Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Marcos' life is in shambles. His wife left him and he works on a farm that processes human meat, now legal because of a disease affecting all animals and rendering them inedible. He sees the most horrific things every day and has to do business with the worst sort who want to buy the head (as in head of cattle) for hunting, experimentation, or consumption. Then he receives a female head as an unwanted but valuable gift and has to decide what to do with it.

Tender is the Flesh is an absolutely chilling dystopia. Due to an incurable virus, animals can no longer be consumed or be around humans at all. There also no pets allowed, leading to a mass slaughter of them for human safety. The government has decided to allow the raising and killing of humans for food, opening up a huge market of other things previously illegal: medical experimentation (even the most inhumane procedures), hunting people, organ harvesting, and an expansion of illegal human trafficking. Bodies can't be buried for fear of being dug up and eaten. The less fortunate or less protected could be kidnapped and murdered for meat. Scavengers roam the countryside, violent and wild, looking for flesh.

Marcos's job is stomach churning but highly paid. The head can't speak due to their vocal chords being removed and lack of any sort of education. They are never acknowledged or referred to as human, always kept naked, and treated exactly as cattle.  Marcos carefully chooses who works there because the job attracts some unsavory characters. The goal is to find someone who needs the money and can desensitize themselves (as he has) to the violence. The general public calls it "special" meat and carries on as usually, blissfully ignorant of the realities of how they get their food. There is some outrage, but it seems more are willing to sacrifice others to go one with business as usual.

Tender is the Flesh kept surprising me with how depraved things could get. When I thought it couldn't be any worse, it went further. Whether it's a critique of the meat industry or the callousness of modern society, it works. Marcos seems to be the moral center of the book, even as he participates in the killing and processing of people for food, which makes the ending feel like such a slap in the face. I read this in a couple days. I couldn't put it down and it got under my skin. Definitely in my top books of the year.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins 

Raw

* spoilers *

Justine, a lifelong vegetarian, goes to veterinary school where her sister already attends. She complies with her parents wishes in all things, shown when she refuses to eat when accidentally given meat. Her mother's reaction is way over the top as she berates the server who gave it to her. Justine dresses conservatively in clothing that makes her look much younger. She is woefully unprepared for the school's hazing and party atmosphere which hits her like a freight train. The very first night, students are dragged out of their beds and forced to party for hours while the elders trash their rooms and party even harder. It's the first time Justine has had so much freedom plus access to alcohol, drugs, and sex. Her initial reaction is confusion and withdrawal. She reconnects with her sister Alexia and avoids the rest of the party.

In one of many hazing rituals, Justine eats a piece of rabbit kidney, pressured by her Alexia after refusing. Despite the fact that she threw up just after she ate the kidney, the effects of the meat wreak havoc on Justine's body in the form of itchy, huge rashes that she scratches until they bleed. When she's treated for the rash and it finally goes away, she find herself craving meat. It starts out as attempting (and failing) to steal a hamburger patty from the cafeteria and then eating schwarma at a gas station, away from the prying eyes of classmates with her friend Adrien. It seems fairly normal for a person to push the boundaries past what they were allowed at home and explore other choices not endorsed by parents. But then she escalates to secretly eating raw chicken and finally eating human meat.

The scene where Justine finally has the opportunity to eat human flesh changes tone lightning fast. Alexia convinces Justine to let her wax her bikini line. Alexia views Justine's body hair as a sign of immaturity and naivete. The first side goes well, but of course it's painful. Justine tries to say no to any further, but Alexia already puts the gunk on the other side and it's stuck. This scene feels realistic and like the type of thing sisters would do together that goes hilariously wrong. The turn comes when Justine kicks wildly and Alexia's finger is lopped off by the scissors meant to cut out the wax. Alexia faints while Justine is left alone with the severed finger. Her fascination with and eventual consumption of it feels so forbidden and uncomfortable to watch. Every fiber of my being was silently screaming no. After the incident, Alexia covers for Justine and reveals she also eats people, but chooses to kill in order to do so. She opts to show Justine how she does it instead of talking to her about it, likely a familial habit to avoid uncomfortable conversations. Justine rejects Alexia's method as immoral, but she still craves human flesh.

Sexual desires accompany the craving as well. Justine starts to dress in more revealing, formfitting outfits, wearing makeup, and being more open to the school's party atmosphere. In one scene, she is splashed with blue paint and shoved into a room with a guy covered in yellow paint and told they wouldn't be allowed out until they are both green. Normally she would just leave, but she chooses to touch and kiss. The scene ends with the guy screaming with a chunk bitten out of his lip. Another instance of this when she has sex with her best friend Adrien. Throughout the encounter, her attempts to bit him were rebuffed and redirected. She only achieves orgasm when she bites on her own arm so hard she draws blood. Adrien seems fascinated by her but later lashes out when he feels his sexuality is threatened. Much like Claire Denis' Trouble Every Day, the cannibalistic urges are inextricably entwined with her sexual desires.

