‘Cult icon Mimsy Farmer was a pretty hazel-eyed blonde with the fragile features of a Mia Farrow or Yvette Mimieux and the independent streak of a Tuesday Weld. After playing the innocent virgin in a few movies and on TV, she essayed restless youth roles in a string of AIP drive-in exploitation movies in the late Sixties. Farmer then relocated to Europe, where with a whole new look, she became an international sensation in 1969 due to her mesmerizing performance as a heroin addict in More. Thereafter she remained in Italy in a series of popular European giallos and horror films between some acclaimed dramas that never found their way to the U.S.
‘Mimsy Farmer was born Merle Farmer in Chicago. Her parents, Arch and Suzette Farmer, were reporters for the Chicago Herald Tribune. Though named after her father’s favorite brother, she always went by the nickname Mimsy, which came from her mother who Mimsy suspects took it from the poem “The Jabberwocky” used in Alice in Wonderland. When their daughter was about four years old, the Farmers moved to Hollywood when Mimsy’s father took a job writing news for NBC-TV’s Los Angeles affiliate. While attending Hollywood High, the lovely teenager was discovered by an agent and almost immediately landed roles on TV’s My Three Sons and The Donna Reed Show.
‘Mimsy came close to replacing Sandra Dee as Gidget in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961), but the producers opted for Deborah Walley. As consolation, they gave her a bit uncredited role. Her official film debut was in the heartwarming or mawkish (depending on your taste—there is no in-between) family drama Spencer’s Mountain (1963). It was based on the novel by Earl Hamner, Jr., who later created the popular seventies television drama, The Waltons, and set in scenic Wyoming with the majestic mountain peaks of the Grand Teton Range as background.
‘Unhappy with her performance in Spencer’s Mountain, Mimsy began studying with esteemed acting coach Jeff Corey. Despite keeping busy on television including guest appearances on The Outer Limits and Perry Mason, Farmer kept her job selling candy at a local movie theater. She finally left it when she returned to the big screen in the soapy Bus Riley’s Back in Town (1965) directed by Harvey Hart from a screenplay by William Inge who had his name removed from the credits when Universal ordered a script re-write to make the film more of a vehicle for Ann-Margret. Aping James Dean, the brooding Michael Parks played a disillusioned sailor returning home after three years at sea. He finds his sultry ex-girlfriend (Ann-Margret) unhappily married to a wealthy older man, his job prospects bleak, and his younger sister (Farmer) has become the town tart. The film was not well-received though Farmer does well with her role.
‘For drive-in movie fans, 1967 was a banner year for Mimsy Farmer who had three films in release. Despite her ambition not to become an idol for the young, she became very popular with teenage audiences for a short period of time and began her ascension to cult movie actress. First up was the explosive youth exploitation classic Hot Rods to Hell from quickie producer Sam Katzman for MGM and directed by John Brahm whom Mimsy liked a lot. She credited him for teaching her the trick to crying on screen with a little help from glycerin drops in the eye. Originally made for television as 52 Miles to Terror, it was deemed to violent and released to drive-ins throughout the country instead with a more exploitative title. This was Farmer’s first real bad girl role after playing mostly ingénues. The worried actress remarked that she was cast by her looks alone and hoped she wasn’t going to now be typecast.
‘Mimsy Farmer and Laurie Mock were teamed again by producer Sam Katzman in her most notorious movie from this period, Riot on Sunset Strip. However, the roles were switched as Mock was cast as the out-for-kicks Liz-Ann friend of Farmer’s more conservative Andy who was described in the press book as “a real swinger, who took her first ‘trip’…all the way to Hell and back!” All the ingredients were present—hippies, LSD, protestors, free love, mod fashions, police brutality— to make Riot on Sunset Strip a camp classic of the alienated youth movie genre. The movie’s standout scene is Farmer’s wild LSD freak out dance where she writhes around the floor in her mod mini-dress gazing in wonder at her hands and feet. She then begins dancing around shaking her wild mane of hair ala Ann-Margret (critic Clifford Terry described it as “a dry-land water ballet”). Whatever you label it, it has become a YouTube favorite much to Farmer’s bemusement.
‘Unhappy with her husband and her career in Hollywood, Mimsy headed for Vancouver on advice from actor Peter Brown who told her about HollywoodHospital where they experimented with LSD and psychotherapy. After her own session, she began working there but quit when she realized the hospital never followed up with their patients after their “treatment.” Still in Vancouver, she received a life changing phone call from director Daniel Haller (one of her favorite directors) who wanted her for the female lead in his new movie The Wild Racers (1968), which was going to be shot on location throughout Europe. Mimsy played Katherine the girlfriend of race car driver Joe Joe Quillico (Fabian) who progresses from U.S. stockcar racing to traveling the European Grand Prix circuit. The more successful he becomes, the more his relationship with Katherine crumbles. This was the only film the actress did for AIP that was not a hit with the drive-in crowd. In an interview with the Oakland Tribune, Haller opined that it was a picture “too esoteric in its treatment to make as much money as it should have.”
‘Deciding to remain in Europe, Farmer sought out work there and landed the female lead in More (1969), first time director Barbet Schroeder’s cautionary tale of drug taking with an original song score by Pink Floyd. The actress was introduced to Schroeder by The Wild Racers’ cinematographer Nestor Almendros and associate producer Pierre Cottrell. Though not completely happy with the script or things her character had to do in it, Farmer accepted the role in part because she would get to work with her two friends again. The movie was filmed on a shoestring budget, but you would never guess that when watching the movie.
