#peter haworth

[cdnart]

Peter Haworth; Trap Anchors, Barachois, Gaspé, P.Q.

#Peter Haworth #Canadian art

[zilabee]

Jann Haworth was the artist who made the Sgt Pepper cover.

She will always happily say that it was 50/50 between her and her husband at the time, Peter Blake, but imo her name should go first in that collaboration. And instead she is so often not mentioned.

This is not one of those things where it was his work and she just helped a little. It was a joint project. Some people's account of it says that Robert Fraser originally brought the project to both of them from the very start. She was a known and brilliant artist who knew Robert well, and had already exhibited at his gallery, so it seems likely to me. But even if it was originally brought to Peter Blake, she was certainly involved from the design stages, right through to completion.

She freely gives Peter credit for the idea of it, the idea of the crowd of heroes behind the beatles, but she suggested they do it in her style not his - ie as standing silhouettes, rather than paper collage - which meant she had the experience and the skills to actually create the thing. She came up with the floral arrangements so it wouldn't be ruined with graphics. She did the majority of the work.

She's super well adjusted about the whole thing, she tends to set people right about it when they claim she's copying his work, rather than continuing her own in her more recent pieces. You can read interviews with her here, here, or here.

One of my litmus tests for beatles books is whether they mention her at all. They don't mostly, because they'd rather die than actually question anything. But if you think it wasn't known until more recently then know that George Martin in 'Summer of Love' in 1995 credits her fully as a co-creator. It was never a secret.

"Along with the Pepper tableaux cloth figures, Jann Haworth came up with a number of other original ideas for the venture. [...] She said that it would be very nice not to have real lettering on the Sgt Pepper cover but to do something like that kind of civic flower-bed lettering. [...] Jann spent a long time building a background, a scene against which the Beatles would be photographed, hanging the first row of photos on the studio wall, then fixing the other blow-ups on poles and spacing them in tiers at intervals of a foot or so, to give the picture the illusion of depth. Haworth also did all the hand tinting of the original black and white photographs." Summer of Love, George Martin

(Most of the sites where I found pictures of the Sgt Pepper making, DO NOT NAME HER at all, much less credit her in photos, but here she is, creating the album cover with her bare hands, while Peter Blake stands around.)

I know none of this is probably news to anyone much around here. I just needed to rant about it, having seen this quote from peter blake. It's just hilarious to me that he's complaining about the lack of money, after he's benefited from all the fame and credit for it over the years, and meanwhile she's left out of the story entirely... it's just so incredibly male of him. Any time he doesn't immediately set his interviewer straight about how that album cover was made is a disgrace. (Also his whining that he's only remembered for Sgt Pepper is a lot like when John would whine that people played Yesterday to him... if you're going to try and take ALL the credit for something, you can't complain when people tell you their favourite bit was the bit your partner was responsible for.)

#jann haworth #peter blake #sgt pepper #robert fraser #the beatles #george martin

[movie--posters]

#leon uris #otto preminger #paul newman #exodus #sal mineo #eva marie saint #john derek #lee j cobb #peter lawson #movie poster #ralph richardson #hugh griffith #felix aylmer #gregory ratoff #david opatoshu #jill haworth #movie posters #films #movies #poster #posters

[ljblueteak]

Paul McCartney on Sgt. Pepper. Photos by Michael Cooper

(transcribed below)

I came up with the title and went to Robert with some drawings for the idea of the cover. I had come to the conclusion that The Beatles were getting a little bit safe, and we were a little intimidated by the idea of making 'the new Beatles album.' It was quite a big thing: "Wow, follow that!" So to relieve the pressure I got the idea, maybe from some from friends or something I'd read, that we shouldn't record it as The Beatles.

Mentally we should approach it as another group of people and totally give ourselves alter egos. So I came up with the idea of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the song 'It was Twenty Years Ago Today', and I started mentioning this to Robert in our late-night talks.