At the heart of this film, Raw is about two sisters dealing with the exact same feelings and trying to deal with them in different ways. Justine hasn't really decided concretely how to deal with it, but soundly rejects Alexia's method. The rejection causes an unspoken rivalry and enmity between the sisters that culminates a series of increasingly violent events. The first is Alexia's very public humiliation of Justine. The second is a fight between them involving savage biting that was also a public display in front of their classmates. The fight ends with others rushing in to pull them apart. Justine and Alexia fight free and go off together to tend each other's wounds, showing that they still care for each other despite everything. All of this culminates in Alexia murdering and eating Adrien, the object of Justine's affection, lust, and hunger. The central conflict is essentially a sibling rivalry that goes further than most.

After the murder, Justine returns home, forced to return to her vegetarian, controlled life with her parents. Justine isn't the same, rejecting their food and refusing to be the person they want her to be. Her father reveals that her mother has that same cannibalistic lust when he shows her his bare chest full of scars and partially healed wounds. He thinks she will find her own solution to the problem, which boils down to society's view of womanhood compared to the reality. This includes female sexuality, anger, and rebellion with an added fantastical layer of violence and taboo in cannibalism. Both Alexia and Justine were raised in a restrictive household that didn't prepare them for the realities of the real world, how to communicate in healthy ways, or even the changes of their own bodies, which caused this whole mess.

Raw is a fascinating coming of age film that takes the concept from Trouble Every Day and gives it relevant meaning, interesting characters, and a true plot with direction. The acting is superb, especially from Garance Marillier as Justine. Julia Ducournau's writing and direction put the viewers right into Justine's journey in alternately relatable and offputting ways. I didn't love Raw the first time I saw it because of the fainting people hype. I expected it to be a lot gorier. I braced myself for the worst and came away disappointed. However, after repeated viewings, the story and characters ring so true. The film has an odd, magnetic quality that shows an honest coming of age story with humor, horror, and emotion.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

Women in Horror Mini-Reviews: Trouble Every Day and Consommé

* Trouble Every Day

* spoilers *

Americans and newlyweds Shane and June Brown travel to Paris for their honeymoon. What June doesn't know is that Shane desperately needs to find a neuroscientist to cure him of a terrible disease that puts his new bride in danger. Trouble Every Day is a slow film that essentially goes nowhere. It follows two couples: Shane and June, Léo and Coré. Shane frantically tries to find Léo while keeping June in the dark. June enjoys Paris as a tourist and stays rather oblivious until near the end. Léo is struggling to find a cure for a bizarre disease that forces the afflicted to eat their lover when they have sex. Coré is afflicted and locked in the house when her husband is gone. She typically gets out to brutally murder and eat men while having sex with them. Béatrice Dalle is amazing as Coré, magnetic, manic, and above all deranged. After her feeding frenzy, Coré loathes herself and her life that forces her to murder. She is no longer the gleeful hunter away from the sex and murder. Almost all of the scenes of sexual and cannibalistic violence are committed by Coré surprisingly enough, considering that sexual violence usually targets women.  

There's something about Shane that I simply didn't like. Maybe it's Vincent Gallo's vibe, but he seemed sleazy to me. I didn't want him to succeed and I wanted him to disappear. He constantly badgers the lab where Léo used to work, making them not want to even talk him. They finally give him Léo's address and he finds Coré covered in blood, lighting the house on fire. She attacks him and he leaves her dead to return home with no cure. June becomes upset after Shane rejects her and opts to masturbate in the middle of their lovemaking. He turns to a maid the film had previously followed through her day to day life for sex and bites her to death in the most brutal scene of cannibalism in the film. The fact that he bites her clitoris off really disturbed me, especially when Coré's attacks had not been as brutal. The film ends as it began with no cure and no hope. I like parts of Trouble Every Day. Béatrice Dalle is always amazing and Claire Denis' direction is unique. I can definitely see its place in French cinema especially in reference to the new French extremity movement. However, as a whole, it's disappointing and goes nowhere. There are long stretches of time that feel wasted.