‘More was an international sensation and really clicked with young people of the time. It helped to kick off Mimsy Farmer’s European career, which lasted for over 20 years. Her films included Dario Argento’s suspenseful psychological thriller Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971) and Lucio Fulci’s The Black Cat (1981). Her last acting credit is the Italian TV-movie Safari (1991) for director Roger Vadim. Today, Mimsy concentrates on her art (displayed on her web site www.mimsyfarmer.com) and sculpture work, which can be seen in such movies as Blueberry (2004), Troy (2004), Marie Antoinette (2006), The Golden Compass (2007), and Clash of the Titans (2010).’ — Sixties Cinema
___
Stills
___
Further
Mimsy Farmer @ IMDb
Mimsy Farmer Website
Mimsy Farmer Info Site
‘648: MIMSY FARMER’
‘façade: Mimsy Farmer’
‘Hommage à Mimsy Farmer’
Mimsy Farmer films @ MUBI
‘THE TRACK (1975) and more from Mimsy Farmer’
___
Extras
Alain Delon & Mimsy Farmer 1975
Bob Adkins interviews Mimsy Farmer and James MacArthur
A song by Nicola Piovani, performed by Mimsy Farmer
Mimsy Farmer Tribute
______
Interview
Your first big movie role was in Spencer’s Mountain. What was it like to work on this?
When we made Spencer’s Mountain I was fifteen and a half. I was accompanied by my mother and a teacher, and spent most of my time with them (or riding horseback) when I wasn’t working. I didn’t have many scenes with Henry Fonda who seemed pretty miserable and spent most of his time at the local café, or Maureen O’Hara who was also fairly distant. James MacArthur, who was quite a bit older than me, was nice but the person I felt most comfortable with was Wally Cox who seemed to take me more seriously and taught me some lovely Elizabethan songs, which I still remember. Delmer Daves [the director] was more concerned about my weight than about my acting, unfortunately, and kept telling me, ‘watch your bottom honey.’
What do you recall most about your second film Bus Riley’s Back in Town with Michael Parks and Ann-Margret?
I just remember being impressed by being on the same set with Jocelyn Brando [who played her mother], as much as if she’d been Marlon [her brother].
Hot Rods to Hell was your first real big screen bad girl role. What attracted you to the part?
I needed to work and couldn’t wait for a better offer. I also thought, ‘If Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crane had accepted who the hell was I to be finicky?’
Your next three movies were for American International Pictures. Did you sign a contract with them?
No, I had no contract with AIP but I was supporting my ‘cowboy’ husband [he was from Brooklyn and failing to get work as a stuntman in Hollywood] and a bunch of animals. The better directors were not lining up in front of my door pleading for me to be in their movies. They didn’t even know I existed.
You have a great LSD freak-out scene in Riot on Sunset Strip. Do you remember anything special about it or the movie itself?
That ‘great LSD freak-out scene,’ which I took very seriously at the time, has since become for me a source of amusement tinged with embarrassment. Somewhere on the internet someone said, ‘that scene is so bad, that it’s hilarious.’ I agree. I was pretty naive back then and so earnest!
In Devil’s Angels you played a local girl who makes trouble for the Hell’s Angels led by John Cassavetes. How was it to work with him?
I really liked Daniel Haller [the director], a very nice man, and admired John Cassevetes, also a very nice guy. All Cassavetes and I talked about was how much he missed his wife. Actually, I mostly listened. Anyway, doing a movie with him, even though he wasn’t directing it, was a step in the right direction.
Your last AIP movie was Wild Racers with Fabian and your second film directed by Daniel Haller.
I’d left my ‘cowboy’ husband and was working in a hospital in Canada where they were using LSD as a tool for psycho-therapy. The experience was enlightening but disappointing. When Daniel Haller called me, I jumped at the chance to go to Europe and also to see my brother Philip, who was living in London at the time. It was the best move I’d made up to then and I loved traveling in France, Spain, and Holland.
After accepting the role in More did the nudity ever become a concern? A number of your ‘60s contemporaries would not take roles where they has to be naked.
No, not all. Nudity was an integral part of the movies in which I appeared naked. Being flat-chested and boyish helped a lot and, I hope, there was nothing vulgar or lewd about these scenes.
Do you consider More of your best or important movies? Back then you remarked that you thought the idea of marijuana leading to heroin addiction was not believable.
I don’t think it is my best movie, though the role was interesting and Nestor Almendros’ photography was gorgeous. It was, though, very important for my career, both in the positive and in the negative sense. Its success in France was huge and overnight I became a ‘star’ but, as is often the case, I became ‘type cast’ and most of the roles directors offered me subsequently were those of neurotic or outright mad young women. Well, I can’t complain.
It’s true that I said, and still believe, that smoking grass does not in itself lead to shooting heroin. I know many people who light up a joint from time to time who have never touched anything harder and never will, myself included (though now I prefer a good glass of wine).
How would you rate Barbet Schroeder as a director? In an interview you gave to the New York Times you were unhappy with some of his directorial choices.
Well, I think now, that I was silly to berate Barbet and his movie at the time but I still think that it’s naive and moralistic and some of the scenes were an embarrassment to do, all the ‘Zen’ and ‘Lotus’ shots and the ‘unexplored brain’ nonsense. What I didn’t say though was that his movie was pretty daring and unconventional for those years, in Europe anyway, and that he was a better than average director.
Did you find a big difference between working in Europe versus Hollywood?
In Europe, actors were not shuffled off to their trailers between shots and were invited to participate and collaborate with the director and other crew members. It was so different. Nobody was anxious about my ‘bottom’ (admittedly much diminished) and nobody was redesigning my eyebrows and curling my hair. I just had the feeling that nobody wanted me to act or look like anyone but myself—such a relief!
Were you surprised that More was such a hit especially in France?
Yes, More got its chance because it had been so successful at the Cannes film festival but was blasted by the critics in the U.S. Of me, Newsweek said, “She acts the range of emotions from A to B.” Bette Davis once said, ‘Old age ain’t for sissies.’ I say, neither is being an actor!
You seem to have a healthy attitude about bad reviews.