The original concept was actually a little bit different from how it turned out. I'd always liked those floral clocks that they have at seaside towns; they have a little green bank and put flowers in the shape of a clock. The original idea was that it was going to be a presentation from the Mayor of Middlesbrough or somewhere. There'd be this floral bank and there'd be us there and then at other parts of the cover we were going to have all the band's heroes--they were going to be on a photo, maybe behind the wall or something.

So there were these two ideas that eventually got pushed into one and then I said to everyone, 'OK, who are your favourites?" Marlon Brando was one of the first choices, and James Dean, Monroe--all those obvious ones and then other suggestions started to come in. George came up with all the Hindus, Babaji was his, and then there were things like footballers from our youth, you know, we had little joke things--Albert Stubbins--he's a footballer and so he was in and then it kind of snowballed.

I took all these ideas, the floral clock, the kind of presentation by a mayor, these heroes of ours, and Robert and I went with them to Peter Blake. Peter had all these sculptures of little people around, because he was married to Jann Haworth at the time and Jann was doing all those surfers and things like John Betjeman as a teddy bear and all that, so they crept in there.

The famous flowers that started off as the floral clock then became a guitar and the word 'Beatles'--they weren't marijuana leaves, they just looked like them--and so the Americans thought "Wow, well, this is it, it's all happening." We started shooting the cover and people would say, "Oh, can I come, can I come?" and we let more or less everyone come along, but eventually it got to the point where we had to say, "That's enough!"

So Robert would get all this and he'd show all the Indian stuff to George; and there'd be H.G. Wells and Johnny Weissmuller, Issy Bonn and all those people, and Burroughs would have been a suggestion probably from Robert, and there were a few kind of LA guys that Robert had slipped in. He'd slip in people that we didn't even know but we didn't mind, it was the spirit of the thing.

I don't know how many nights Michael spent on it but we were only there for that one night, the last night. They did all this without us. It was very nice when we turned up and it was all done, but not as impressive as when I saw the cover; just actually looking at the set wasn't as impressive as seeing the finished cover.

Jesus and Hitler were on John's favourites list but they had to be taken off. John was that kind of guy but you couldn't very well have Hitler and so he had to go. Gandhi also had to go because the head of EMI, Sir Joe Lockwood, said that in India they wouldn't allow the record to be printed. We said "You're kidding, they'll love it," but he said no, so that was something the lawyers made us take off. There were a few people who just went by the wayside.

We went to Burman's, the theatrical costumiers, to have all our outfits made up and the Stones did the same for the Satanic Majesties album.

It was great. The main centrefold was originally going to be a drawing by The Fool--Simon Posthuma and Marijke Koger, Dutch artists who'd produced some surrealistic work. They depicted us all up in the clouds and it was all very very acid, everything everywhere, lots of colours--but Robert didn't like it as art and so he vetoed it. We said "No man, it's really good. We love it, we love it."

The shoes were made by Anello and David, which was the first place we came into contact with, and we got our lovely handmade Beatle boots there.

Robert and I went down to Peter's house and Peter developed it all from there. The lists were his idea, and all the cut-outs instead of using real people, and then the floral clock got changed around; but basically it was the original theme.

The 'Welcome The Rolling Stones' was something they put in. They sort of asked us if we minded and we said, "No, no, not at all." Peter organized a fairground painter to paint the drum as that was someone that he used to hang out with.

From Blinds & Shutters

#the beatles #paul mccartney #robert fraser #Peter Blake #Jann Haworth #Michael Cooper

[delightfullyatomicfest]

https://x.com/mccartneyproj/status/1752632662982823990?s=46&t=FH5Qe-o0k4TlgkbUWmMx1w

#I don’t know this either #although I suspect the source for Robert suggesting Peter is Paul himself #so I think it’s prob true that RF suggested Paul use Peter and Jann Haworth for Sgt Pepper even if he did already know him/them #I’m convinced that even if twitter/x survives it’ll lose its archive at some point #(see MySpace) #it’d be a shame to lose stuff like this #although livejournal is a mine of info which is sort-of accessible but functionality lost

[ozu-teapot]

The Blackcoat's Daughter (AKA February) | Oz Perkins | 2015

Peter James Haworth, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Boynton, Elana Krausz, Heather Tod Mitchell

