One of several Babylon 5 episodes exploring the veil between life and death.