This 32-minutes film was directed by Bruna Fionda, Polly Gladwin and Isiling Mack-Nataf and was released in 1986. Before I look at the film, I just want to mention the set it came with. I viewed it on the Blu-ray release Short Sharp Shocks vol. 2, the second set of British made short films (as well as infomercials and on this volume a Screaming Lord Sutch music video), often with a horror or thriller theme, that were produced between the 1940s and 80s. They prove a fascinating look back in time.
The Mark of Lilith is a vampire short that has some really interesting aspects but other parts that perhaps were too heavy handed. The latter first; researcher Zena (Pamela Lofton) is a researcher who is examining the demonisation of women – of the changing of Goddess forms into something demonic or monstrous. She also uses this lens to examine race and queer aspects. This is all well and good but often involves her talking to camera as though she is giving a lecture – be it her talking to a waitress (Patricia St. Hilaire), who often responds with questions for her that feel too staged, or sat in a cinema with masked patrons behind. As part of her research she also watches predatory animals (and the film interjects scenes of big cat kills and hyena feeds also).
We also see Lillia (Susan Franklyn) a female vampire and her vampire lover Luke (Jeremy Peters, Lexx). There is a strange level of fourth wall breaking – as though they are a story, told on film, and yet simultaneously part of our world, though it may be a dream for them. Lillia looks out of her movie and sees the cinema audience watching them and specifically notices Zena. She takes it upon herself to find Zena – as does Luke.
Luke, however, is not searching for her for benign reasons. It has already been pointed out that he often kills his prey (where Lillia allows them to live) but it is specifically the female victims he kills, not the males. Of course, he is then a manifestation of the patriarchy that declares the femininity it can’t control as monstrous. As Lillia finds Zena, and they become lovers and she nearly succumbs to instinct (which is communicated as an abuse of the power she holds), Luke hunts and kills women with red scarves (as that is what Zena was wearing in the cinema).
The other thing to note is Lillia’s lineage – she says her mother was a vampire and then names her directly as a lamia. The thing is, whilst I found the short interesting (as the Lillia parts worked even if the lecturing did not) it is not the greatest watch and this is a shame as the exploration it was attempting was thought-provoking and it is perhaps an earlier (intersectional) examination of gender, race and queer studies then one would expect.
The imdb page is here.
On UK Blu-Ray @ Amazon US
On Blu-Ray @ Amazon UK
 |
| in the cinema |
The Mark of Lilith is a vampire short that has some really interesting aspects but other parts that perhaps were too heavy handed. The latter first; researcher Zena (Pamela Lofton) is a researcher who is examining the demonisation of women – of the changing of Goddess forms into something demonic or monstrous. She also uses this lens to examine race and queer aspects. This is all well and good but often involves her talking to camera as though she is giving a lecture – be it her talking to a waitress (Patricia St. Hilaire), who often responds with questions for her that feel too staged, or sat in a cinema with masked patrons behind. As part of her research she also watches predatory animals (and the film interjects scenes of big cat kills and hyena feeds also).
 |
| in the film |
We also see Lillia (Susan Franklyn) a female vampire and her vampire lover Luke (Jeremy Peters, Lexx). There is a strange level of fourth wall breaking – as though they are a story, told on film, and yet simultaneously part of our world, though it may be a dream for them. Lillia looks out of her movie and sees the cinema audience watching them and specifically notices Zena. She takes it upon herself to find Zena – as does Luke.
 |
| the patriarchy |
Luke, however, is not searching for her for benign reasons. It has already been pointed out that he often kills his prey (where Lillia allows them to live) but it is specifically the female victims he kills, not the males. Of course, he is then a manifestation of the patriarchy that declares the femininity it can’t control as monstrous. As Lillia finds Zena, and they become lovers and she nearly succumbs to instinct (which is communicated as an abuse of the power she holds), Luke hunts and kills women with red scarves (as that is what Zena was wearing in the cinema).
 |
| Zena and Lillia |
The other thing to note is Lillia’s lineage – she says her mother was a vampire and then names her directly as a lamia. The thing is, whilst I found the short interesting (as the Lillia parts worked even if the lecturing did not) it is not the greatest watch and this is a shame as the exploration it was attempting was thought-provoking and it is perhaps an earlier (intersectional) examination of gender, race and queer studies then one would expect.
The imdb page is here.
On UK Blu-Ray @ Amazon US
On Blu-Ray @ Amazon UK
No comments:
Post a Comment