#Peter James Haworth #Kiernan Shipka #Lucy Boynton #Elana Krausz #Heather Tod Mitchell #Oz Perkins #Osgood Perkins #February #The Blackcoat's Daughter #2015

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

#exodus #paul newman #eva marie saint #ralph richardson #peter lawford #lee j. cobb #sal mineo #john derek #hugh griffith #gregory ratoff #felix aylmer #david opatoshu #jill haworth #otto preminger #1960

[therobertfrasergang]

Robert Fraser and Jann Haworth

Jon Naar's photo of Robert Fraser in his London gallery with the artist Jann Haworth, circa 1965, reproduced in "Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968," ed. Sachs and Minioudaki (Philadelphia: Univ. of the Arts, 2010).

Sourced from Flavia Frigeri's Instagram

Haworth had her first solo exhibition at the Robert Fraser Gallery in 1966.

#robert fraser #jann haworth #peter blake

[ulrichgebert]

Paul Newman organisiert sehr heldenhaft einen Exodus (allerdings ohne das Meer zu teilen; Ist auch ein anderes Meer.) und gründet den Staat Israel. Schauten wir aus gegebenem Anlass. Es hätte so schön sein können, und eines Tages werden alle in Frieden zusammenleben, versichert Herr Preminger, es klappt aber schon gleich nicht recht. Falls Sie, weil es wohl noch etwas länger dauert, auf den Gedanken kommen sollten, das wäre keine gute Idee gewesen, sollten Sie das dringend auch anschauen. Bietet zudem eine noch lebende Hauptdarstellerin, die originale Musical-Sally Bowles (sie ist aber noch sehr jung und kein bisschen dekadent), den immer hübsch anzusehenden, aber hitzköpfigen Sal Mineo sowie nicht anders zu erwarten, Hugh Griffith.

#Exodus #Paul Newman #Eva Marie Saint #Ralph Richardson #Peter Lawford #Sal Mineo #Jill Haworth #Lee J. Cobb #Gregory Ratoff #John Derek #Martin Landau #Hugh Griffith #Marius Goring #Film gesehen #Otto Preminger #Leon Uris

[blueiskewl]

1,500-year-Old Anglo-Saxon Cemetery Found in UK

One of the most notable discoveries was the burial of a teenage girl and child.

Archaeologists in the United Kingdom have announced a major historical discovery dating back to as early as the 6th century after finding the buried remains of over 20 people alongside a range of grave goods including knives, jewelery and pottery vessels, officials said.

Scientists working on the National Grid’s Viking Link project -- construction of the world’s longest land and subsea interconnector involving installation of submarine and underground cables between the United Kingdom and Denmark -- have dug 50 archaeological sites along the onshore cable route since 2020, according to a statement from Wessex Archaeology in the United Kingdom.

“The wealth of evidence recovered is shedding light on life across rural south-east Lincolnshire from prehistory to the present day, with highlights including a Bronze Age barrow and a Romano-British farmstead. The most striking discovery, however, is the remains of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery,” according to Wessex Archaeology.

“The burials in the cemetery deliberately focus on an earlier Bronze Age ring ditch and indicate the funerary landscape was long established,” scientists said. “Archaeologists uncovered the buried remains of over 20 people alongside a range of grave goods including knives, jewellery and pottery vessels. From these 250 artefacts, experts know the cemetery dates to the 6th and 7th centuries AD.”

Among some of the most notable discovery was the burial of a teenage girl and a child, both of whom lay on their sides with the child tucked in behind the older girl, officials said.

“Two small gold pendants set with garnets and a delicate silver pendant with an amber mount were recovered from around the teenager’s head or chest, together with two small blue glass beads and an annular brooch,” according to Wessex Archaeology.

The relationship between the child and the teenager is not yet known -- and may never be -- but scientists are now conducting research and analysis on the subjects, including isotope and Ancient DNA analysis of the skeletal remains.

Officials say that this critical research could help to identify “familial relationships and broader genetic links both within this community and between others in the region, and the movement of people in wider society.”