For me, the movies I’ve done aren’t only about how they turned out but also, who was involved in them. Also, on the whole, when you’ve decided to live and work in a foreign country, you are the foreigner, and if you’re an actor there are limits to which and how many roles you’re going to be offered and if you’re working to make a living you can’t be too choosey and you’re mostly grateful when you can work.
___________________
15 of Mimsy Farmer’s 68 roles
______________
John Brahm Hot Rods to Hell (1967)
‘Hot Rods to Hell begins with corn and is full of corn, though it hits the viewer in waves rather than consistently. No amount of acting talent could have made this film phenomenal, as much of the cheese comes from the script itself. It is amplified, however, by often-exaggerated performances and a plethora of sudden zooms (for “dramatic” effect – usually on Dana Andrews’ face). One thing the film wins legitimate cool points for is style. Hot Rods to Hell is full of great music. Mimsy Farmer rocks some totally groovy outfits. The outfits worn by Gloria and Tina are completely indicative of the late ’60s, which enthusiasts of the era (myself included) will love.’ — The Motion Pictures
Trailer
Excerpt
______________
Arthur Dreifuss Riot On Sunset Strip (1967)
‘For about the first two-thirds of the feature, both freaks and cops are sympathetically portrayed. The bad guys appear to be—in art as in life—the Sunset Strip merchants and business owners who used the police to harass longhairs. Wise as Solomon, patient as Job, the paternal Lieutenant Walt Lorimer (Aldo Ray) is the movie’s hero. He tries to broker a deal between the establishment and the freaks, whose number includes his estranged (because mom is a lush) daughter Andy (Mimsy Farmer). If a well-meaning liberal had written an episode of Dragnet, it would look something like this part of the movie. But at 47:55, a hippie cad doses Andy’s diet soda, and the application of a phasing effect to the electric blues on the soundtrack signals that all hell is about to break loose; though slow to build, the freakout that follows is epic, in the sense that it is very long. Now, the movie turns into a regular episode of Dragnet: five wasted youths, who have degenerated through regular acid use to the level of rutting curs, rape Andy while she trips. (If you’re thinking it’s like that scene in Touch of Evil, guess again.) Lt. Walt, who hasn’t seen his daughter in years, finds her naked at the scene of the crime, and suddenly the wealthy businessmen of the Sunset Strip don’t look like the bad guys anymore.’ — Dangerous Minds
Trailer
Excerpt
______________
Daniel Haller Devil’s Angels (1967)
‘With only a $4 million gross, Devil’s Angels may not have been a major hit for AIP, but it’s still an interesting and well-done biker film which features several highly recognizable faces from 1960s/70s cinema and television such as Marc Cavell (Cool Hand Luke), Russ Bender (Bonanza), Buck Taylor (Gunsmoke), Bruce Kartalian (The Outlaw Josey Wales) and Mitzi Hoag (Deadly Game). Although not nearly as well-remembered as the Dennis Hopper/Peter Fonda 1969 classic Easy Rider nor as hard-hitting as Al Adamson’s Satan’s Sadists from the same year, Devil’s Angels is a solidly-made, quirky and enjoyable exploitation film that benefits most from a wonderfully complex performance by the legendary John Cassavetes as well as an entertaining and thoughtful screenplay by the extremely underrated Charles Griffith. There’s also a terrific musical score written by Mike Curb and performed by Sidewalk Productions. Not to mention a catchy theme song by Jerry and the Portraits with additional music courtesy of Dave Allen and the Arrows.’ — Cinema Retro
Trailer
the entire film
_____________
Daniel Haller & Roger Corman The Wild Racers (1968)
‘Fabian plays Joe Joe Quillico, a cocky, womanizing, race car driver who loves to win! This is not your average racing movie. Filmed in Europe it has a distinctive “art film” feel with interesting edits and scene structure. And it’s got a lot of Grand Prix racing footage! Joe Joe Quillico is hired by a race car owner/businessman to be runner-up for a veteran driver in the year’s big European trophy races. Joe Joe doesn’t like coming in second and blows an engine disobeying the owner’s directive to not win. Eventually Joe Joe is given a shot; he wins a few races and becomes the toast of the European racing circuit. Now he’s a celebrity, gets product endorsement deals and parties like a wild man all while his ego explodes. He uses chicks as if he’s testing race cars!’ — The Video Beat
Trailer
Roger Corman on THE WILD ANGELS
______________
Barbet Schroeder More (1969)
‘The first directorial effort by Barbet Schroeder, the film became a hit in Europe, and today has now achieved the status of “cult classic”. Starring Mimsy Farmer and Klaus Grünberg, it is principally set on the sun-drenched Spanish island of Ibiza. A young German student, Stefan (Grunberg), is taking a break from his university studies. He hitchhikes to Paris for some freedom. He says he wants to be warm for a change, to have a chance to see the Sun. While at a party in Paris, Stefan meets a free-spirited American girl named Estelle (Farmer). He is instantly drawn to Estelle, and pursues her. He will even eventually follow her to the island of Ibiza. In Ibiza they slowly begin a relationship. Estelle introduces Stefan to many pleasures and freedoms, including taking drugs. Ultimately he will even try heroin, to which he eventually becomes addicted. The results are tragic. Schroeder has said that the story of More was modeled on the myth of Icarus and Daedalus, “with Estelle representing the Sun”. The film was shot on location by the legendary cinematographer Nestor Almendros, who was to become a long-time collaborator with Schroeder. More debuted in Cannes at the 22nd Cannes Film Festival, in May of 1969, and the U.S. premiere was in New York in August, 1969. The film’s musical score was unique for the time, as it was written and performed by the group Pink Floyd, they would later release the music as an album, Soundtrack from the film More. The score is now one of the reasons of its cult status.’ — BBS
Excerpt
the entire film
_______________
Georges Lautner Road To Salina (1970)
