Compliance: Real Life Terror

I've taken a long, long break from my Exploration Disturbia series probably because my mental health was at risk and because I was starting to run out of movies deemed 'disturbing' that were available on DVD. Also there was that whole thing where I stopped blogging for like 7 months.

But anywho--last night I noticed that Showtime had some horror movies available On Demand that I had been meaning to see for a while. One of them, Compliance--did remind me that several of my friends had used the term 'disturbing' to describe it. No time like the present right?

As with many horror movies that are 'based on true events', Compliance carries with it an extra note of horror because it really happened. Additionally--when comparing the actual events with the events of the movie, the exact similarities are startling. In my mind I was pooling together a list of what the movie embellished, but I was shocked to discover that they embellished nearly nothing. Hence, the reason why Compliance is so disturbing.

Based on the Bullitt County McDonalds Case, Compliance follows a night at a fast food restaurant after the manager Sandra receives a phone call from a 'police officer'. "Officer Daniels" informs Sandra that one of her employees, Becky, is charged with stealing from a customer, prompting Sandra to then follow explicit directions from Officer Daniels, resulting in some disturbing events. After having Sandra strip search Becky., Officer Daniels then requests Sandra to get someone she trusts to keep an eye on her. Becky, still naked, is then guarded by Sandra's boyfriend Evan. Evan receives instructions to give a full cavity search to Becky which essentially leads to some serious sexual assaulting.

The really, really terrifying thing about Compliance is that  you can sit there the whole time and be horrified and then yell things at the TV like, "Oh come on!" "Who would do that?!" and then realize that this did happen and cry. I still am having a hard time wrapping my head around it. This really happened---an employee was subjected to these terrible things because someone with apparent authority was telling someone else to do it. This is a present day example of the Milgram Experiment, only it wasn't an experiment it was some sicko. But the psychological implications remain the same. Therefore  the things I'm feeling in this movie, remind me also of the terrible feelings I had watching movies like Salo and Man Behind the Sun. Why are we as humans programmed to listen to people with authority---even when there is absolutely no evidence that the person has actual authority?

Perhaps one of the things the movie does embellish a bit is the events leading up to the incident and how it impacts our sympathy of certain characters. The manager Sandra is first introduced as being lectured by a delivery man for not being a good manager and letting food spoil. She also points out that she avoids calling her regional manager because she wants to deal with it on her own. A very strong indication that she already lacks faith in her abilities as a manager, and wants to do whatever she can to prove that she can handle things.

Similarly, Becky is anxious about losing her job because she fears she is to blame for the food spoiling. Is her willingness to go along with everything that is asked of her an attempt to hold onto that job and do what is requested of her without disagreement? I guess...

It's still all so messed up even without these apparent sympathies. I just will never understand how someone can decide that yes, a police officer does have a right to request that a burglary suspect should give someone a blow job? Why are people not paying attention to important police shows like Law and Order?

Don't they know that a police officer would never need someone else to do real, honest investigating for them? It kind of makes me angry actually. Angry at the people who let this happen, and the sicko that made the calls in the first place. The really, really awful thing too is that the real-life suspect was never charged because there was not enough evidence!

Compliance definitely makes a spot for itself on a list of disturbing movies. I just felt SO sick after watching this and trying to digest it. Why do things like this continue to happen in our world? In these instances, the most terrifying horror movie in the world cannot hold a candle to the kind of fear we experience knowing that human nature is the real threat.

House of Cards: Undecided

I tried my best to stay away from the skeevy southern drawl of Kevin Spacey in House of Cards. I really did. Something about that and the exposure to the seedy underbelly of the US government, kept me from ever wanting a piece of that recent Golden Globe buzz. But after my intense love affair with Orange is the New Black, I decided that Netflix original program was probably onto something.

Ultimately now that I'm finished with House of Cards I still feel a little undecided and also a little bit uncomfortable. Do I love House of Cards? Kind of. Is it more of a morbid curiosity than a love affair? Definitely. Here's the problem. While I'm very enticed by the fantastic performances of both Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, I still have a hard time adjusting to the fact that it's hard to really form a genuine bond with any of the characters. Claire and Frank are the key players sure--but they're villainous---anti-heroes with a taste for power...and who also make me feel a little weird in my private parts. Not turned on or anything---kind of the opposite. Like maybe they're turning my private parts into a Barbie's private parts.

The sex scenes in House of Cards are for lack of a better word--terrifying. I don't think there's been one sexual moment where I've been like... yes, this is nice. Rather, I'm making a face that kind of looks like this the whole time.

And I'm looking around me like I expect the Thought Police to come crashing through the walls at any second. It's uncomfortable, it's weird, and it's very, very un-sexy. Which I think is mostly on purpose. I think we're made to feel uncomfortable in the same way that we're made to hate Frank and Claire.

 Frank and Claire are entirely un-sexual beings when they're together, but their love runs deeper than that. As a contrast, Frank and Claire's sex lives outside of each other are scary and uncomfortable. It's almost cruel in a way--to the viewers I mean.

