I don't know about you, but when I think of the phrase referenced in this post's title, the image that springs to mind is:
In this case I'm referring to Red, the erotic short horror film from the talented director Maude Michaud. Her past films navigate dark fantasy terrain often serving as cautionary tales for the viewer. While past works Hollywood Skin and Reflection delved into how the prying eyes of others effect one's own self view, this latest work casts its glances outward, examining the voyeuristic world of sex and snuff.
The film opens with a gentlemen enjoying his latest work. On screen a casual romp in the hay turns deadly while Dan (Cameron Hartl-looking like a less craggy version of Fugazi frontman Ian Mackaye*) sits back in his private screening room relishing his latest work. When the doorbell interrupts his viewing the camera pans to a shelf holding a large number of videotapes each with a different name.
Enter Lily (newcomer Olga) a young woman travelling on her own who has responded to Dan's advertisement renting out his spare bedroom fora few night. It is apparent right away that Dan finds her both irresistible and easy prey.
What Dan doesn't realize but the audience soon learns is he's playing right into the stranger's hands. Michaud script gives her femme fatale an air of noirish mystery. As Lily excuses herself to change clothing, the scene unfolds with a nod to Hitchcock, as a sleazy Dan peers through a crack in the wall to catch a glimpse.While the viewer is clearly meant to feel repulsed by his shameless ogling, the camera has no qualms about lingering over its lead, taking time to focus on the curves of her calf of pale skin as she changes from a red hoodie (the fashion of which provides a nice clue into the girl's true nature) into a slip on dress. Unlike an unsuspecting Marion Crane, a quick smirk from our lead lets the audience know she's in on the game.There's some great commentary here, as the audience is at once repulsed by Dan's intrusion on his guest's privacy yet unable to turn their own gaze away either.
What follows is a game of sensual cat and mouse where Lily twists Dan around her finger, expressing her admiration of cinema as a place where she can lose herself in the character's on screen. To demonstrate the point, we're treated to a slow burn of a scene where she mimics the "action" on the screen behind. The magnetic Shannon Lark provides the spark as black and white imagery capturing her in moments of repose provide the backdrop. The visual melding of Dan's past and present overtake him and he simply must possess this girl and must do so posthaste.
I won't spoil the surprises that follow but to say that the expression biting off more than one can chew springs to mind. To date, this is Ms. Michaud's most accomplished work. While RED works as a self contained story, complete with a gut punch of an ending, I'd be happy to see Ms. Michaud continue to explore the deviant world of what goes on behind closed doors. The voyuer elements of the film deftly blend horror with raw sexuality and in the hands of this gifted young director, there's much more material that could be mined as she goes deeper down the rabbit hole.
Ms. Michaud will be on hand to screen a collection of her short films and her documentary Bloody Breasts: Women, Feminism and Horror Friday September 23rd at the Somerville Theater. The program kicks off at 10pm.
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