‘It was the last movie acted in by Ed Begley, who died the same year it was released. It was the third-to-last for Rita Hayworth, and her role as an out-to-lunch marm is eerie when you consider that she was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. It was the only English language movie directed by Georges Lautner, who was a household name in his native France if not a universally appreciated auteur. The film is based on the French novel Sur La Route de Salina, penned by the ridiculously obscure writer Maurice Cury. The theme to its soundtrack (which is stunningly good) was used by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill Vol 2. There’s nothing particularly strange about the actors who played the two lead roles, but they’re both intriguing thespians. Mimsy Farmer, a quirky American beauty who had recently moved to Europe (she’s never left) and was just beginning a run of notable Euro art house film appearances, portrays a sexy psycho chick in a role not completely dissimilar to the one she’d done the year before in Barbet Schroeder’s cult classic More. The main male part, a hippy drifter, is ably handled by Robert Walker, Jr. son of acting people Jennifer Jones and Walker, Sr. (film noir lovers might remember Walker, Sr.’s beautifully perfect portrayal of the creepy Bruno in Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train).’ –– criminal element
Trailer
_______________
Dario Argento Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)
‘The little-seen Four Flies on Grey Velvet is perhaps most remarkable for it’s unusual spiritual underpinnings and Dario Argento’s deft attention for sexual signifiers. The title of this third and final film in Argento’s “animal trilogy” is as egregious as the weird science that literalizes the eye as a photographic camera. Rock star Roberto Tobias (Michael Brandon) leaves his rehearsal studio and follows a mysterious figure into an empty theater where he struggles with the switchblade-wielding man. Roberto accidentally stabs the man, who falls evocatively into the theater’s orchestra pit. From a balcony, a masked figure captures the moment on camera. If Argento’s signature use of a black-gloved killer is noticeably absent, this is compensated by the presence of Brandon himself, whose striking features recall those of the giallo director’s. There isn’t much to Four Flies on Grey Velvet besides pent-up rage though much of the film’s sexual frenzy prefigures themes from Deep Red.’ — Slant Magazine
Trailer
Excerpt
_____________
Fabio Carpi Body of Love (1972)
‘A father and a son meet for a holiday on a beach. The father is 62 and a researcher of insect life, the son is 15 and at a boarding school. They don’t have to say much to each other and both agree to „stop the experiment”. But then they come across the inert body of an unconscious young woman. They carry her to their beach house. She regains consciousness and it turns out that she speaks a language they do not understand. They treat her as their property, take her to the beach, to the small restaurant nearby and on boat trips. The woman’s presence enables father and son to come to terms. One day she disappears and they find her together with her hunky diver boyfriend who speaks her language as well as theirs. Father and son don’t like this intrusion into their harmonious triangle and they start fiddling with the hunk’s oxygen tanks …’ — manuel-pestalozzi
Excerpt
Mimsy Farmer on the set of Body of Love
______________
Francesco Barilli The Perfume of the Lady in Black (1974)
‘Written and directed by Francesco Barilli, Il profumo della signora in nero (The Perfume of the Lady in Black) is one of most bizarre Italian giallo films of the 1970s. Starring American actress Mimsy Farmer, the film tells the story of Silvia Hacherman, an industrial chemist who tries to escape from her troubled past. A series of musical and visual cues trigger terrifying visions as Silvia becomes the focus of a series of murders inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland…’ — Quartet Records
the entire film
_______________
Armando Crispino Autopsy (1975)
‘Like most gialli, the plot is convoluted and contrived, and the mystery unsolvable. Much is made of Mimsy Farmer’s obsession with death, sexual frigidity, and ambiguous relationship with her father, but director Crispino is little interested in subtext and motivation. Of course, one doesn’t watch a film like this for the story and theme, but rather the cinematography, graphic violence, and over-the-top acting. Autopsy doesn’t disappoint in any of these areas. Shot in Rome on a decent budget, Autopsy is a great film to look at. The colors are rich and vibrant. The camera work and editing, while not on par with Dario Argento, effectively conveys the lead character’s paranoia and disorientation. There is little onscreen carnage after the opening suicide montage. To make up for it, director Crispino gives us good, long looks at Mimsy’s research subject: cold, black-and-white photos of crime scenes, autopsies, and medical anomalies. While arguably a cheap ploy, these are real, grotesque, and sometimes strangely beautiful, and give the film an understated feeling of unease that a dozen fake splatter scenes couldn’t equal.’ — Classic Horror
Trailer
All Death Scenes
_______________
Serge Leroy La Traque (1975)
‘La Traque is an undeservedly obscure French drama/thriller that is incredibly tense, intelligent, compelling and unpredictable. The title, plot synopsis and awesome movie poster make you assume that this is another variant on the The Most Dangerous Game in combination with Straw Dogs or Deliverance, but the film is much more than that. It’s a dreary Sunday and a bunch of macho males gather in the countryside for an afternoon of wild boar hunting. The group of acquaintances (I really wouldn’t refer to them as close friends) exists of prominent aristocrats, like a land owner and an aspiring senator, as well as middle class guys, like a pair of car mechanic brothers and a former military man. During the hunt, the Danville brothers encounter Helen Wells, a beautiful English tourist searching for a country cottage to rent during the holidays. They viciously rape the defenseless poor girl, but she manages to wound Paul Danville and flee into the forest. Although none of the other hunting party members is responsible for what happened, they all have their own dark secrets and absolutely want to avoid getting linked to a scandal. Therefore, rather than helping Helen, they decide to collectively track her down and silence her. The acts and decisions taken by the lead characters may seem illogical and revolting, but they’re actually very realistic and plausible. In fact, La Traque is much more of a social character study instead of a rancid backwoods thriller. Real human beings are much more cowardly and self-protective than the heroes depicted in movies, as illustrated in the unforgettably bleak finale. The atmosphere of the film is thoroughly grim and depressing, with fantastic exterior locations and powerful camera-work. The all-star cast is sublime, with particularly Mimsy Farmer, Michael Longsdale and Jean-Pierre Marielle giving away solid performances.’ — Coventry
