Postcards from Venice: the October update
A Haunting in Venice, Don't Look Now and other culture commentary by thehaughtyculturist
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night! Greetings to you in your time zone, wherever you are. You’re reading the free edition of the monthly digest from thehaughtyculturist.com.
This month: postcards from Venice via Hercule Poirot and Don't Look Now, plus tales from the wilderness in Outpost and The Watchers. Happy wandering!
Spotlight » Why does John McClane smoke?
New this month
1. A Haunting in Venice: how the horror whodunnit remixes Agatha Christie’s novel
Kenneth Branagh's latest Hercule Poirot outing is radically different from Christie’s novel. But what does that mean for the story? (spoiler free)
“Playing on the heritage of horror films like Don’t Look Now, in Branagh’s revamped story Venice is as crucial to the plot as Woodleigh Common is to the original.”
2. Don’t Look Now (1973): seeing is believing
Film analysis sheds light on symbols of sight, second sight and not seeing in Nicolas Roeg’s horror classic.
Bonus material » For The Independent, I wrote about how Venice became cinema shorthand for death, dread and despair. Paywalled, but available for free via some library and magazine apps. Do check it out if you can!
3. Outpost: enjoyably absurd horror debut flips the script on women in peril
At full throttle Outpost is a delightfully weird take on survival stories and damsels in distress.
“Brooklyn Nine Nine’s Joe Lo Truglio writes and directs this tale of an abused woman who seeks solace in isolation, only to find worse horrors lurking in the wilderness.”
4. The Watchers: woodland Gothic horror goes at a cracking pace
Why you should read The Watchers ahead of Ishana Night Shyamalan's 2024 film adaptation.
“You can’t see them, but they can see you. But how long until the watchers stop looking … and start devouring?”
I’ll be tackling an assortment of tech and layout issues on the site this month. That may mean fewer posts in the interim, but things should get back up to speed soon. Stayed tuned to learn if I do this without taking the entire site accidentally offline.
Fortune favours the bold, etc -
Ruth / The HC
Pic credit: Jakob Owens via Unsplash
» thehaughtyculturist.com: how we tell stories, and what they mean