Chop...chop, Sweet Charlotte

I enjoyed revisiting The Gift so much over the weekend that I decided to go on a long movie trek through the South. Here are some of the places I intend to hit:

Eve's Bayou--a moody, atmospheric film set in 1962 Louisiana. It's the story of dark secrets and simmering resentments. In other words, my kind of story. This is a great example of setting used as character.

Sling Blade--Billy Bob Thornton's portrait of life in a small Arkansas town is dead on, and with good reason. He grew up in a small Arkansas town. So did I. His South is my South, which is to say, no pink teas or white gloves or mint juleps in sight.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil--"I've only been here three days and it's just a shooting, but give it time, okay. This place (Savannah) is fantastic. It's like Gone With the Wind on Mescalin. I know you're my agent. Listen to me, they walk imaginary pets here, Garland. On a fucking leash. Alright? And they're all heavily armed and drunk. New York is boring!"

Frailty--"There are demons among us." A spine-tingling movie about a widowed father in Texas who believes he and his young sons have been chosen by God to destroy demons.

Cape Fear--A psycho out for revenge never gets old in my book. Add a frustrated wife, her womanizing lawyer husband, their sexually curious teenaged daughter and stick them all in a small Florida town with a storm brewing on the horizon. Good, creepy fun ensues.

The Client--Maybe not the best movie in the world, but I once lived in Memphis and it was great to 'revisit' the city with Tommy Lee Jones.

Night of the Hunter--The story of a demonic preacher who menaces two young children in hopes of extracting the secret of their father's ill-gotten wealth. The children's flight down the Ohio River (West Virginia?) in the middle of the night is a terrifying journey into surrealism. A strange and mysterious film.

Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte--An aging recluse, deluded into a state of dementia by horrible memories and hallucinations, lives in a secluded Louisiana mansion where her married lover was beheaded and mutilated by an unknown assailant thirty-seven years ago.

Chop chop, sweet Charlotte
Chop chop till he's dead
Chop chop, sweet Charlotte
Chop off his hand and head
To meet your lover you ran chop chop
Now everyone understands
Just why you went to meet your love chop chop
To chop off his head and hand.

Which brings us right back where we started...