the entire film
________________
Marco Ferreri Bye Bye Monkey (1978)
‘Never one to embrace the ordinary, Italian arthouse director Marco Ferreri went hog wild with this New York City-based oddity starring Gerard Depardieu (back in his early, more subversive years, before turning into a fat French joke). And if you thought Ferreri’s LA GRANDE BOUFFE or THE LAST WOMAN were strange, he was simply warming up for this wrongheaded vision of America. The plot alone is enough to leave your queasy, with Depardieu playing a French cad (a big stretch, eh?) who works with a troupe of half-baked radical feminists (isn’t that redundant?) who feels they can’t effectively argue against rape until they’ve actually experienced the act firsthand. Later, he runs into eccentric old fart Marcello Mastroianni, who, while roaming Lower Manhattan, stumbles across a giant (fake) ape lying dead near the Hudson at the foot of the World Trade Center (shades of Dino DeL.’s KING KONG!), with a baby chimpanzee buried in its fur. And it’s no surprise when Depardieu adopts the cute li’l hairball, since they almost look like father ‘n’ son. The plot continues to spin uncontrollably.’ — Shock Cinema
Excerpt
________________
Lucio Fulci The Black Cat (1981)
‘From Italy’s own Godfather of Gore Lucio Fulci (Zombie, The Gates of Hell) comes The Black Cat – a gruesome reimagining of the classic Edgar Allan Poe tale starring Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange) and Mimsy Farmer (The Perfume of the Lady in Black). When a young couple goes missing in a sleepy English village, Scotland Yard Inspector Gorley (David Warbeck, The Beyond) is brought in to assist on the case. But what starts off as routine investigation turns into a murder inquiry when the couple are found dead in mysterious circumstances. Fusing a classically gothic atmosphere with the decidedly more visceral elements that are the hallmark of Fulci’s films, The Black Cat is a too-often overlooked and underrated entry in the Italian master filmmaker’s canon.’ — Arrow Films
Trailer
Excerpt
_______________
Ruggero Deodato Bodycount (1987)
‘Although no film with David Hess, Mimsy Farmer AND Charles Napier could be a complete waste of time, BODY COUNT is still fairly routine. In addition to showdown!some fairly bad dialogue, it also features the most annoying variation on the chubby practical-joker character that I’ve ever seen, and it takes entirely too long for the killer to end the audience’s discomfort. Still, it’s rarely boring, with a few good moments, and many of the murders are pretty graphic (if not as gory as I’d been led to believe; I mean, this was directed by the same guy that helmed CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1979), for pete’s sake!)’ — Hysteria Lives
Excerpt
the entire film
_____________
Lewis Klahr Her Fragrant Emulsion (1987)
‘HER FRAGRANT EMULSION is an obsessional homage to the 60’s B-film actress Mimsy Farmer. The film’s visceral collage images act as a metaphor for sensuality and move in and out of sync with the soundtrack to evoke the distancing and intimacy cycles that are common in love relationships.’ –L. K.
*
p.s. RIP Lionel Soukaz ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. It’s great. I think Millhauser is one of the very, very best fiction writers in the US. Always a total pleasure. Hope you enjoy ‘Shame’. Wintery is such an appealing word, and I hope your weekend’s surroundings live up to it. ** Steeqhen, My favorite things tend to be things with high ambitions but without the means to achieve said ambitions. Zac’s and my films are always about that. As well as being perfect examples, haha. I’ll just peek at R&P, at least to start. Oh, well, good that you’ll have DH’s take to bounce off of. I get those random moments all the time, in fact. As much as I’m mostly drawn to experimental music, a perfectly constructed pop song is a heady drug. Great, your posted piece! I’ll devour it at the soonest opp. Everyone, Steeqhen has written what is no doubt a superb think-piece on his Substack about David Lynch entitled ‘David Lynch’s Emotional Resonance’, and you are hereby recommended to spend a little time there with attentive eyeballs. Go here. ** Misanthrope, Indeed. Do your very best, and fuck knows you already are. I’ll be chilling but hopefully working in my portion of the chill. ** Jack Skelley, It’s divinity. And we get to speak about it tomorrow. I’m very curious about Omar King’s book. I met him, and he is a serious total trip of a guy. Curious to hear your thoughts on him and, well, the event too. And the Movie Club thing. Wow, fun. God knows we all need every bit of respite we can get these days. ** Charalampos, I’m happy you’re on board with that novel. It’s a singular masterpiece if you ask me. ** Tyler Ookami, Hey. Yeah, I just literally cannot take reggae. It’s so not my rhythm or mindset. I really like dub and ska and toasters, and breakbeat ragga now that you mention it, but not just plain old reggae. It has the opposite of its intended effect on me. It just makes me tense. Strange. Yeah, Laika had the rights to ‘God Jr’ for about ten years. They intended it to be their first combo animation-plus-live action film, but I think they never quite ended up making that leap. I personally also quite like ‘Paranorman’, and ‘Box Trolls’ too to some degree. But, yes, they’re not the same group as they were back then. They were really interesting people. I had exciting conversations with them. ** James, It’ll be sad the day the blog shows you something, and you think, ‘Oh god, that again’. It’s a great novel. I very highly recommend it. I suppose I see the keys on a keyboard as technologically advanced pens perhaps. No muss, no fuss. I’m meh on beer, but I do like cider. Most hippies these days just seem like tech bros waiting for a barber. I applaud, no, wait, give you standing ovation for your day spent with GbV. I alway have to think when UK people say biscuit because the US definition of biscuit is something entirely different. Enjoy your relaxing weekend and get those eyelids of yours springy. ** Chris Kelso, Thanks, yeah, me too. 15 days is not insane. We shot ‘Permanent