They certainly are quite close for siblings, that's for sure.
Anyway, managed to get in a double feature today, from director Abel Ferrera!
Body Snatchers: Part 1 of an Abel Ferrera duology. One of the most versatile sci-fi/horror stories gets its big 90s makeover, and not surprisingly, little is lost in the adaptation. Ferrera here takes things in a more intimate direction than previous adaptations, though hardly unsurprising given most of his output. The huge shift from a town/city setting to a military base does a nice job of changing up the scale of the invasion, here feeling more like a genuine genesis than one already in progress, and moving away from the usual scientist protagonist to a teenage girl already at her wit's end (nicely played by Gabrielle Anwar) does a lot to change the effect of the scenes that you know will be represented. It does a nice job of borrowing elements from the previous filmed adaptations while adding a lot of its own, even with something as simple making the core group of survivors related by family that alters the dynamic whenever their appointed hour arrives. It's a very moody film, less concerned with showing effects-driven pandemonium and more on the creeping danger of inevitability as the pod people carry out their plans, with Ferrera staging some really effective moments (the daycare scene being a particularly striking one), and while it makes as big of changes as it does, it's still very faithful to the tone of the story. If it falters, it's in the ending, as it feels like one that came out of compromise to give the studio something less downbeat and something more punchy that seems at odds with the rest of the film, and there is one truly abominable special effect that ruins the impact of an otherwise brave and daring moment that really could have landed harder had it had the budget to pull it off properly. Of the three adaptations I've seen, this ranks at the bottom, but that's hardly a condemnation: this is a good film with a lot going for it, and the shift in focus here does a great job of giving a familiar story new perspective.
The Addiction: Part 2 of an Abel Ferrera duology. Very stylish, very smart and very, very talky, this film puts on a refreshing and original spin on vampirism that goes beyond the obvious implications of the title, centering around a healthy heap of philosophical debate as our heroine of sorts copes with the changes in her new life. While it is very heavy on dialogue, Ferrera does not skip on the atmosphere and the horrors that come with the territory, and the film's visual palette does recall quite a bit of the old classics from the 30s, even beyond the decision to go with black & white. Anchoring the film is a rather terrific performance from Lili Taylor as Kathleen, who manages to deliver the tricky dialogue in a credible way while giving a sometimes too convincing physical performance as a woman having to swing wildly from pained withdrawal to measured patience while she has her next victim in her grasp. Her conflict, that she's not entirely on board with her newfound status as one of the vaunted undead, is a rather fascinating take that doesn't rely very much on the usual "woe is me" trope that a lot of vampire films are known for, making it feel quite realistic in spite of the stylistic touches for both the visuals and the dialogue: instead of being told they suffer at every turn, the film just straight up shows it and is all the better for it. Though the star, Taylor gets a lot of help from a surprisingly stacked cast, though it's hard for anyone to compare to Christopher Walken in this, who damn near steals the entire film as a kind of abstinent vampire with some worthwhile advice for Kathleen. I was really pleased with how well this was able to execute on its premise, and even though it can overwhelm you with the barrage of philosophical debates and the occasional photograph of real-life atrocities, it goes down far smoother than one might expect. Top shelf as far as I'm concerned, and one that I see myself coming back to before long.