“I really enjoyed being part of the project. It was surprising how many artefacts we found across the route - the gold Anglo-Saxon pendant from the burial ground was a highlight as was the outreach with the local communities to share what we found,” said Peter Bryant who led the project for Viking Link. “It has been very interesting and exciting to help unearth the hidden treasures that have lain dormant for hundreds of years, in such a careful way.”

Specialists will also be looking at the artefacts discovered on the burial site as well as the layout of the cemetery in hopes of learning more about the economic, cultural and social factors affecting this specific community, “including the import of exotic goods and the health of those buried within different parts of the cemetery,” according to Wessex Archaeology. “Although many Anglo-Saxon cemeteries are known in Lincolnshire, most were excavated decades ago when the focus was on the grave goods, not the people buried there,” said Jacqueline McKinley, principal osteoarchaeologist of Wessex Archaeology. “Excitingly, here we can employ various scientific advancements, including isotopic and DNA analyses. This will give us a far better understanding of the population, from their mobility to their genetic background and even their diet.”

Said Wessex Archaeology following the discovery: “As this research unfolds, we hope to greatly extend our understanding of Anglo-Saxon life and death in the region."

By Jon Haworth.

#1500-Year-Old Anglo-Saxon Cemetery Found in UK #ancient graves #ancient tombs #ancient artifacts #archeology #archeolgst #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #ancient jewelry

[cdnart]

Peter Haworth; St. Irene, P.Q.

#Peter Haworth #Canadian art

[copperbadge]

Good morning to Jann Haworth and Jann Haworth only. 

In the spring of 1963 [artist Jann Haworth] met artist Peter Blake, 10 years her senior, and they married in July. [...] The couple were commissioned in 1967 to do a graphic cover for Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. While Blake was a Beatles fan, to Haworth it was one more gig. 

“They were a white boy band. I wasn’t that interested in that music. [...] It’s just a record cover and I don’t think that’s very important.”

(The interview is paywalled at FT but here’s the link if you want to run it through, say, a favored depaywalling website. The whole interview is great. And if you’re in London do go see Haworth and her daughter Liberty Blake’s new mural Work In Progress when the National Portrait Gallery reopens in a few weeks!)

#art #jann haworth #your daily news digest

[inposterumcumgaudio]

Gemma Olsen?

Gemma, Gemma, Gemma!

Everyone always says they want Prudence DLC, but why would you want that when you could have Gemma DLC?

We only actually see Gemma for this brief moment, but her impact on the story is immense.

I will admit that on my first few playthroughs, though, Gemma's storyline was confusing to me. As it was, I thought these Doctors were taking her to Haworth Labs. They seem to work for Dr. Verloc to judge by the dialogue in Gemma's living room after this scene so that would make sense. However, we later learn that she was actually taken to Wellington Health. The actual order of events is that Gemma has escaped from Haworth Labs and just now returned to her home to find these Doctors waiting to whisk her away to Wellington Health.

Arthur has a cut line implying that Gemma was being taken to Haworth Labs (although he'd have no way to know that):

028i Looks like I've got another reason to go to Haworth Labs. And a really good reason not to get caught there.

That the final cut of the game has her going to Wellington Health instead I think also contributes to the popular but unsubstantiated idea that the rivalry between Wellington Health and Haworth Labs is anything more than a clash of personalities. Even still, the two organizations do seem to be somewhat cooperative in this case, leadership disagreements or not.

As for Gemma's relationship with her organization's leadership, it seems quite friendly. Gemma refers to Margaret as "Chief", Margaret's memos are casual and even playful (referring to herself as "headmistress" while gently chiding Gemma for taking too long to deliver her article on the Tunnel Rats), although she also expresses worry. From what she says to Arthur, Gemma's her only reporter that's worth any kind of damn.

Howeveur...

Margaret is also not entirely forthcoming with Gemma about her intentions. She sends Gemma to the Motilene HQ on the pretense of writing an(other, according to Peter Thump) puff piece on the arts and (sub)culture, but with a vague appended notion to look into rumors about leaks in the pipes.