Green Light’ in 12 days. You just have to be extremely prepared and basically have every shot pre-planned and have your performers really ready to jump right into their characters because there’s no time to experiment on that schedule. I think I’m cool with YouTube game players. Watching them often helps me decide if I want to spring for a game or not. But, yeah, the less blathering the better. ‘All the Devil’s Are Here’, no, but I’ll hunt it assuming you’re recommending a hunt. Have a swell weekend, bud. ** Steve, Oops. Ah! Everyone, Steve has launched a new music track, “This Is The Water”, which I believe is a kind of an homage to the recently late Mr. Lynch if I’m not mistaken. You can listen to it, etc. here. Thanks, I’ll try to check out that analog series. My understanding is that we will be able to announce the World Premiere somewhere around the end of this month. ** Lucas, Hi. That makes sense. Yeah, I mean that’s obviously a big strength of the film. It just didn’t sit right with me. Totally subjectivity on my part there. My weekend? Well, yesterday when I was eating vegan Vietnamese food with friends half of one of my teeth broke off, so today I need to decide if I can live with a broken tooth or if I have to go to the dentist, and I’m really hoping it’s the former. Otherwise, work on the new film script, supervise some last little SFX work on ‘RT’, do my biweekly Zoom book/film club tomorrow. Like that. Xiu Xiu is back in Europe already? Wow. Have major fun. ** HaRpEr, True, but they’re just smart enough to know when they’ve been embarrassed, even if they can’t show that, happily. Actually, to finish my bully story, that boy, whose name was Scott, ended up falling in love with one of his straight friends and confessed to the friend who then told everybody about it, so Scott was outed, which wasn’t an easy thing back in the late 60s, and then after high school he moved to San Francisco and became a wild gay slut and ended up dying of AIDS, which is the really sad ending. It does sound maybe like ADHD. I hope you can just dismiss his shit and roll your eyes or something. But that’s annoying. You started filming, wow, cool. The editing is the best part. I think I partly make films just so I can edit them. Due to our having been stiffed during post-production by our monstrous ex-producer, Zac and I ended up editing ‘RT’ for six months by default, which was such a joy. The Millhauser novel is amazing. He’s an extraordinary writer. ** Dan Carroll, Hi. Yes, do read ‘Edwin Mullhouse’ if you can. It’s really singular and great. So far so good with the job, it sounds like. I guess that could get lonely and old, but … Yes, wonderful Millhauser quote. Hey, have a really fine weekend, Dan. ** Okay. If you’re not yet acquainted with the oeuvre of the beloved cult actor Mimsy Farmer this weekend offers you an opportunity to incorporate her. See you on Monday.
Now available in North America 
Hi Dennis. Giallo representation, yay! This is another person I only know from Argento, so I’ll definitely check out the other things on this list. Another actor you’ve profiled/platformed/dissected recently is Parker Posey – and she’s in the new season of White Lotus, so that should be interesting. I assume you haven’t watched it, but it’s definitely extremely good pop music-type TV, rather than GbV. The second season has this great baroque coven of older gay men + their idiotic but very buff houseboy familars – so, hopefully more of that coming up.
Seeing my boyfriend today, in Paris (!) for a week, which is awesome! Another anecdote – with no intended takeaway or emotion, as usual. I usually cut a little when I’m unhappy, as a lot of people in my generation do. Normally, I avoid it if I’m going to see my parents, doctor, therapist or boyfriend in less than a month, to avoid awkward conversations or displays of pity, but given that my boyfriend invited me away basically out of nowhere, I’ve got a set of 14-day-old cuts on my forearm – so, when he takes off my shirt, presumably later tonight, I’m going to have a moment out of a reality TV cooking show – the celebrity chef taking a bite out of a meal, and letting the music and tension build as he thoughtfully chews, before giving his verdict, if that makes any sense as a parallel.
Anyway, hmmm. If you know of anything you find interesting in Paris, please do let me know. I’m probably going to read Mr. Kelso’s “On Melting” on the train, which seems like a treat. Other than that, happy weekend, et cetera, et cetera. See ya!
That’s good advice. I’m going to storyboard the scenes myself. It’s all very DIY in that sense, but we still really need that core funding to ensure the whole thing doesn’t sink like a stone. I’ll let you know how things go.
There are a few YouTubers I like. Standouts for me are CJU, who does good playthroughs of Indie horror games, and Jacob Geller who does good video essays on games. A lot of the kids I teach are quite disengaged because they all think they’re going to be professional YouTubers and content creators. It’s actually quite depressing, lol
I’d definitely recommend All the Devil’s are Here. It’s Seabrook’s only book – he committed suicide shortly after its publication. Again, very sad to lose such a talent. I feel like those genius ‘weird and eerie’ guys like Joel Lane, Mark Fisher, et al, were profoundly unhappy with the state of the world (post-capitalism, etc) and just couldn’t cope. I wonder what they’d have thought of 2025.
I sent you a wee email. Hope it arrives safely!
Stay well, D!
Chris
I don’t know Farmer, nor do I know the women with which she is compared. Arch is a unique first name. The Jabberwocky poem is probably why Mimsy sounded slightly familiar. Jobs in a movie theatre sound tolerable. Not sure if it’s a typo but ‘Joe Joe Quillico’ – Joe twice – is a cool name. I do wonder what a life as the source of many teenage fixations would be. And I can’t really imagine life as a teenage actor, either. Cassavetes is a surname I like, as is Crispino. And early medicine is always funny – earlier medicine, when it comes to using LSD for psycho-therapy is funny too, reminds me of Lot 49’s Dr. Hilarius. I have yet to be able to appreciate wine. Sudden zooms can be very funny, in film. Nobody seems to use ‘cad’ anymore, which is a shame. Road to Salina looks pretty. I’ve got no idea if road trips themselves are enjoyable in real life. If I had grown up watching the weird kind of films that feature so often on the blog it’d probably have interestingly affected me. Happy Mimsy Farmer day.
