Maléfique & The Ninth Gate

We’re back, and we’re watching horror films about books. We don’t mean films based on books (although one is, just to confuse things), but films where a book plays a central role. In fact, you could argue that the books in question are characters and not mere plot devices. Wooden performances are easier to forgive when you’re largely made of wood pulp. Our two choices are The Ninth Gate  (1999) and Maléfique (2002). We didn’t mean to review another Polanski film so soon after our dust-up over Repulsion in episode 51, but the Devil made us do it. Predictably, we disagree completely about the film’s merits once again, although this time the tables are turned. Our discussion takes in some other French horror films that followed in the wake of Maléfique, including High Tension/Switchblade Romance, Inside, Frontière(s), Martyrs and Livid. We end, as ever, with a look at what elements we can steal for use in our games. In the introduction, we discuss getting ready for the Concrete Cow convention in Milton Keynes. True to form, we weren’t organised enough to do this in an episode that would come out before the convention. The good news is that you don’t have long to wait until the next one. Concrete Cow 16 takes place on the 12th of March 2016, and it will be the convention’s 10th birthday celebration. There will be cake. And games. And cows. Well, maybe not cows.