It's difficult to say how much of that is Margaret just giving Gemma a subtle prod in a direction or if it's understood by both of them that this is really what Margaret wants to know about. Because for as much as Gemma loves to know things she's not supposed to, she also recognizes that none of this can be published and wonders how much she should tell Margaret... while it is, in fact, Margaret's secret plan to publish it.

You what though? Margaret gives Gemma this assignment on September 23rd, 1964, but Gemma checks into Haworth Labs Personalized Care Program on September 2nd. But she'd have actually had to have followed though on the Motilene HQ assignment to have all those notes about it and be telling her caretakers that the town is about to collapse.

A discrepancy in this game? No!

A couple things our patient notes tell us:

Gemma has a mother still kicking about. Probably? Possible this is a Coconut delusion or a misremembrance from her previous Joy use. Her house shows no indication that her mother lives with her. A mother probably wouldn't let you leave your work (with Downer shit in it) everywhere, tack up conspiracy boards all over the walls, and put typewriters in every room. Including the bathroom.

I do like to think, though, that the Crier that lives on the top floor of Thomasina House in Arthur's act is Gemma's mother.

And it's flown right out of my head.

By George, I think I've got it!

I don't know why you encouraged me, I'm rubbish at it.

I don't suppose you've got any ideas.

If I just had some inspiration.

If only you could just be a writer.

Is that a cliché?

It came easy to you, didn't it?

"It's easy, isn't it? You just sit down at your desk and open up a vein."

No wonder I can't write anything, look at this sink.

Nothing gets you ready to write like a little cleaning.

Out damn spot! Out, I say!

Shit you might say if someone close to you was a successful writer and encouraged you to try too because they love you and maybe you're old and should get a hobby.

The other thing of note here is that Gemma attempts to seduce one of her caretakers to bribe him to let her out. That could be an act of desperation, but given the playful nature of her own notes to herself and that the staff has also noted her as being manipulative and a saboteur? Spy shit! Love that for her.

Regrettable that we never see her plying these wiles firsthand. But if you wanted to suppose about it, there's plausible options.

For one thing, Gemma's got quite a few of William Godwin's seditious flyers on her study's conspiracy board. Surely then she attended one of his rallies. That's follow-up on a lead. Unfortunately, William's activities are simply one piece of the disjointed tapestry of shit going on around Wellington Wells. Remember when I said Gemma didn't have the whole picture and was trying to fit in pieces that were not part of the Verloc puzzle? You have access to William before you get to Gemma's house so that's another clue for you that she's got some red herrings in her theory.

Gemma also spent a lot of time in the partitioned company of Harry Haworth.

The cut lines I found the other day indicate that Harry, though apparently still obsessed with his phrenology, was mostly sane and salient. Yeah, he's sixty-four, but why not? What else has she got goin' on?

I suppose that means that the first patient who needs you to clap or she'll die could be Gemma rather than Vanessa, although I think Arthur would have a line about it if she was.

One last thing that I think people miss about Gemma is that she must be some sort of handy. She has a workbench in her greenhouse.

And there's Mechanical Bits in her hidden go bag.

Because that is what this is. This is why she came back to her home.

This bug out kit includes:

Mechanical Bits (for crafting Disposable Safe Crackers, Electro-Lock Shockers, Music Boxes, Polarity Devices, or Shortspikes - any of which would be particularly useful to Gemma)

Scotch (for bribing Constables)

Intimidator (a skill book on self-defense that she probably should have read beforehand)

And in her suitcase: 15 Sovereigns, a Rubber Cat Suit, a Tickler, and an invitation to the Reform Club.

Sally will soliloquize that the Reform Club could have helped her:

I almost miss going to the Reform Club. I bet some of them could help. And they never ask awkward questions. But I'd have to be Naughty Nurse again, and I'm just not that.

Well, apparently Gemma didn't let a tiny thing like giving a little slap and tickle stand in the way of her freedom (although that she has a Tickler suggests she's not into the punishment aspect). Whatever it is that they do at the Reform Club, Gemma apparently knew about it and intended to use it as her escape plan in case she got in too deep. Unfortunately she was intercepted before she could get to it.