Hullo, D-Dawg. The day that the blog shows me something fully familiar has yet to happen, and even if that does, I doubt ‘oh God”ll be in my mind. I’d like to think I’d react a bit more amiably – ‘oh, this again! I remember this!’ or something similarly chummy.
I’ve marked Millhouse. Price-wise, hiked up higher than I was expecting, but I can find workarounds. Novel recommendations are always welcome.
The keyboard is an evolution of the typewriter, I suppose. Or, was a *part* of the typewriter, only now it less often involves ink being physically stamped onto a page, which will always be a satisfying thing. To hear and to feel and to look at. I need to touch a typewriter before I die. Pens have lids, and I case keys kind of do. Pens are more portable than keyboards. I think I prefer the latter, though. Tippy-tapping-typing is so fun and fast.
I drank some cider, earlier this evening. Twas alright. I’m drinking hot chocolate, currently, somewhat spoiling myself.
Tech bros aren’t really my type, nor are hippies, but the idea of more tech-y hippies might be interesting.
The standing ovation is *most* appreciated. I bow and curtsey and accept the roses, plaudits, etc. with appropriate poise. Haven’t been listening to as much music today. In fact, I’ve only listened to 9 songs so far, and it’s 10:09pm right now.
U.S. biscuits are baffling things. As far as I know they seem very dehydrated and dry things, at least, that applies to those of the Popeyes variety. Me and America are strangers, mostly, and the food is a bit much for me.
My eyelids are springier right now than they were last night, when I was up until 4am. Admittedly, not a wise choice. I slept in until half 12, so that was relaxing, and then the bulk of today was spent at a friend’s house for his birthday. A girl I know said to me ‘I don’t see you as a male’ which was, well, quite a thing to hear said to my face, and I saw a guy I haven’t seen in like, 6 years. And he was super cute, I spent most of my time there staring at him and fantasising – finishing Frisk last night has evidently done something to me. There was a lot of intense eye contact between us, for long periods of time. Sigh, should’ve asked for his number or something. Definitely need to go to bed earlier tonight, not least so I can have some more time with My Loose Thread, which quite handily fits just about in my jacket pockets. Best with your and everyone else’s Saturday nights and Sundays. Tschuss!
Hey Dennis,
Feel like I’ll need to come up with some greeting that is distinct to me, but my brain doesn’t have that capacity right now — I’ve been dissertation focused these past 48 hours. Right now I’m giving myself a bit of a mental break after being out for my friend’s birthday (which was itself a break from the amount of work I was doing).
I agree about high ambitions without the means. Feeling the heart of the art shining through the shoddy effects or cheap set-pieces will always be better than the coldness of films that feel like schemes. In music too, I love to listen to Liz Phair’s early Girlysounds tapes more than some of her actual released music.
I remember reading this book about Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell, and it referred back to this moment in ‘This Flight Tonight’ off Blue where the song turns into Joni pretending to be the doo-wop song playing on the radio, and how it captures the way that sometimes a pop song can capture an emotional so intensely, especially in periods of heightened emotion. I had this experience one time, in the midst of some crazy depressive episode that had me drop out of secondary school and self isolate bar going to work at a pharmacy (it was a funny precursor to covid lockdowns a few months later), I had watched Mulholland Drive a few weeks ago and had that experience I wrote about in that Lynch piece. Then, that evening, I watched Little Women and became a weeping mess from it. I go home, listen to music and Heart of Glass by Blondie came on… in my delusional state, it sounded like Debbie Harry was singing directly at me, almost mocking me, and I ended up crying and thrashing my room. It was a crazy experience, borderline cathartic.
I love to keep up with the current pop, even when I don’t particularly care for an artist, i will always go through their albums. I enjoy Sabrina Carpenter, though her album was hit or miss. Everyone I talk to is in agreement that she’s just so likable because she exudes this coolness that is also coupled with her ability to insert comedy into her music and her performances. Olivia Rodrigo is someone I see a lot of potential in. At the moment I enjoy a lot of her stuff passively, some I really love. Give her a couple of years and I think she could grow into a really interesting musician, if she continues to be introspective in her writing. She also has that self-effacement yet coolness that Sabrina has; I expect a collab between them is imminent, in the vein of Brandy and Monica’s ‘The Boy is Mine’ (considering the had that messy Disney Channel love triangle that kickstarted their careers).
At the moment, I’m doing that first chapter draft, which exists so well in my head, only to struggle emerging like some shy turtle. Or that feeling of ‘needing to go’ that scratches at your rectum, only to find nothing will emerge (to be a bit more on-brand). In my head I have it go from focusing on Rimbaud, his work and life and how his debauchery and provocative nature helped his writing, and inspired generations after generation of artists. Then get onto de Sade, speaking about the death of the author, both literally and figuratively, and how reviled his work was (the Moors Murders and all that controversy), but repeat how important his work was in regards to philosophy and poetry. I want to even get into how the fact that his work has people respond so extremely is vital; whether they adore or abhor him, the mere existence of his work has had the greatest minds question the nature of morality. Then, as the next two chapters are about you, dear blog-maestro, I will get into Bresson, though I’m trying to think about how to link him into the other two. At the moment I feel like fixating on his filmmaking style, though I’ll probably find a way.