My rating: 2/5 fishmuffins

* Consommé

* spoilers *

A woman has a fight with a man and leaves her apartment in the middle of the night. She's automatically assaulted by street harassment including a guy telling her to smile and then calling her a bitch when she doesn't, a car that followers her and then lingers, and then finally a man who drags and kicks her into an alley to rape her. These scenes are intercut with future scenes of the woman waking up with bruises and cuts and feeling nauseous. Just when I thought it would end predictably, she turns and attacks him with a guttural cry, ripping into his flesh with her teeth. She bites of his ear first and makes a feast of his face. The film ends with her throwing up the ear and some flesh, flossing her teeth and brushing her teeth.

The woman is surrounded by male toxicity from whoever is yelling at her in her apartment to the random strangers that harass her to the one that decides to try to rape her. Her simply leaving the house seems to be an affront to these men. The man who tells her to smile and then calls her bitch is the typical reaction for a guy who is attracted to a woman and then has to insult her when he's soundly rejected or ignored. The other forms of street harassment are more invasive like the car following her every move. I'm sure the rapist expected an easy mark out by herself, but she most likely killed him for his trouble. I love the image in the end of her flossing his flesh out of her teeth like its a minor inconvenience and then going on with her day. She doesn't let harassment or attacks stop her from doing what she wants. She may be bruised and a little cut, but alive and ready to face the day. For a 5 minute film, it says volumes.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

* Sorry about the weird colors in the post. Copying and pasting accent marks was not a good idea. 

Hannibal

Hannibal is one of my very favorite TV shows on right now, next to RuPaul's Drag Race and Game of Thrones. Unfortunately, it's the only one of the shows I enjoy watching that is in danger of being cancelled. It's one of the most simultaneously beautiful and horrific shows I've ever scene. The attention to detail, cinematography, acting, and plot are at a level I didn't think possible for a network TV show.

Hannibal Lecter is an iconic movie villain, originating (in a visual medium) in the film The Silence of the Lambs where his intense presence and penchant for human flesh and manipulation made him stand out despite his time on screen only being 16 minutes. The show Hannibal explores the time when no one was aware he was a cannibal killer and he worked closely with the FBI, feeding them people without their knowledge and manipulating the investigations to his satisfaction. Mads Mikkelsen plays Hannibal and makes the character his own. Where Anthony Hopkins is overtly creepy and aggressively makes people uncomfortable, Mikkelsen is very reserved, stoic, and calculating with an undercurrent of malice. The manipulative aspect is definitely present, just much more subtle to suit his current needs. He can change that peaceful exterior in a second and savagely attack his victims. The cultured side of him that enjoys classical music, cooking gourmet meals, and creating art is explored more since it's hard to do so in a jail cell. His modus operandi is to kill people who are rude or those to close to figuring out his true nature. His kills are very artistic and are often ironic. For example, a man guilty of paving over an endangered owls habitat is infused in a tree with his organs replaced by poisonous flowers with a nest on his head. A truly free Hannibal is something we've never seen before and it's been a wonderful way to further explore the character.

The other characters have been changed and portrayed differently than expected based on the books and movies. Will Graham is much more messed up than previously portrayed. He has the ability to empathize with serial killers and see from their mindset when he analyzes crime scenes. This involves visualizing himself committing the murders to understand the killers. Unfortunately, he's not a sociopath and his mental and emotional health suffers because of it, but he finds it worth it to save lives. Freddy Lounds is cast as a woman and it transforms the character. She is still the obtrusive, rude, and unapologetic tabloid reporter, but her drive to not let anything get in her way and her sly intelligence makes her slightly endearing. I love to hate her because of her horrible smugness and how she has to be loudest in the room. Frederick Chilton has the most shocking change in the show. In the first season and the movies, he is horrible: often wrong about things, but unable to see beyond his gigantic ego to see or admit it and primarily out to make himself look good. In the second season, he transforms into a snarky and sassy person. He figures out Hannibal's secret and makes the most hilarious one liners and observations. He's also been accused of Hannibal's crimes and he may be annoying, but he doesn't deserve to rot in jail or be executed for something he didn't even do. Even though his ego is still huge, they've made Chilton someone I don't want to die. Other characters are changed: Jack Crawford is played by Laurence Fishburne and Alan Bloom is now Alana Bloom. The show nonchalantly racebends and genderbends the cast to create a much more diverse array of people without stereotypically portraying them or marginalizing them.