But I think that's what makes House of Cards so startlingly addictive. It's like watching 50 minutes of a sexual car crash. Really it's not in your best interest to keep it going, but at some point you just have to throw caution to the wind and say--'Okay Frank. Let's get creepy".

Aside from all that creepy sexual activity, House of Cards can also be fairly hard to follow. It's a lot of talk. It's a lot of political talk--which for many is almost similar to if the show was spoken entirely in Swahili. But once you start understanding what is happening--and granted, it may take you till the second to last or even the last episode of the season to understand---it's quite terrifying. Frank's evil master plan has been carefully calculated all the way and that scares the crap out of me. He's SO evil. I don't think people realize how evil he is. But somewhere in those last few episodes I just thought......yikes. He and Claire are like a mature Boris and Natasha.

A dastardly duo that entertains you but at the same time makes you bolt your doors at night so they don't accidentally stumble in and discover that you have a weakness.

Yes I'm going to watch the next season because damn it---I need to see some justice here. I will say, that I didn't start getting truly invested in the show or the outcome until the crack team of reporters starting peeling away the layers of Frank's ultimate plan.

Which is probably again intentional. And after realizing that all of Frank's decisions throughout the season are intentional---it's not too hard to figure out that everything House of Cards makes you feel is also 100% intentional.

So yeah, House of Cards? Man, I'm just not too sure about it. I'm sucked in, but I'm still a little scared of it. I guess that's probably the overarching message here. Politics? Scary.

The Awakening: Those Classy Brits

At some point doing my revolt against horror movies on Netflix, I kept seeing 'The Awakening' come up under my recommendations. Since I was in a revolt, naturally I scoffed at it and then complained about how there weren't any good, interesting, or sort of good movies streaming on Netflix that I hadn't seen yet. Of course, I hadn't seen any of these movies yet I still somehow knew they were terrible. But, details...details.

I think The Awakening turned me off because I thought it was some low budget crap ghost story that somehow was based on Kate Chopin's the Awakening. Well, what do you expect when you name it the same thing?! For some reason as I was perusing Netflix last night, I suddenly had a change of heart.

OK well honestly, my change of heart started when I realized this was a British film and that it didn't have the typical 2-star doom rating on Netflix. It was a ghost story yes, but something about it being British, made me perk up. I think because those Brits can make anything classy. Also, Imelda Staunton is in it--and why would Professor Umbridge choose to be in a mediocre horror film? My thoughts
exactly.

As it turns out, I kind of really enjoyed The Awakening. It was spooky in all the right places, quiet in all the right places---and it never let the ghost story cliches take the reigns. Instead, it plays on the quiet and the naturally scary aspects about a good, solid ghost story. Also it's British so everybody wins.

Taking place in England 1921, The Awakening follows Florence Cathcart, a strong-willed woman who is essentially a paranormal investigator. However, in her case... it's more about disproving the paranormal. When she is called to an old boarding school to investigate a disturbance plaguing the school for years, Florence is ready to unmask the human perpetrator. However as time goes on, Florence slowly starts to realize that the disturbance may not be human at all.

Now that plot summary may sound as cliche as you can get, but The Awakening is so much more than that. There's this whole other level of course that I'm not going to go into because I don't want to ruin it. Yes, there is a plot twist but it's not something that completely ruins or negates the entire film. On the contrary, the twist that evolves makes your head spin with intrigue. It makes you question everything you just saw BUT in a good way. It makes you want to re-watch it instantly and reabsorb everything.

Not only that--but at the heart of the Awakening is a tragically sad and beautiful tale. It really is. There's just something so profoundly sad when all is said and done and I really enjoyed that. So often, ghost stories are solely about scaring the pants off of us. Seldom do they carry within them some tiny kernel about our inner feelings and our inability to accept death and change. And by this I mean ghost stories in the present. There are a handful of ghost stories from the past that do this well (ahem the Changeling, which is echoed nicely in one scene here!).

Similarly, the scares in the Awakening are good. Yes, at some point they do tend to cross over into jump scare land (and I could definitely do without the occasional screaming ghost face scare), but it wasn't those scares that made the film scary. It wasn't all about that. The best scares are the quiet ones. The ones that aren't accompanied by some jolt of music or some scary face. There are several of these quiet scares throughout, and it's this more than anything that truly makes me appreciate it.

The ending is also one of those ambiguous, choose your own ending type deals which apparently drive a lot of people nuts. I say, get over it. It makes for great conversation, and thinking--plus if there was a clear cut ending people would probably have a problem with it. So this way--you can end it how you want. Problem solved!

Ultimately, this is a ghost story for someone who enjoys thinking, who prefers the simplicity of an eerie ghost story, and who likes to feel emotionally invested in the story and the characters. Sure, you may see aspects of the twist coming, but I think The Awakening has many, many more layers than you would initially imagine. And I don't think anyone actually sees that coming---which makes it all the more impressive.