BY ERNIE MAGNOTTA
Most cinema scholars not only cite Alfred
Hitchcock’s 1960 masterwork Psycho as
the start of the modern horror film, but also its iconic shower scene as the
beginning of a new level of acceptability of violent content in cinema. Over
the next few years, violence (and gore) would escalate in genre films such as
the Herschell Gordon Lewis splatter-fests Blood
Feast (1963) and Color Me Blood Red (1965).
By the end of the decade, George Romero’s excellent zombie-munching classic, Night of the Living Dead (1968), as well
as non-horror masterpieces like Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969), left no doubt in the minds of cinemagoers
that they were in a new era of in-your-face, cinematic violence and gore. As
far as horror movies go, the trend continued throughout the 1970s with now
legendary films such as Wes Craven’s The Last
House on the Left (1972), William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973), Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977) and Romero’s Night
of the Living Dead sequel, the ultra-gory, semi-satirical zombie masterpiece
Dawn of the Dead (1978). As the 1980s began, most horror films
were copying the structure of John Carpenter’s phenomenal 1978 classic, Halloween, but, due to being incapable
of duplicating that film’s expertly- mounted suspense, they instead added Dawn’s grisly effects. By 1981, horror
fans expected to see plenty of blood and guts on the big screen, so almost
every genre film released during that time happily obliged. Not all horror
movies took this approach, however. For instance, there was an Australian-made
film that deviated from the current violent trend and, instead, went for more
cerebral scares. That film was called The
Survivor.
After miraculously walking away unscathed
from a plane crash that killed almost 300 innocent passengers, 747 pilot Captain
Keller (Jesus of Nazareth’s Robert Powell), in an attempt to
discover exactly what caused the crash and why he was the only one to survive, joins
forces with a psychic named Hobbs (Jenny Agutter from Logan’s Run and An American
Werewolf in London) who strongly feels the restless spirits of the newly
dead.
Directed by accomplished British actor
David Hemmings (Blow-Up, Barbarella, Deep
Red), The Survivor is an
adaptation of a story of the same name by famed horror novelist James Herbert (whose
first novel, The Rats, was also adapted into a movie; 1983’s Deadly Eyes). The supernatural chiller,
which co-stars Australian actress Angela Punch-McGregor (The Island) and, in his final role, Hollywood legend Joseph Cotton
(Citizen Kane, The Third Man, Shadow of a
Doubt), was produced by Antony I. Ginnane (Snapshot, Dead Kids and Harlequin,
which also stars Robert Powell as well as David Hemmings). The $1, 200, 000
budgeted film also features a wonderful, but unusual soundtrack by talented
composer Brian May (Mad Max, Road Games and
the Ginnane-produced Patrick) and contains
an interesting story, powerful acting, beautiful daytime cinematography by
Academy Award-winning director of photography John Seale (The English Patient), as
well as impressive and somewhat frightening imagery (although, it would have
benefitted from a few more creepy images, atmospheric sequences and a clearer
narrative; not to mention slightly speeding up the pace).
So, was the idea to do a more psychological
horror film the way to go or should the filmmakers have gone ahead and added
the excessive gore that was demanded by horror audiences at the time? I have to
say that, artistically, the filmmakers, without a doubt, made the right
decision. It’s difficult to imagine this very suggestive movie soaked in bloody
effects as the gore would seem out of place and make the film feel extremely
unbalanced. However, The Survivor’s failure
at the box office was mostly due to it not packing enough of a bloody punch
that 1981 audiences demanded, so, in a business sense, I suppose the no-gore
decision was a bad one. Still, I’m glad the decision was made. Although by no
means a horror classic, The Survivor is
a well-made and evocative thriller that, almost 35 years after its release, can
finally be appreciated for what it is and not panned for refusing to meet
audience demands of its time.
The Survivor has been released
on DVD by the fine folks at Scorpion Releasing. The film is presented in its
original 2:35:1 aspect ratio and, although the night scenes are a tad too dark
and the film contains very minor scratching, the movie is otherwise extremely
sharp and more than watchable. Special features include a humorous and
informative introduction by Scorpion DVD hostess (and former WWE diva/TNA
knockout) Katarina Leigh Waters as well as an interesting and eye-opening audio
commentary by producer Antony I. Ginnane (moderated by Katarina) who talks
about, among many other subjects, David Hemmings’ visual style and the reasons
as to why the film was originally cut down prior to its release (the version
here is the full 98 minute cut). The disc also contains the original theatrical
trailer as well as trailers for a plethora of other great Scorpion releases
such as Mortuary, The Devil Within Her,
Don’t Answer the Phone and Final Exam.
If you’re looking for a moody, adult and more cerebral horror film, give The Survivor a whirl.
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