I love watching the show, knowing how it's supposed to end up (if the writers choose to follow the books or films) and wondering how it's supposed to get there. I have no idea how Hannibal will be caught because he seems to weasel and manipulate everything perfectly. Every episode has twists and turns that are quite shocking. Some suspension of disbelief has to be employed, but the show is so well written, acted, and put together that it's quite easy to believe that you can't walk two feet without running into a serial killer or that Hannibal has infinite amounts of time to murder people, make elaborate tableaux with their bodies, cook, hold dinner parties, work with the FBI, write music for the harpsichord, and still have time to do his real job as a psychiatrist. This is really the only complaint I have about the show and it doesn't even bother me.

Hannibal is a wonderful show with dynamic characters, beautiful yet disturbing visuals, and twisty plot. I highly recommend this show and I would really love it if it escaped the Bryan Fuller 2 season curse. If it sounds even remotely interesting, please give it a watch on Hulu or Amazon, or NBC.com.

Women in Horror: We Are What We Are (2013)

* Spoilers *

The Parkers live in a small, rural town and have always kept to themselves. Their neighbors find them a bit odd, but good, wholesome people with Christian values. Frank, the patriarch of the family, rules with an iron fist, forcing the family to keep with their ancestral traditions at all cost. The mother has died recently, leaving the two oldest girls Rose and Iris to assume her responsibilities in the family and these traditions. The time for the gruesome ritual is upon them and unfortunately coincides with the worst storm they've seen in years. Due to the torrential downpour, clues of their previous rituals are being uncovered by local police and it seems only a matter of time until the family and their unorthodox practices will be discovered.

The Parker family appears to be wholesome, good, and pious, but their family dynamic and cannibalistic religious practices are warped and bizarre. The film boils down to the old trying to unsuccessfully stifle and combat the young. Frank Parker is the driving force of their family. Although physically imposing, he is actually weakened by a prion disease contracted from his highly regarded ritual of eating human flesh and is prone to tremors and mental deterioration. He forces his own beliefs and sensibilities onto his children, which are an amalgamation of his ancestor's traditions and Christianity. In the 1700s, their ancestors were stuck in a cave and subsisted on human flesh to survive. Frank is somehow convinced that their family will die out if they don't continue this bizarre tradition exactly how it was done in the past, so they kill and eat one young women a year. Frank represents an old order literally consuming and basically enslaving the unwilling new order, mostly comprised of young women.

Rose and Iris are Frank's teenage daughters who are obviously less than enthused about continuing Frank's traditions, but reluctantly follow his leadership. They appear much younger than they are because of the old fashioned, very modest clothes they are forced to wear. Iris also has her hair styled in severe braids to represent Frank's control over them. When they have to kill, gut, and prepare a young woman for their meal, they express disgust, reluctance, and vow to figure out a way out of it for next year. Iris is the older of the two and seems to resign herself unhappily to assume her mother's role in the home and in the ritual. She comports herself as largely silent and stoic, almost zombie-like. When a young deputy expresses interest in her, she quickly shuts him down. Iris wants more out of life and already rejects the insane teachings and authority of her father, but sees no way out of it.

Then the young conflict with the old until one is overthrown. Iris' rebellion starts by having sex with the young deputy who she previously rejected. This act is a natural expression of sexuality and appropriate for her age. Her father finds them mid-coitus and slaughters the man while he's on top of her in an effort to bury her burgeoning womanhood and keep her complacent and childlike. Rose's rebellion is represented by her hair. After she rejects the tradition and plans to leave, she stops braiding her hair, leaving it wavy and free. This changes her appearance drastically and gives her more womanly, modern look. Rose and Iris' final rebellion is in their own version of the ritual. Their father tries to kill them and commit suicide when it's obvious that others know their secret. To protect themselves and their little brother, Iris and Rose attack their father using only their teeth and nails and devour his flesh. In stark contrast to their tradition ritual, they attack and eat with savage fervor, acting on instincts rather than thought. Eating their father is getting rid of the diseased old ways and restoring the natural order, giving themselves the opportunity to move forward and have their own lives. Afterwards, they are free and wear modern clothing while they look to build a new life somewhere else. Iris takes the book with their traditions because it's undeniably part of them, but no to continue honoring them.

We Are What We Are is a well done horror film with a lot going on under the surface. It goes a different direction than one would expect of a cannibal film. The performances are excellent, especially of Ambyr Childers and Julie Garner as Iris and Rose. I like the pacing of the film and how it methodically tells the story without rushing. The ominous atmosphere of the stormy small town in built and maintained. This film is surprisingly a remake from a 2010 film of the same name set in Mexico. The two films seem to have the same general story line, but not much else in common. This is the example of the rare remake that establishes itself separate from the original and proves to be a good story with excellent execution.

