#18 Depraved (2019)

By Rory Doherty

Independent horror filmmaker Larry Fessenden began his directing career with No Telling, a low-budget rural riff on Frankenstein featuring heavy relationship drama and animal experimentation. Nearly 30 years later, Fessenden returned to the “Frankenstein complex” with Depraved, a modern take set in New York that begins with the murder of a millennial web designer whose brain is plugged into a stitched-together creation. “Adam” is unaware of the life that was snuffed out to bring him to life. Over its long development period, Depraved suffered a drastic budget reduction, but Fessenden’s threadbare resources are mostly outshone by committed performances from David Call as Henry, our narcissistic creator, and Alex Breaux as Adam. The film honors Shelley’s conception of the Monster with an uncommon degree of sensitivity and notably deploys an array of optical effects to emphasize the experience of Adam’s secondhand eyes taking in the world for the first time.

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In the beginning, THE OFF SEASON appears to be the story of a young couple from New York City moving up to Maine to get away from it all. Soon, strange things begin to happen in the one-room apartment that they occupy — things that the once close couple cannot discuss with each other. This is not a typical ghost story resulting from a tragic death, but the tale of a place haunted by guilt and the fear of abandonment.

“The Off Season delivers both remarkable character development and terrific
“jump” moments. Prepare to scream, shudder and never shower in a motel again.”
—The Chronicle

“deliberately-paced ghost story from executive producer Larry Fessenden.
At first glance, the plot plays out like The Shining,
but more probing reveals that there’s a lot at work here and
that the film has merit on its own.”
—DVD & Video Guide 2007

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Werewolves haven’t had the same pop cultural penetration as their fright-night brethren like zombies, vampires, and the assortment of slasher villains, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have movies worth howling for. As with most movie monsters, the earliest efforts in the genre are among the best, as they open audience eyes to previously unseen worlds of terror, and illuminate a future of sequels, ripoffs, and remakes. 1941’s The Wolf Man, with Lon Chaney Jr., remains the fast and furriest, though we also pay tribute to its 1935 progenitor Werewolf of London.

Since ol’ Wolfy got a late start compared to other Universal Classic Monsters, at a time when their influence was beginning to wane, the studio was quick to put him in crossover sequels that were the style at the time. 1940s movies like Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and The House of Frankenstein saw Chaney doing his best in a crowded cast.

Things frankly got quiet for a few decades, until in 1981 no less than three influential werewolf movies came out: Wolfen, The Howling, and An American Werewolf in London. Being back in the spotlight, and this being the ’80s, of course werewolves also got a teen comedy (Teen Wolf) and a kid-friendly romp (The Monster Squad).

Highlights since that ’80s heyday include the feminist deconstruction Ginger Snaps, action-packed Dog Soldiers, and getting the sexy treatment in both Underworld and Twilight.

If it’s a bright night out with a full moon, then you know what that means: Barricade the door, smelt all the silver in the house down into bullets, and get ready for a fur-flyin’ fight. That, or just check out our guide to the 30 Essential Werewolf Movies and settle in for a howling good time. —Alex Vo

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Cenema Arts Centre

Screening & Q&A
BLACKOUT
Monday, October 27th at 7:30 PM
with filmmaker Larry Fessenden and executive producer Franklin Laviola in person
Discussion moderated by film critic Maitland McDonagh
$20 Public | $13 Members

Charley has a secret… he believes that he has been transforming into a werewolf. He can’t remember the things he’s done but the papers report random acts of violence taking place at night in this small upstate hamlet. Now the whole town must rally to find out what is tearing it apart: mistrust, fear, or a monster that comes out at night. (2024, 103 mins)

Arthur Blake is about to be executed by guillotine for the crime of grave robbing. But before he faces the blade, he agrees to confess to Father Duffy in the hope that the priest might be merciful enough to spare his life. Arthur tells his life story to the priest, which begins with him stealing valuables from the deceased as a youth. But as he relates his battles with zombies, ghosts and other fiendish ghouls, his tale takes a turn for the supernatural.

