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Friday, January 21, 2011

Evolution of a Bathtub

Remember baths? When I was little, I would only take baths. Now just the thought of bathing in my own filth for 20 minutes is enough to make my skin crawl. And yet in horror films....people always seem to be getting in tubs and what happens? They die. Naturally this only proves that taking a bath is a bad idea. It wasn't until today however, that I noticed just how important of a role bathtubs play.

Perhaps one of my favorite screen grabs of all time is the shot of the woman in the bathtub in Blood and Black Lace.


I still cannot get over how sublimely perfect it is. Don't you just want to hang a giant poster of that in your bedroom?

Sometime after I discovered that breathtaking shot, I found this from Argento's, Four Flies on Grey Velvet.



To me it seemed to be an obvious homage to the man that paved the way for Argento's career in the Giallo department of horror.

Tonight, I settled down to watch Repulsion for the very first time although I was quite entranced, I was also shocked to find that this shot existed.


Could it be that THIS was the scene that launched a thousand bathtub shots?

But then I got thinking. There had to have been something that preceded the Repulsion bathtub shot but what was it? No sooner had the thought left my brain than I realized that Les Diaboliques may in fact be an original starter.


But like all things I get excited about, this is probably not true. One thing is true however---the shot of a dead body in a bathtub is possibly more frequent than we ever imagined. With that one realization about these 4 connected bath tub incidents, my mind suddenly started racing and it could not be stopped.



The Shining




The Changeling





Deadline



Fatal Attraction



Jacob's Ladder



Event Horizon


And then I got to you know..thinking outside of the tub. And I realized that tub trauma is highly underrated.



The House of the Devil



A Clockwork Orange



A Nightmare on Elm Street




Stigmata




Grace



The Tingler



Requiem for a Dream



Mirrors



Cabin Fever


Hostel 2



Ghostbusters II


Shivers



Slither




The Lost Boys



See? Bad things happen in the bathtub....very bad things.






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6 comments:

  1. eddieJanuary 22, 2011 at 3:37 AM

    Hi Andre! Les Diaboliques that is what came to my mind first. I can't really think of another before it. Another great piece of writing. Love you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DrunkethWizerdJanuary 22, 2011 at 6:13 AM

    I was flipping through channels and I stopped just as that bathtub scene in Mirrors was on and my Niece damn near shit her pants! It was funny as hell.

    ReplyDelete
  3. mwilliams1220January 22, 2011 at 10:12 AM

    Once again, another original and entertaining post to read with my breakfast.

    Thanks for kicking off my Saturday in such a grand way!

    M

    ReplyDelete
  4. AndreasJanuary 22, 2011 at 5:24 PM

    And now, thanks to Darren Aronofsky again, we have a new one to add to the list: the masturbation-and-blood bathtub scene in Black Swan. So painful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Andre DumasJanuary 22, 2011 at 5:28 PM

    Haha actually I had found a pic of that on google, because I did think of it. It was too fuzzy though....

    ReplyDelete
  6. ThomasJanuary 22, 2011 at 8:29 PM

    Going back further I would guess that this is "the scene that launched a thousand bathtub shots": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Marat

    ReplyDelete

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