Normally,
a crummy German police station with all the original 1970s décor would be a
depressing place to visit. In this case, it will be disorienting and
terrifying. Frankly, the cops and faux wood paneling are the least of this
young woman’s worries. Her concerns are more demonic in nature during the strange
course of Tilman Singer’s Luz (trailer here), which screens as
a selection of this year’s Fantastic Fest.
The
title character enters the station and starts acting oddly. All will sort of be
explained, but first we cut across town to where Chilean expat Nora Vanderkurt
is seducing a police head-shrinker. It seems Luz is a long-lost friend of hers
going back to their boarding school days in Chile, who is now working as a
cabbie in Germany. Yet, for some reason, Luz jumped out of her own moving cab
to get away from Vanderkurt.
That
much seems to be true, but be skeptical of everything else you see or hear.
Regardless, it soon becomes apparent that Vanderkurt is acting under some sort
of infernal influence. Of course, she will also bring the drunk and aroused Dr.
Rossini under its control as well. That will make things interesting when
Rossini is called in to examine Luz.
Initially,
Rossini still seems to have it together, but when he puts Luz under hypnosis
all bets are off. Suddenly, the film veers into experimental territory as Luz
starts to act out scenes from her past like Marcel Marceau. Her perception
blends into our perception, but perception in general goes all kablooey when
the supernatural fog rolls in.
Luz is probably about as
experimental as a horror movie can get while still being an effective horror
movie. Clearly, Singer knows the work of Robbe-Grillet and other post-modernists,
but he has also studied Halloween and
The Exorcist¸ because he creates visceral
tension through the use of creepy soundscapes.
It
also helps to have an absolutely fearless ensemble playing the terrified
characters. Luana Velis is absolutely riveting and massively freaky as Luz. Likewise,
it is hard to even describe Jan Bluthardt’s performance as Rossini, freely
combining low comedy and bizarro evil. Julia Riedler is also one heck of a
showstopping femme fatale as Vanderkurt. Her extended seduction of Rossini goes
from wtf to “holy cats, Batman” right before our eyes.
This
film is bound to be divisive, but there is a there there and its scary as heck.
Singer deserves a lot of credit, because he proves you can be ambitious in the
horror genre and still get your scares. It keeps company with a select group of
films informed by poststructuralism but still all kinds of frightening, like Tombville, Impossible Horror, and that’s
about all. Very highly recommended adventurous viewers, Luz screens again this Tuesday (9/25) during Fantastic Fest (and it
also plays 10/13 during the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival).