Ultimately this draft does not need to be good, it just needs to exist, yet I’m almost paralyzed by the thought of writing it. I’ve done so much research, yet it still feels like I don’t know enough, and the constant jumping between Bataille and Jenks and Foucault and Girard and biographies and essays is imploding my brain. The Monday deadline is not a “submit this or fail” deadline, but a “submit this so we can have something to talk about” deadline. Hopefully she’ll be content with whatever I end up producing.
I may end up making a few response replies to this tomorrow, but I don’t on intend on spamming and making your PS a hell to get through. If not though, talk to you Monday!
Back again,
Just over 750 words in, have decided that I’m just going to focus on perfecting this Rimbaud section and fill in my supervisor on where I’m going with the rest of the chapter regarding deSade. I feel like I’m in some liminal world, which is funny because I’ve been reading so much about the liminal existence of adolescence and the area that transgressive acts take up.
Just posted my long overdue Nosferatu post, felt it was time to get it out now that the hype has started to die down!
https://open.substack.com/pub/steeqhen/p/the-frustration-of-eggers-nosferatu?r=1kh1bb&utm_medium=ios
How’s your teeth feeling now?
Ugh, I don’t think my respiratory infection ever fully went away. It seems to be getting worse again each day. Depending how much snow we get this weekend, I’m gonna see if I can get a doctor’s appointment Monday.
“This Is The Water” is indeed meant as a tribute to David Lynch. The spoken word samples come from episode 8 of TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN, and an earlier demo used “the owls are not what they seem” instead.
For Screen Slate, I wrote about Nobuhiko Obayashi’s LONELY HEART: https://www.screenslate.com/articles/lonely-heart
Good to see that Mimsy was an honorary 70s Giallo queen! She always did have the looks for it.
Super duper excited for the Room Temperature announcement, and can’t wait to watch it of course. This feels a lot like a restored post, so it’s cool that it’s not. We need to bring back the name Mimsy. Every time I see something about the 60’s slippery slope ideas of weed I always wonder what I think that’ll be not only wrong, but laughably so in a few decades. Have had Nina Simone’s version of Alone Again (Naturally) stuck in my head for days and every time I sing it somebody asks me if I have a bad relationship with my dad (I don’t) and it just makes me sad that people can’t think of enjoying something except to relate to it. Is there a way to explain the abstraction of form in your head? Are there essays you know that do this effectively? Also I’ve sent over the Bartleby stuff to your email, let me know if it’s sufficient for a post. Wishing you the experience of drinking water after eating sour fruit whereby the water becomes sweet in your mouth.
Dennis, Yeah, my thing is that we just stay up so late on the weekends and wake up really late. I don’t like it. I need to change it. Alex likes to drink and stay up late. I end up staying up late, haha. Really kinda ruins the weekend, though. Everything gets pushed back by hours and I end up with very little awake time to do things.
His hours at work are changing now that he’s assistant general manager. We’re gonna have to figure a way to make it work if I go back into the office 5 days a week. It’ll essentially be a weekend relationship, I guess. He’ll be working 12 to 8 during the week. Me, I’ll be getting home after 6 (maybe around 7 if they send me to DC). I’ll be needing to get in bed by 9 to get up at 5 to get to work at 8. These hellish commutes are insane.
Really, nothing more inefficient than paying $13k a month per cubicle to have someone travel 2 hours to do the same exact work they’ve been doing at home successfully. And most of the people I work with are in other states. Even when they’re in the same building, we do everything over Microsoft Teams and through PDFs. It’s kerazy.
Hope your weekend was swell. We have the Super Bowl tonight. We’ll watch that and probably do Pizza Hut. 😛
Hi Dennis. Well that’s sort of worrying about your tooth. Did you decide if you’re going to see a dentist? It’s probably the best idea if you don’t want to end up with an infection. How was the rest of your weekend? The Xiu Xiu concert I went to was totally magical, I went with my best friend who had never heard of them and he loved it as well. I chatted for a second with Jamie after the show and they let me have a vinyl for 20€ instead of 25 because I didn’t have the money which was nice of them haha. They played some old songs as well, like ‘Blacks’ ‘Jenny Go Go’ ‘Get Up’ and they played it in a sort of more poppy/rock way, interestingly. I made a few videos as well should I send them to you through WhatsApp? xoxo.
By the way said best friend might potentially come to Paris with me early March. Would be really cool if that works out obviously
Hey. Yeah I did do the small bit of filming that I needed. Essentially, I’m using ‘archive’ footage for the most part, small things that I’ve filmed here and there but not known what to do with. It’s a total experiment, and has become several different films over the course of my editing. There’s that thing Bresson said about how you make a film three times: first in the imagination, then you lose it when you film it, and you get it back again when you edit it. I think about that all of the time, especially how it pertains to writing, and how that can be applied to writing. Haha, I just left my body and realized how arrogant I sound talking about my little film. Anyway, I’m excited about it.
Speaking of Bresson, I watched ‘Une Femme Douce’ this evening. I liked it a lot. Interesting parallels with ‘The Devil, Probably’. Apart from the obvious death, Bresson liked filming tv’s. Interesting to think about, for some reason. There’s this one bit I love and I don’t know why. They are having soup and he’s blowing rather aggressively on his spoon and she’s looking menacingly at him without blowing. I just thought that was neat for some reason. How does this one rank for you among his other films?
I’ve been reading ‘Death on the Instalment Plan’. I love the experience of reading Celine, so sickly and hallucinatory. So funny and miserable. Everyone’s a bastard. That’s what makes his abhorrent character as a person so bewildering. I feel like in this book and ‘Journey to the End of the Night’ (the only ones I’ve read), the whole thing is that no one is better than anyone else, everyone is scheming someone and a slave to someone but ultimately everyone ends up dead in the same hole in the ground. Anyway, i’m not trying to have a ‘seperate the art from the artist’ discussion. It seems that’s all anyone talks about these days. Anyway, someone on here was talking about ‘War’ which was just translated and I’m interested to read that one.