My rating: 9/10 fishmuffins

Women in Horror: Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Benjamin Barker and his beautiful wife Lucy have a daughter named Joanna and a wonderful life together. Judge Turpin is enticed by Lucy and falsely imprisons Barker to allow him to fully persue her. Benjamin returns after fifteen years only to find that his entire life is gone. His wife is dead and his daughter is in the clutches of the very man who imprisoned him. Revenge is the only thing on his mind after Mrs. Lovett, the owner of the place he used to live, filled him in on all the details of the events that transpired after he was gone. He assumes an new identity as Sweeney Todd and opens up a barber shop to lie in wait for the judge. In the meantime, before the Judge shows up, he practices on unsuspecting customers while Mrs. Lovett makes the most delicious meat pies with a very special ingredient...

The first experience I ever had with Sweeney Todd was watching the version with Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett and George Hern as Sweeney Todd. I was incredibly bored and shocked at how such a disturbing, interesting story could be turned into such a bore. As disappointing as this one was, I was looking forward to Tim Burton's new endeavor because he's one of my favorite directors of all time. I'm so happy that he gave the musical new life on the screen with his collaboration with the great Stephen Sondheim.

The music is wonderful throughout the film. I've heard a lot of people say there aren't any memorable songs, but I think this is more due to the fact that it sounds much more modern, syncopated, and dissonant than the typical Broadway musical. The songs have a great range from the dark and stormy Epiphany to the delightfully comical A Little Priest to the beautiful, melancholy Green Finch and Linnet Bird. My favorite song is My Friends because of the wonderful interweaving of Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett's voices. It's deceptively quiet and understated, but really reveals the truth in their relationship: Todd is completely consumed by his need for revenge and Mrs. Lovett, although forgotten by Todd, simply wants to be loved by him. I was relieved that Sondheim didn't choose to have operatic voices featured in the film because I think that's part of why I didn't like the previous rendition. I both love Johnny Depp's rough, rock influenced rendition and Helena Bonham Carter's wispy, fragile voice. They are by no means professional singers, but they embody their characters so well that their voices just fit. I really couldn't see anyone else as these characters. The two best singers in the film are easily young Ed Sanders as Toby and Jayne Wisener as Johanna. These two young people blew me away with their singing voices and I hope to see more from them.

The visuals of the film are striking, portraying the gritty and dark underbelly of London. The color scheme is mostly in black and white with the only real color being the blood that spills in copious amounts across the screen. The only really vibrant, saturated colors come from the songBy the Sea, which shows Mrs. Lovett's dream of a life with Todd and Toby as her family. The absence of color in the real world shows that there is really no hope for anyone in this story. The makeup used on the main characters is reminiscent of silent films and classic horror movies. It both sets them apart from the other characters and enhances the dark ambiance that encompasses the film. One of the things I most enjoy about the film is the cinematography during songs. This is no boring musical with one angle for an entire song. The visuals are just as striking as the music with the changes in camera angle, playing with reflective and transparent surfaces, and the use of wide shots as well as close-ups. This made the film dynamic and as interesting to watch as it is to listen to.

The two most compelling characters in the film are both women: Mrs. Lovett and Johanna. Mrs. Lovett is much more than a conniving woman that wants to use Todd to her own ends. Although it would be easy to simply portray her as an evil villain that cooks people into meat pies, she's really so much more than that. Everything that she does in the film is really fueled by love. She loves Sweeney Todd so much that she is willing to help him kill people so that he will be with her. Her efforts throughout the film are to protect and manipulate Todd to stay with her as long as possible. Her nurturing side is definitely featured in the film, shown through her taking Toby under her wing and treating him like a son. She also expresses sympathy for Johanna who never really had a mother or a loving family to take care of her. This different side of her really endeared her to me and made hopeful that she would get the family she wanted even though she wasn't a completely good person.

Johanna is an interesting character. Because she has been isolated and ogled by Judge Turpin her whole life, one would assume that she would be naive and probably warped in some way. This isn't true at all. She is melancholy obviously because her guardian is abusive, but she sees the world in a practical way. Anthony has seen locations all over the world as a sailor, but he remains convinced that they will run away and live happily ever after together. Johanna knows that all their problems won't be solved and reveals herself to be more realistic than him. Her strength and resilience are truly impressive. It was easy to portray her as a wilting flower of a girl who was weak and bland. Jayne Wisener takes a small role and makes it truly memorable with her quiet confidence and beautiful singing voice.

Sweeney Todd is one of the best musicals made in recent years. I love how Tim Burton combined silent movie horror with the more bloody, gory horror of the present. I am still impressed with all of the acting, no matter how small the role. It is a film I will be watching again and again for many years to come.

My rating: 10/10 fishmuffins