Angel Heart (1987)

Now this is an old-fashioned horror movie. It starts with an intriguing premise - a 1950s era private investigator (Mickey Rourke) hired by a thinly-disguised avatar of the devil (Robert De Niro in a creepy portrayal, if somewhat more by-the-numbers compared to Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate) to track down a crooner who sold his soul for success, and then wound up a vegetable following his service in the war, precluding the devil from collecting on his contract. But what really sells the film is the atmosphere it exudes, right from the steaming New York City alleyways in the opening shot, to the voodoo-laced streets of New Orleans where the detective eventually ends up. Kudos also to this movie for not holding back, and crossing a particular line few ever dare to cross (even in horror movies that are supposed to be "messed up"). But as with most mysteries, the less I say about the plot, the better. "How terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the wise?" Suffice to say that it's an excellent movie worth taking a couple hours out of your schedule sometime to sit down and watch.

The X-Files - S7:E14 "Theef"

[ S7:E13 "First Person Shooter" <<< Season 7 >>> S7:E15 "En Ami" ]

Theef is something of a sleeper hit, on a parallel with last season's Tithonus. It's a world away from the last episode John Gillnitz (a portmanteau of John Shiban, Vince Gilligan, and Frank Spotnitz) wrote this season - The Amazing Maleeni. We're talking the most serious, straightforward monster-of-the-week they've done since Leonard Betts (and with possibly even less humor!). Which is to say that it's great! It's a dark, slow episode about an antiquated shaman (Billy Drago) - something of an occult medicine man - seeking revenge for some wrong committed against him by an award-winning doctor (James Morrison).

It doesn't take long for Mulder to link a related murder to "hexcraft" - and even when Scully finds evidence of a rare disease during her autopsy, Mulder demonstrates the resilience of his theory by modifying it to blame the occurrence of the disease on hexcraft! In any other universe, I would be rolling my eyes, but we all know Mulder is right more often than not. Scully does her own share of rolling her eyes in this episode, however, as she is in full "I'm not having any of this ridiculousness" mode, which is not my favorite version of her character. (And this is in spite of the fact that she ends up a maybe-believer by the end - although I could have done without the running "you keep me guessing" joke).

But thankfully the episode doesn't dwell too much on that. I feel like it lacks that extra push to put it on the level of some of the greatest episodes in this series, but it's definitely a highlight of the season so far. The only thing I could think to make it better is if instead of the inevitable ambiguity of a doctor making the decision to end a dying patient's suffering (because, really, I can't legitimately fault the doctor - it sounds like he made the right decision), they would have put more emphasis on the healer's guilt for not having been there to save her (rather than leave it largely as subtext). But oh well.

Memorable quotes:

Mulder: Folk magic - that's what I believe is being used against you.
Dr. Wieder: Folk magic? You mean, like, Baba Yaga? Gypsies?
Mulder: I was actually thinking less Eastern and more Celtic. Maybe...Scots-Irish, or Appalachian even.

(I love how serious Mulder takes all this stuff).

Dr. Wieder: So, modern medicine and all it encompasses - artificial hearts, laser surgery, gene therapy, to name a few - all of that arrayed against a pile of magic dirt, and you tell me I'll lose?

Mr. Peattie: Truth always hurts. Don't it, doc?

Mr. Peattie: Radiation...come from the heart o' the atom. I think it be...God's own glow.

Mr. Peattie: If I be dere, I save her!
Dr. Wieder: You weren't there!

(Yeah, more emphasis on this, instead of the next quote, would have made the episode even better, I think).

Mulder: It seems pretty clear cut.
Scully: Except maybe it's not.

The X-Files - S2:E15 "Fresh Bones"

[ S2:E14 "Die Hand die Verletzt" <<< Season 2 >>> S2:E16 "Colony" ]

I'm definitely noticing some improvement in the monster-of-the-week episodes, as they're getting to a point where they're not just filler to sit through between mythology episodes, but are becoming quite enjoyable to watch on their own. In this episode, a marine stationed at a Haitian refugee camp in North Carolina suffers from horrifying hallucinations, but the cause may be something stranger than a simple case of PTSD. Mulder and Scully get roped into a case with hints of military conspiracy, much like in the setup to the episode Deep Throat. But this time it involves not UFO technology, but a voodoo curse. Mulder's informant, X, even makes an appearance - surprisingly making a "house call" (loosely defined), like Deep Throat used to do, despite indicating in the past that he wouldn't do such things. Is he softening up? Voodoo legends abound in this creepy and atmospheric episode that is very reminiscent of The Serpent and the Rainbow. I appreciated the appearance of a black cat when the little boy seemed to vanish into thin air, as I have read that in some voodoo traditions, the usage of a black cat bone is said to be able to render the bearer invisible.

Memorable quotes:

Mulder: A certain ritual sign was found at the scene of both deaths. Is there anything you can tell us about that?
Colonel Wharton: Not much. Apparently, it's some sort of voodoo marking.
Mulder: But you haven't investigated it as a possibility?
Colonel Wharton: Possibility of what?

Pierre Bauvais: My country was born on the blood of slaves. Freedom is our most sacred legacy.

Pierre Bauvais: They will only warn you once. After that, no magic can save you.

Mulder: But you said there was no trace evidence, and security's practically impossible to breach.
Scully: Well, I was only suggesting that whoever did it was clever and thorough. I wasn't suggesting that some kind of spirit did it.