“McQuaid never lets go of the deadpan Gaelic wit that makes the film so effortlessly enjoyable.” HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“Fright Night, With Thrills From Six Feet Under”
NEW YORK TIMES

“Droll perfs, diverting f/x and handsome B-pic atmospherics ensure a good time
for horror fans with a memory past last weekend’s slasher remake.”
VARIETY

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Ramping up to GEP’s 40th Anniversary,
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With the release of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, we look back at the best creature features recent history has to offer.

BY ISAAC FELDBE

Depraved (2019) 

Across his singular, stubbornly independent body of work, the New York-based filmmaker Larry Fessenden has specialized in stories about monsters and madness, crafting character-driven dramas that—from the vampirism-as-disease allegory Habit to Blackout, about an alcoholic who begins to suspect he’s a werewolf—draw their bone-chilling horror from morally conflicted men struggling to tame their inner darkness. But it’s perhaps Depraved, his re-envisioning of Shelley’s Frankenstein, that most succinctly captures Fessenden’s fascination with the tragic consequences of all that which man creates but fails to control. Playing out in a decaying Brooklyn loft, Depraved follows a disillusioned combat medic who, unable to make sense of his own lingering trauma, stitches together a man from body parts and brings him back to life. In recasting its central monster as the tortured offspring of one man’s heartbreak as much as his hubris, Fessenden gets at something essential about what makes Shelley’s story so enduringly ripe for reanimation. That he does so while deftly exploring such modern issues as war-time trauma, American exceptionalism, and urban malaise makes clear why he’s one of our savviest genre iconoclasts. 

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Depp will play the titular role of Ebenezer Scrooge, a misanthropic and miserly businessman in 19th century London who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future in an effort to save himself from an afterlife of torment. The character has been a mainstay of holiday cinema for decades, including in the classic 1951 adaptation starring Alastair Sim, 1988’s “Scrooged” with Bill Murray, 1992’s “A Muppet Christmas Carol” with Michael Caine, and 2009’s “A Christmas Carol” with Jim Carrey.

“Nosferatu” director Robert Eggers is also developing his own take on the story at Warner Bros., with Willem Dafoe circling the role of Scrooge.

The film would mark Depp’s first role from a major studio since 2018’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” He was fired from that franchise after he lost a libel cast against the British tabloid The Sun, which had called the actor a “wife beater” in 2018 following allegations of domestic abuse by his ex-wife Amber Heard. (In a separate U.S. trial in 2022, both Depp and Heard were found to have defamed each other.) Depp’s since starred in a handful of independent films (“Minamata,” “Jeanne du Barry”), and he recently shot the thriller “Day Drinker” for Lionsgate opposite Penélope Cruz, which is also expected to premiere in 2026.

Nexus Point News first reported on the “Christmas Carol” film with Depp and West.

Read at Variety

Tonight, we open the creaking doors to celebrate a pair of Universal classics that both turn 90 this year: Werewolf of London and Bride of Frankenstein, released in that golden year of genre cinema, 1935. While not always mentioned in the same breath, these two films mark an important moment in Universal Pictures’ legendary horror cycle, one building on an already iconic legacy, and the other attempting to carve out a new path through uncharted territory.

From BLOODY DISGUSTING by Brian Keiper

After reinventing vampires with Habit (1995), it was only a matter of time before Larry Fessenden, horror’s greatest living independent filmmaker, tackled Frankenstein head-on. Released just before the recent explosion of Frankenstein-esque films, Depraved sets the action in modern-day New York City and deep into the psychology of our contemporary period. Along with rich themes of violence, PTSD of soldiers returning from recent conflicts in the Middle East, and the controversial practices of the pharmaceutical machine, the film is, at its heart, an exploration of the need for young men to be guided and mentored by loving and caring fathers and father figures. The creature (Alex Breaux) is guided by creator Henry (David Call) and Polidori (Joshua Leonard), neither of whom makes very positive role models, and the depraved sins of these fathers are eventually passed on to this son of theirs, who struggles to overcome it all. Though Depraved has not yet garnered the respect of some of Fessenden’s other films, its powerful themes, nuanced approach, emotional depth, and fiercely modern take on the familiar myth make this a film ripe for rediscovery.

Honorable Mentions: Frankenweenie (animated feature 2012), Frankenstein (2015—directed by Bernard Rose)

Read list at Bloody Disgusting