As to what happened to her beyond that? We have the Doctors in Wellington Health's statement that she was "kept for observation" and this particularly grim scene in the Intake Evaluation room:

Although I have to think whatever Intimidator tactics you are applying are not as intimidating if you have to look them up mid-interrogation.

If you're an optimist though, I've got this for you:

The administration offices of Wellington Health's school have been converted into patient cells since they apparently can't find anyone to teach anymore. But the last one, Admissions, is empty. I mean, she escaped from Haworth Labs too. Possible that a handy Gemma scoured this room for materials and fashioned an escape from this room too.

She does write in cursive usually, but she has been known to do an all caps for emphasis. "BUT DO THEY EVER RETURN???" indeed.

#gemma olsen #margaret oliphant #we happy few

[frankendavis]

This was one of my first emulations of a certain well-known work by Jann Haworth, Sir Peter Blake, et al., done as a tribute to Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó, better known as Bela Lugosi.

[fitzrove]

Ten Characters from Ten Fandoms

Tagged by @schattenmetapherlieder , thank you!

1. Rudolf (Elisabeth das Musical)

(omg this is how I find out my gifs are available in the gif search???? Time to use them as reaction images 2013 style)

2. Alfred (Tanz der Vampire)

he's so normal<3

3. Marisa Coulter (His Dark Materials)

(I like both performances but I prefer her fashion in the movie aksksk)

4. Glinda (Wicked)

5. Peter Jakes (Endeavour)

i could've put a gif w his face but this is better 😭😂😂

6. This is cheating but: the ensemble cast of The Secret History

Yes I've been playing them in the sims. I created none of them in CAS, they were all born in-game (yes I play the long game) and I put them into university together when they grew up into young adults. Unfortunately francis died as a teenager in a vampire accident (my Richard is a redhead) & bunny decided to go eat at another table (independent of my control....). The expressions they are making,, canon

7. Aurora Luft (X Company)

You probably thought I'd put Alfred Graves because he's my tumblr icon but I did not 😂😭 While I really like that character as well, I think Aurora is more singular as a well-written woman in ww2 spy media. Plus most of the interesting things in the show happen around and because of her ajdkskd

8. Sally Bowles (Cabaret)

No gif because they're all of Liza Minnelli whom I haven't seen ajdkd. This is Julia Leinweber (Hof 2022) (ignore Uwe in the back he's doing his own thing) but I think Jill Haworth's is my ultimate fave. Also enjoyed Anna Victoria Eriksson (Turku 2020, 2023)

9. Fantine (Les Misérables)

I'm probably considered a fake Fantine fan because I just listen to Patti over and over and don't know many of them oabdösöd. I haven't even listened to Lea rip

10. Hatsumomo (Memoirs of a Geisha)

yeah this is kinda bad given that the movie is a sexist orientalist mess akslsls I just thought she was hot when I was like 10 and couldnt stop

Tagging: @wo-der-horizont-beginnt @yallemagne @armandjolras @ins-licht @hydromantia @gone-to-ground (no hurry or pressure to anyone tho, only if you feel like it!)

#character tag #this was really fun to do tysm!!! #tag thing #musicals #theatre #tv series #films

[nitrateglow]

Halloween 2023 marathon: 24-25

Time for a Christmas horror double feature!!

Home for the Holidays (dir. John Llewyn Moxey, 1972)

One rainy Christmastime, sisters Jo, Alex, Chris, and Freddie (Jill Haworth, Eleanor Parker, Sally Field, and Jessica Walter) reluctantly meet with their elderly father Benjamin (Walter Brennan) for the first time in nine years. Estranged after their father's adultery led their mother to suicide, their father now suspects he's being poisoned by his former mistress/current wife Elizabeth (Julie Harris) and wants his children to kill her before she can kill him-- or any of them-- in order to get her hands on the estate. But is the killer who Benjamin thinks?

