dark fantasy | Lorelei By Starlight

from Wikipedia

On September 15th, 1981, a boy named Jack Sawyer stood where the water and land come together, hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking out at the steady Atlantic. He was twelve years old and tall for his age. The sea-breeze swept back his brown hair, probably too long, from a fine clear brow. He stood there, filled with the confused and painful emotions he had lived with for the last three months…

I think I first read The Talisman, by Stephen King and Peter Straub, about twenty years ago. Ever since then, it has been one of my favorite dark fantasy/horror classics, and since that first time I have read it again at least twice. Recently, I took the time to re-read it yet again, savor it, and really think about why this story in particular has withstood the test of time for me.

The hero, Jack Sawyer, appears to be a fairly average twelve-year-old boy on the surface, but there is nothing average about Jack. His mother, Lily, is an aging B-movie star who is living out her last days at a remote, seaside hotel. She is also ducking “uncle” Morgan Sloat, the ne’er do well business partner of Jack’s deceased father, who is using Lily’s illness to try to screw Jack out of his rightful inheritance. But the story really starts, and Jack’s life changes forever, when he meets Lester Speedy Parker, an elderly black man who is the handyman at the seaside amusement park located down the beach from the hotel. Speedy calls the boy “ole Travellin Jack” on their first meeting, the same nickname that Jack’s father used to use, and one which aptly describes an ability that Jack has — he can flip between two different worlds, the one familiar to all of us, and another one, the Territories, which is similar to our world, but somehow smaller and bigger, older and younger, all at the same time. The world is a distorted mirror of ours with many individuals in our world having sort of fraternal twins, “twinners”, over there. Jack, though, is only Jack in both worlds, and Speedy gives Jack his mission: to find the Talisman and bring it back so that it can save his mother and her “twinner” — the queen of the Territories.

The heart of this story, then, is about a boy who is asked to do too much while too young. Jack has to figure out how to get across the entire United States without being caught by Sloat or any of his minions (from both worlds). He can travel in both worlds, but there are different risks inherent in both, so he is constantly having to negotiate a series of challenges, everything from worrying about hitchhiking to avoiding half-men half-lizard monstrosities. During his journey he meets Wolf, the somewhat friendly werewolf, and the friendship between Jack and this unlikely creature is one of the things that made the most lasting impression on me. Wolf was not made for our world, and there are problems with bringing him over that seriously hamper Jack’s mission. It is the humanness with which Jack faces all of these challenges that makes him a true hero. It is possibly his innocence that allows him to do the unthinkable, a mission that adults would have likely given up on.

My copy of The Talisman has seen better days.

What makes this book stick for me, then, is the story of the struggle and refusal to give up in the face of unbelievable and unrelenting adversity. The bravery to trudge on when the mission seems hopeless, to continue to listen to the small, good voice inside even when not doing so would seem to make things easier. All of the memories of Jack dealing with the horrors and the beauties he encounters along his journey, and his continuing ability to shine in spite of them — these are what make the book worth reading not just once, but over and over again.

The most memorable scene for me: the Wolf waiting with the long black car, chauffeuring Jack through the night with “Run Through the Jungle” blaring from the radio. That one image is always crystal clear in my mind, and I look out the huge back window of the car with Jack and see the moon resting large in the sky. That’s the stuff great stories are made of, “right here and now”.

Photo from imdb

Folklore shows its dark side with an interesting blend of fantasy and horror in Thale (pronounced “tall-ay”). The plot centers on two unsuspecting crime scene clean-up men who get more than they bargained for when called to the scene of a days old incident at a remote farm. At the crime scene, our heroes, Elvis (Erland Nervold) and Leo (John Sigve Skard), discover a naked, shivering girl, Thale, who doesn’t appear to be able to communicate. Through several recordings on cassette tapes left by the old man who cared for her and a series of flashback memories transmitted by touch, we learn Thale’s history. Soon, it becomes clear that Thale is not the only surprising encounter that our heroes will have, and while they try to protect this clearly fearful girl, they slowly come to realize that she herself may actually be something to be feared.

Photo from th08.deviantart.net

Thale is based on a creature from Scandinavian folklore called a “huldra”. These creatures were said to appear as beautiful women from the front, but from behind their bodies were hollowed out like a rotten tree trunk. The creatures also had a tail — either that of a fox or a cow — and many images and tales integrate the identification of these woman in some way with the appearance of this tail. Information on whether these creatures were to be feared is sketchy. Some tales say that men took them as wives, but others say that the huldra took men off into the forest and killed them. It seems, that like any fey creature, their intents and actions were unpredictable at best.

I’m a sucker for good foreign fantasy, and I liked this movie because it was interesting and different from standard fare. There is a not really a lot of blood and gore in the movie (most of it is during crime scene cleanup), and it focuses more on the frightening aspect of the unknown. The woods hold additional secret creatures that play a part in the film, and there are some very well crafted creepy scenes. The mystery of where Thale comes from is handled in an interesting way. I was left wanting even further explanation, but that lack also leaves room for further speculation and consideration of the story. Many foreign films don’t feel the need to tie up all the loose ends for viewers, and I often enjoy this over the American way of tying up everything with a bow.

Thale doesn’t speak, and most of her communication is done via facial expression and movement. I think this would be pretty hard to pull off as an actor, but Silje Reinåmo does a great job. Interaction between Elvis and Leo creates an interesting realistic background off of which to play the fantasy elements. Their conversations are the typical minimalistic exchanges that make up so much of everyday life, and their reactions when faced with the situation at the farm ring true in a humorous way. This blending of humor and horror is tricky, but Thale does a pretty good job, and it kept me interested until the end. Thale is available for rental download or purchase at Amazon.