Double feature of the week: One Crazy Night (A Tom Noonan Extravaganza)

This week’s double feature is kind of like a double double feature. No, it’s not a quadruple feature. There are only two movies…. But they’re both connected in two separate ways. First off, they both tell the story of a single night. This is actually something you find somewhat often in cinema, especially in the horror genre. Both Spanish horror films, “REC” and “REC 2” take place in the same night. And Romero’s classic, “Night of the Living Dead” is a simple story of one hellish night. There is definitely something to be said for a story that can establish, develop and complete a character arc over the course of twelve or so hours. Some comedies have had success in this as well: “Dazed and Confused”, “Superbad” and “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle” to name a few.

The other way that these two films are connected is by a common actor. Both of these films contain the stylings of a performer that I’ve grown to enjoy more and more over the years. His name is Tom Noonan and I think he’s about twelve feet tall. You may know him as the Francis Dollarhyde (The Tooth Fairy killer) in Michael Mann’s “Manhunter”. Or you may know him as Frankenstein’s monster in Fred Dekker’s “Monster Squad”… or maybe even as Cain in “Robocop 2”. Either way, he’s one of those guys… with one of those faces…. And those guys never get enough credit.

The first feature this week is Jim Jarmusch’s “Mystery Train” (1989). This film tells three separate stories from beginning to end, one at a time, all revolving around a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis. Musical greats, Scremin’ Jay Hawkins, Joe Strummer and Tom Waits all have parts in this film. Steve Buscemi, Cinqué Lee (brother of Spike Lee), Nicoletta Braschi and the adorable Yuoki Kudoh also have parts. Tom Noonan shows up for a small but pivotal part in the “Ghost” segment of this film. “Mystery Train” is a fantastic film and one of my favorites from Jarmusch’s filmography. He does a great job of making three small intertwining stories come together as an homage to the home of Sun Studios, Graceland, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley.

Our next film this week is writer/director Ti West’s horror throwback “The House of the Devil” (2009). Mr. Noonan plays a much larger role in this one. I suspect that the part was actually written for him. The film is about a young college student who is hired for the night to babysit for an elderly couple on the night of a lunar eclipse. She spends the first part of the film dancing around to her walkman, watching TV and eating pizza. Soon she begins to suspect something is very wrong in the house. I would say that one of the true stars of this film actually is the location and how it was shot. This house makes the perfect creepy spot for an 80’s splatter film to take place. You spend about the first half of the movie just wandering around, opening doors and exploring the layout. I’ve actually heard a lot of complaints about this. Some say that this film just takes too long to get going. I disagree. I think the long build up is perfect. It’s shot on 16mm and the costumes and props make this film a very authentic look at the early 80’s. No cell phones or ipods, I even noticed the old style twenty dollar bill that she uses to pay for the pizza. This film even brings Mary Woronov out of retirement and has a cameo by Dee Wallace. I dig this movie a lot. It’s rare to find a slow burn horror film nowadays and this one comes together geniously.

Enjoy.