5 Inspiring Horror Films With Sandro Colarelli

Sandro Colarelli has been inspired by many things during the creation of his show 'The Lady Of The House Of Love'

As a child, Sandro was obsessed with horror films and ghost stories, and recently he married his love for on-screen scares with music and song. And thus, 'The Lady Of The House Of Love', or 'The Lady' as he affectionately calls it, was born.

Here, Sandro lists five horror films that “somehow functioned as muses” for his show.

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1. 'The Hunger'

Directed by Tony Scott. Starring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon. 'The Hunger' is an adaption of a novel by American writer Whitley Strieber, whose other claim to literary fame is his autobiographical tale of alien abduction, called 'Communion'. I love this overtly stylish foray into the world of an ancient vampire called Miriam. Her search for a replacement of her rapidly ageing 200-year-old companion is a logical and modern take on the vampire myth. 'The Hunger' is very sparse in its plot clues and is not obvious, so repeated watching is almost mandatory. I think this film contains Catharine Deneuve’s greatest performance and David Bowie’s role as her 200-year-old lover is the best Hollywood casting ever.

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2. 'Angel Heart'

Directed by Alan Parker. Staring Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet, Charlotte Rampling and Robert De Niro. Another obscure plot line whose fright factor is based on 'the less it tells the more it scares'. Set in the early 1950s, the story tells of a private detective called Harry Angel who is hired by a mysterious client named Lou Cypher, to stake out an elusive and rather enigmatic '40s crooner, known as Johnny Favourite . On the way Angel stumbles across fresh murders seemly committed by Johnny. However, the conclusion of the film uncovers what is an horrific case of self-realisation. A fabulously stylish '80s film noir that is filled with genuinely creepy imagery, this delicious morsel of celluloid is another adaption from a novel. 'Angel Heart' is a disturbing cautionary tale of the pitfalls of selling your soul to the devil.

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3. 'Picnic At Hanging Rock'

Directed by Peter Weir. Starring Jacki Weaver, Rachel Roberts, Helen Morse, John Jarrett. This is probably Australia’s most haunting internationally released film which is partly why I have included it on my list. 'Picnic' is yet another novel turned into film and one of the few times that I have enjoyed a film better than the original book. Although not really a horror film as such unless you look at the plot line from the perspective of the Head Mistress, Mrs Appleyard, 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' is a compellingly disturbing film about an alien culture traipsing about on a continent they don’t understand or connect to on a psychic level. On the surface, it is a story about the disappearance of three female students and a teacher while on a picnic to said rock, and the aftermath of the unsolvable mystery. It is essentially Peter Weir’s love poem to the Australian landscape and the peculiar cluttered, aesthetic of the Victorian era: as menacing as it is picturesque. This little Aussie gem from the '70s is as subtly horrifying as watching a corpse decay over an extended period of time: both beautiful and terrible.

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4. 'The Exorcist'

Directed by William Friedkin. Starring Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow and Linda Blair. An interesting yet overt (and now clichéd) exploration on the palpable existence of God and the devil. There are a few reasons why this is a favourite. I love the beautifully acted introduction to the characters leading up to the full on possession scenes, which make the horror bits somehow little more plausible than a lot of other horror films before and since. Ellen Burstyn is magnificent as the actress and mother of Linda Blair’s head turning, young heroine. The effects are probably little dated now but the underlying, all pervasive themes of darkness and evil are still unsettling and thought provoking. it is still evident how this film caused hysteria in cinemas across the world and not just because it was (another) adaption of a novel based on apparently factual events.

5. 'Rosemary’s Baby'

Directed by Roman Polanski. Starring Mia Farrow, Ruth Gordon and John Cassavetes. This is the fifth and final selection which, of course, is an adaption from a novel. This film is fascinating on many levels. There seemed to be many ominous energies and foreboding signs attached to this wonderfully eerie film. Shot at the fabulously gothic Dakota apartment building in New York, where John Lennon was murdered by a crazed gunman, 'Rosemary’s Baby' has atmosphere in droves. I am intrigued by Polanski’s attention to horrid detail in this film, even going so far as casting the then actual High Priest of the Church of Satan, in the chilling climactic scene where all of New York’s devil worshippers are gathered around Mia’s beastly boy-child, gurgling in a baby crib draped in black fabric and decorated with a upside down crucifix, for the um... Child to claw and paw. It has, at its centre, a wide-eyed and tenuous Mia Farrow as the unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on how you weigh up the pros and cons) Rosemary, who falls in love with an actor who, yes… Makes a Faustian pact with you-know-who. 'Rosemary’s Baby' is buoyed by a wonderfully eccentric supporting cast headed by Ruth Gordon as the wonderfully weird and ultimately diabolical neighbour Minnie Castevet. There is no escaping the subconscious menace that pervades my thoughts while I watch these masterpieces of horror, not least because of the Manson Family Massacre that would engulf Mr. Polanski’s own wife and unborn child not too long after this film was released.

'The Lady Of The House Of Love' plays at Brisbane Powerhouse from 24-27 November as part of Wonderland Festival.