JEEPERS KEEPERS
DAMON SMITH SAYS THE LIGHTHOUSE IS A STYLISH AND UNSETTLING HORROR AS HE TAKES A LOOK AT THE LATEST DOWNLOAD, STREAMING AND DVD RELEASES
EPHRAIM WINSLOW (Robert Pattinson) arrives on an isolated island off the coast of 1890s New England as monstrous waves crash onto the jagged landscape. He will serve the next four weeks as lighthouse keeper alongside a cantankerous old coot called Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe), who makes mysterious night-time visits to the lantern room.
There is friction between the two men as Wake delegates the most physically gruelling and arduous tasks to Ephraim such as carrying heavy canisters of kerosene across the island’s rocky terrain.
As tensions rise, Ephraim experiences hypnotic visions of a beautiful mermaid (Valeriia Karaman) and a menacing one-eyed seagull.
According to maritime tradition, it is bad luck to kill a seabird.
When the gull perishes in gruesome fashion, an ill wind blows across the island, trapping the two men in their claustrophobic station with dwindling rations.
Shot in stunning black and white, The Lighthouse is a stylish and unsettling horror, which was deservedly nominated for Best Cinematography at this year’s Academy Awards.
Director Robert Eggers demonstrated a masterful, vice-like grip of our attention in his debut feature, The Witch.
He exerts similar control here, plumbing the pent-up frustration and sexual desires of two salty sea dogs at the mercy of elemental forces and their febrile imaginations.
Homoeroticism splashes through every frame and Eggers layers his picture with sensual imagery that both beguiles and infuriates the lead characters.
Dafoe and Pattinson are handsomely matched, trapped in a vicious cycle of mutual admiration and toxic masculinity that will propel them both to the brink of self-destruction.
■ Download/stream from May 25 and on DVD from June 8.