Hallowe'en Week 2014
movie: The Tomb aka Ligeia
starring: Wes Bentley, Sofya Skya
genre: Horror,
year:2008/2009
format: DVD
plot: A young English professor is seduced by a young woman, who ends up being a witch. He leaves his girlfriend to marry the mysterious woman, and moves to her home in Romania. After learning that she cast a spell on him, he leaves but returns to the house when she kills herself. Depressed, he reunites with his first love, only to find out his now dead wife is haunting them.
Based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe
So we've got it all here, little bit of a witch story (okay lot of witch story) little bit of a Frankenstein story (she plays with dead things) little bit of a vampire story (she sucks up the souls of the dead things) a little bit of a ghost story (she possesses two other women in order to get back to her husband)
I liked this. Bit slow going, but it keeps you watching. This movie covers every classic gothic tale, and does it well. At the heart of this it's a story about madness, not being able to trust what you see but what you feel.
There is a scene near the beginning when Ligeia convinces Jonathan to try absinthe, which he becomes addicted to and you have to wonder if she's done it to keep him from seeing the reality of what she's done?
It's also about obsession. Her obsession with both finding away to live forever, and her obsession with him. Then there's his obsession with his ex-girlfriend.
I like how this movie asks you to bend your personal sense of reality, and expects that you the viewer are willing to fully believe in the supernatural without question.
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