{"id":5261,"date":"2020-11-26T15:03:16","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T15:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/?p=5261"},"modified":"2023-01-03T13:38:23","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T13:38:23","slug":"the-cine-excess-international-film-festival-black-lizard-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/archive\/the-cine-excess-international-film-festival-black-lizard-tales\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cine-Excess International Film Festival: Black Lizard Tales – a review"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Cine-Excess International Film Festival: \n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Black Lizard Tales<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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words by Ellis Reed<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The second film we saw at Cine-Excess was Black Lizard Tales<\/em>, which is a triptych of horrors by lecturer and filmmaker James Newton.<\/b> The tales unfold on a university campus and focus in turn on a young woman (Bethan Louise), a mysterious nun (Leona Clarke) and a professor of Psychology (Paul Richards). A second academic, played by Tony Mardon, appears in all three stories to complete the dramatis person\u00e6.<\/p>

The feature is shot in dazzling black-and-white, which was partly a creative choice and partly a pragmatic one. \u201cYou\u2019ve always got this mix between the logistics and the creative drive,\u201d said Newton, speaking about the choice in his festival Q&A. \u201cI love black-and-white, I love the monochrome aspect of it, I think it can look really really beautiful\u2026 but also, the more mundane reason is I\u2019m shooting on locations I don\u2019t have full control over.\u201d Using black-and-white was a way to neutralise overbearing colours, such as a green exit sign or orange flooring, which he didn\u2019t want in the mise-en-sc\u00e8ne.<\/p>

Far from being a regrettable compromise, stylish photography is one of the film\u2019s biggest strengths. There are long passages where it feels like an obscure arthouse classic rather than a microbudget feature\u2014bearing in mind that, according to Newton\u2019s own estimate, it cost about \u00a3500 to make. Many of the shots are superbly executed and make stunning use of chiaroscuro. The nun is a fantastic study in monochrome; some of the shots reduce her to white shapes stencilled on a wall of gloom, but her habit is always recognisable. As far as visuals go, other highlights include establishing shots of corridors, an eerie encounter in the stairwell, and brilliant close-ups of faces. The film is worth seeing for these alone.<\/p>

In terms of stories, as per the blurb, Black Lizard Tales<\/em> can offer \u201cghostly visions, demon worship and serial murder.\u201d There\u2019s no framing narrative because the tales intersect, and the third gives closure for all three\u2014or, at least, as much closure as the film is willing to provide. As a narrative, it falls somewhere between dream logic and traditional storytelling, which is by design rather than defect. \u201cIt was inspired by dreams I was having,\u201d Newton explained. \u201cI shot a load of material, and I wrote a load of material, that made sense of some of the narrative gaps, and I ended up cutting it all out because it wasn\u2019t then true to the original idea.\u201d<\/p>

Fortunately, the result isn\u2019t an hour and a half of mere texture. Each chapter tells a definite tale, and the narratives are almost\u2014just not exactly\u2014fully-formed. In the first, a stage-hand begs a professor for help, believing herself to be haunted. In the second, a nun indulges in a surprising pastime. In the third, our professor struggles to keep secrets of his own. It\u2019s arguably less an anthology and more a single story told out of sequence from three different perspectives. However, each chapter has its own peculiar side-streets. Odd sequences intrude without being explained. Not all our questions are answered by the end. This might frustrate some viewers, but for others, it will only heighten the sense of general unease.<\/p>

As well as the eerie and often dreamlike imagery, sound and editing are used to great effect, continually drawing us in only to unsettle us. The best scene is a dialogue between Mary and Dr Talon; as we view their faces in close-up, a ticking clock seems almost unbearably loud. Another highlight is a scene where the sleazy Dr Miller (Mardon) takes the nun aside for a quiet word. She sits meekly before a large mirror, answering his questions in Latin\u2014which he translates for us, luckily\u2014while he peppers his own speech with apparent non-sequiturs (\u201cHave you ever been photographed\u2026?\u201d). These scenes, like much of the film, have an atmosphere of anxiety dreams. In terms of specific horror devices, all three chapters draw on horror staples\u2014the haunted doll, the sinister nun, the hook-wielding slasher\u2014but the overall effect is novel and distinctive.<\/p>

Understandably for such a low budget feature, not all scenes are equally effective. The first exchange between Mary and Dr Talon seems a little artificial, and a late scene of the latter with Dr Miller, filmed in a corridor, suffers from quiet audio. However, the wobbles are in the minority.<\/p>

Overall, Black Lizard Tales<\/em> is an often unsettling, always compelling movie. People who prefer straightforward stories will be disappointed by the (deliberate) loose ends, but it\u2019s worth taking Black Lizard Tales<\/em> on its own terms because it\u2019s a great example of microbudget filmmaking.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEllis Reed\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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To pass the time during lockdown, I decided to write some English ghost stories, which you can read for free on my blog.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Share this article or save to read later<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Recent Posts<\/h5>