I hadn't heard of this one until it was recommended to me by a friend. It's a TV movie of the week from the early 1970s with quite the star-studded cast: you have Eleanor Parker, Sally Field, Jessica Walter, and Jill Haworth playing the most unconvincing sisters imaginable (not a one of them is made to seem even remotely alike), Walter Brennan playing their father in what would be among his last screen roles, and Julie Harris as our possible villain. It's essentially another variation on The Bat or The Spiral Staircase: a group of characters suspect each other of murder in a creepy old house, only now it's the 70s, so everyone's a fashion trainwreck. I wouldn't call this a classic or even much of a slasher, but it is entertaining in its sheer 70s campiness and the central mystery kept me guessing.

An additional fun fact: the screenplay was written by Joseph Stefano, who adapted Psycho for Alfred Hitchcock.

Black Christmas (dir. Bob Clark, 1974)

During Christmas break, a sorority house is plagued by an obscene caller who identifies himself only as "Billy." Little do they know Billy is hiding in the attic, but the women are preoccupied with drinking and partying. In the case of Jess Bradford (Olivia Hussey), her holidays are spent dealing with a selfish boyfriend (Keir Dullea) and an unwanted pregnancy. When one of the sorority sisters goes missing, they undertake a search, not realizing her corpse is holed up in the attic with Billy. Will they be able to sniff out Billy before too many victims pile up?

One of the greatest slashers of all time, Black Christmas gets better every time I see it. My favorite horror movies tend to blend humor with chills and Black Christmas is masterly at this. The characters are irreverent and sassy, though hardly perfect people (as much as I love Margot Kidder as the hard-drinking, trash-talking Barb, there is no way I'd get on with Barb IRL), making them feel more real and therefore making the peril they're in more consequential.

Atmosphere is also a big strength of the movie. The wintry gloom of the setting is palpable. The way the holiday lights are so dominated by the nighttime darkness sets the tone so perfectly.

Jess and Billy are two of my favorite horror movie characters ever. Jess is everything I want in a protagonist: vulnerable but smart and courageous. I love how she never backs down when it comes to sticking to her guns and I like how good a friend she is to the other women in the sorority. How she ever ended up with her idiot boyfriend Peter is beyond me-- what a shitwit.

Jess is one of those characters where I'm left wondering what becomes of her after the events of the movie. She's passionate and driven, unwilling to compromise on what she plans to do with her life. Just ugh--- MARRY ME JESS.

As for Billy, he is just creepy as hell. I subscribe to the idea that the best horror villains are mysterious. We don't know Billy's backstory save for his reanactment of what happened to "little Agnes." He's an aggressive misogynist, making disgusting sexual comments in cartoonish voices over the phone. However, he can't take what he dishes out: when Barb tells him off, he stops with the silly voices and coldly says, "I'm going to kill you." It's such a chilling moment; it never fails to unnerve me.

The ending scene is incredibly creepy too. For all its humor, this is one bleak movie, with an ending that strongly emphasizes the eternal presence of evil in the world, a fairy tale kind of evil that lurks in the shadows.

God, I love this movie.

Details that stuck out to me this time:

Pretty much anytime the film cuts to Billy's attic antics, we get that eerie piano crash sound. When cutting to Peter smashing up the piano after the failed recital, we hear that same sound first, creating a subtle link between Billy and Peter. That never really hit me until this viewing.

2. Actually, let me talk about the music. It's such a vital part of the atmosphere, and I love how it eschews overheated melodramatics for an unsettling piano score.

3. I always wondered why Jess fell for Peter in the first place. We only ever see him looking surly, and he's super selfish. However, I noticed Jess's description of Peter to other characters-- "he's an artist," "he's normally so gentle," "he's high-strung"-- paint a picture of a more ambitious, passionate guy who probably made a striking first impression. Even though it's clear Jess does not love Peter anymore (she says "I know" when he says "I love you" on the phone in an early scene), I imagine part of her is still clinging to the man she once fell for before he started changing, even though rationally she knows the relationship is over for her. @mygreatadventurehasbegun What do you think?

#halloween 2023 marathon #thoughts #home for the holidays 1972 #black christmas