The first poll was quite a hit, and the results were clear — when in the Labyrinth, most folks want Moppet by their side, and I can’t blame them! She certainly knows her way around the twists and turns better than most, and unlike the Goblins, she is fluent in both nonsense AND logic. Poor Drumlin came in dead last. Fitting, I suppose, but she could perhaps her essence influenced a few people to vote Mizumi?
Anyway, for the second Poll, I thought I’d drag up the eternal question — Which 80s Fantasy Flic is your favorite. And no, you can’t vote Labyrinth! I had to go Neverending Story, but I can honestly say that every movie on that list has a special place in my heart. Vote in the poll and defend your choice in the comments should you so choose.
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Thanks for putting the poll up, I voted for Willow which is a film I have fond memories of. However, where’s Time Bandits? Surely it would fit right in!
You are right about Time Bandits, Rachael. It would be a good fit. I guess I felt there was room for only one Gilliam movie, and I went with Munchausen. Chalk it up to personal bias on the part of the poll poster.
Out of interest after reading Mandy’s top comment, I watched The Company of Wolves (admittedly on Youtube, I apologise but it’s not exactly going to be the easiest thing to aquire film-wise) and I really liked it. It was extremely imaginative albeit slightly creepy (I don’t like people tearing their own skin off much) and it was slightly confusing at times, but otherwise it was very good. The werewolf huntsman at the end was AMAZING, I liked him a lot =D
But I voted for The Black Cauldron cause I had only seen that and Return to Oz when I did the poll (it’s shameful, I know) and I preferred the former over the latter. You don’t often get a mildly scary kids Disney film which actually has *shock* blood in it!
Yes, some of those werewolf transformations are really gory. Some of them rip away the human flesh to the wolf underneath. There are certain parts of The Company of wolves that are very surreal (such as the grandmother’s head shattering like a vase) or the toys in the forest. I think those were to periodically remind us that what we were seeing was in a dream and dreams do that. We were still in the dream of a little girl who deamt that she was Little Red Ridng Hood. I didn’t even realize The Company of Wolves was up on youtube.
It was only uploaded on to youtube recently, as was The Princess Bride which, as of last night, I have now watched too. It was hilarious, although I wouldn’t really put it down in the same fantasy category as the others.
When the grandmother’s head shattered like she was a porcelain doll I was kind of hoping that that was so the werewolf could justify her death to Rosaleen, because smacking someone round the head would not kill them – unless they’re not human and made of ceramic, that is. But Rosaleen ended up with the werewolf anyway so I was happy.
The whole film reminded me of a poem called Revelation by Liz Lochhead because both are full of sexual, male and female symbolism. However, I dislike Revelation and I liked The Company of Wolves so the latter obviously handled the symbolism better, in my opinion.
The Company of wolves is based on a collection of short stories by Angela Carter called The Bloody Chamber and Other stories. I don’t recommend it for young readers. It’s a lot more blatant in the sexual content than the metaphors used in the film. Angela Carter and Neil Jordan wrote the script for The Company of Wolves. The titles comes from one of the short stories in the collection.
One passage from The Company of wolves short story that I liked was…
‘The long-drawn, wavering howl has, for all it’s fearful resonance, some inherit sadness in it, as if the beasts would love to be less beastly if only they knew how and never cease to mourn their condition. There is a vast melancholy in the canticles of the wolves, melancholy as infinite as the forest, endless as these long nights of winter and yet that ghastly sadness, that mourning for their own, irredeemable appetites, can never move the heart for not one phrase in it hints at the possibility of redemption; grace could not come to the wolf from it’s own despair, only through some external mediator, so that, sometimes, the beast will look as if he half-welcomes the knife that dispatches him.’ – The Company of Wolves, Page 112 of The Bloody Chamber and other stories by Angela Carter.
And from the film…
‘Little girls, this seems to say
Never stray upon your way.
Never trust a stranger-friend.
No one knows how it will end.
As you’re pretty, so be wise;
Wolves my lurk in every guise.
Now as then, ’tis simple truth;
Sweetest tongue
has sharpest tooth.’ – The Company of Wolves, screenplay by Angela Carter and Neil Jordan.
“You are right about Time Bandits, Rachael. It would be a good fit. I guess I felt there was room for only one Gilliam movie, and I went with Munchausen. Chalk it up to personal bias on the part of the poll poster.”
Ah, that’s certainly fair! You could have easily included most of his films from the eighties, giving Mr. Gilliam something of a monopoly.
Time Bandits is certainly my favourite, but I put that down to childhood bias (watched it when I was a kid, Munchausen only within the last couple of years.)
Okay, I went to check out Company of Wolves and the lady said I wouldn’t be able to find it because it’d been pulled off the shelves!!
What is THAT about??
Pulled off the shelves? Why? It’s a rated R Horror / fantasy. There’s nothing political in it. You won’t even find foul language in it. A little bit of gore and some sexual metaphors (and no actual sex) that’s about it. It’s very surreal and intelligent. It’s probably the most intelligent werewolf film ever made.
Apparently it’s available on youtube though. Link attached.
Well then I’ll just HAVE to resort to youtube, because apparently it’s been pulled EVERRRRRYWHEREEEE. Psh. Probably the liberal government’s fault. Somehow.
The Company of wolves is still available on amazon.
The quality for the youtube video for The Company of Wolves is actually pretty good so long as you don’t go full-screen. It was the same for The Princess Bride.
Oh wow, The Company of Wolves is even available on the UK Amazon website, that’s a surprise (since RTL volume 3 was available for all of 3 days on Amazon.co.uk before disappearing, and the release date for it went back to something stupid like November 2007 and you can only buy it now from other sellers who don’t actually have it – I’m seriously considering buying volume 3 off of ebay).
Poor dragonslayer with no votes! It’s no Lord of the Rings, but it does have some incredible creature effects and gets props for mixing magic and mundane fantasy in a very convincing way. Maybe people haven’t heard of this one? Here’s the trailer — not on youtube, for some reason:
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2902131481/
I like Dragonslayer.
Hi all, I’ve been trying to remember an eighty-ish horror/fantasy film I saw as a kid. Main thing I remember is a woman held captive by evil bad guy/demon/monster (not sure). The woman is dressed in a skin tight, black body suit which has holes cut throughout various places exposing her skin. Wish I remembered more. Previously I believed it was the movie Legend, though I watched it recently and realized my memory had intertwined Legend with this other unknown movie. I hope this weak description will jog someones memory. Any ideas or suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks
Philly,
Is it Krull? That’s another film of the era with a captive princess. I don’t remember the outfit in question — it’s been awhile.
And for those still paying attention and might be interested:
The Last Unicorn is showing every night this weekend at the Victoria in SF. Beagle will be there doing a Q&A, signings, etc. Anyone in town for WonderCon might want to catch a screening. Personally, I’ll be hitting it up on Sunday, after the con.
Er, that should read “for those still paying attention who might be interested…”