HALLOWEEN HORRORFEST 2021: Constantine (2005)

That's two days in a week...yeah, I know I can say it's my getting older, but I really should be more on top of this.

And this delay is certainly not because of the movie or the sponsor, because I really adore Chauncey K. Robinson, not just because she's my friend but because she's game for anything I come up with...I've made her a super-villain (a super-villain she made a costume for!), and she's going to play a role in an upcoming 8TW drama.  Please follow her YouTube Channel, Twisted CKR for her science fiction and horror reviews, and read her film reviews online!  Chauncey is representing St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Chauncey has chosen for me a film that used to get a bad rap...but it does seem like lately people are coming around to my view of it, namely 2005's Constantine...at least until today.

In Los Angeles, freelance exorcist John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.  Since he committed suicide (he was dead for two minutes, but he got better), he is condemned to Hell no matter how much he pleads his case with the archangel Gabriel (Tilda muthafuckin' Swinton).  But after he witnesses a 'soldier demon' trying to manifest through a young girl, John suspects something is going down...something that somehow connects him with Angela (Rachel Weisz), a detective who insists her twin sister didn't commit suicide, a verse from Hell's Bible, and a plot to unleash Lucifer's son on Earth.

You'll notice I specified 'freelance exorcist' John Constantine...it's because, on this rewatch, I realized how Constantine is not a comic book movie about the backstreet magus created by Alan Moore, but an action movie about a guy who happens to be named John Constantine.

Now don't get me wrong--this film's script by Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello does take inspiration and some (very) broad strokes from the seminal Garth Ennis story arc 'Dangerous Habits.'  There are specific characters named after characters from the comic, particularly Gabriel, Chaz Cramer (Shia LeBeouf) and Papa Midnite (Djimon Hounsou).  And it is thoroughly obvious that Keanu Reeves' performance gives us the essence of the character.  But what strikes me is how this film, which was in development since 1997 (what I wouldn't have given to glimpse into the alternate universe where original director Tarsem Singh had made the film), takes a storyline written by an atheist about a con-man/psychic detective who acknowledges a world beyond that is very varied and amoral in the nature of dieties and demons and...makes it almost entirely about Catholicism.

And I think the reason for that is that Brodbin and Cappello were hot to twist this horror series into an action movie.  Out goes the cynical dealing and con games that typifies Constantine in the comics; in comes weaponized holy water and bullets being shot from a crucifix gun.  Out goes John's total callous use of other people; in comes him caring enough to sacrifice himself for the betterment of mankind.  Out comes Chaz being Constantine's childhood friend and hard-edged conscience; in comes a comedy relief sidekick who sacrifices himself in the third act.  It effectively forces the character into a genre and idiom that it simply wasn't meant to dwell in.  Add into that the very, very '00s color palette that alterates between orange/red and blue/black and the film is not what it says on the tin.

That the film is very watchable is due not to the script, but to the execution.  I already mentioned Reeves having a firm grasp of who John Constantine is, even when dealing with the rewrites in the character's backstory, and it also features some kick ass performances by Swinton and Peter Stormare...who I will single out in a moment.  But it also given a semblance of life by Francis Lawrence.  This was Lawrence's feature film directing debut, and it's truly amazing that he makes this lumbering script work.  We're talking about one of those films with multiple fake endings, yet it doesn't wear out its welcome.  He shows a very good eye of compositions, even though so much of the raw material he's working with in regards to the script and the set design is pure edgelord stuffage.  I thought he was a director to follow back then, and I'm glad he's created a pretty good career for himself.

Now...let's talk one of the best interpretations of Satan on the big screen.  Peter Stormare shows up late in the third act as Lucifer, but refreshingly, his eccentric acting makes his extended scene a true joy.  I like how Stormare approaches his role as someone who knows he has charisma, but it's not the kind of charisma he thinks it is.  Add in a wonderfully creepy physicality and Stormare's tendency to punctuate his dialogue with hisses and low growls and it's a Lord of Hell for the Ages.  In my mind, this is not Lucifer Morningstar but The First of The Fallen, the version of the demon Garth Ennis presented us with.

Now keep in mind that I am from a generation before the one-two punch of Iron Man and The Dark Knight pushed the superhero genre firmly into the mainstream.  To me, if the film gives us the essential nature of the character, I'm willing to forgive a lot of fiddling around with backstories and plot elements.  And even though this film has a script that just does its own thing without paying attention to what the series is about, I give credit to Reeves for figuring out a way around that to give us a valid version of the character, and to Lawrence for making a script that is seriously flawed not only watchable but, at times, compelling.  Watching this time around, I am convinced that there shouldn't have been a sequel, but I still can't hate it.  So yeah, the highs of Constantine outweigh the lows, making it a recommended watch.

Tomorrow I will try to regain all this lost ground by returning to RATAPALOOZA!  This time, my long time Patreon Sean Foster has chosen the 1982 Canadian epic Deadly Eyes, based on a novel by James Herbert and directed by Martial Arts Director Extraordinaire Robert Clouse!  Sean will be representing the ACLU!

There are presently fourteen open slots for this year's festival, and if you'd like to be included, there are four ways to get your share of the spotlight:

1) You can become a Domicile of Dread Patreon at any level.  Patreons always get a free slot, as well as advance access to podcasts and other goodies!

2) You can buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi.  Suggested donation is $3

3) You can make a donation to Queens Community House Covid-19 Relief and Recovery Campaign.  Suggested donation is $10.  Please forward your receipt to me as proof.

4) You can choose to make a donation to the charity chosen by a sponsor on his/her/their day. Like with the third possibility, please forward me proof of donation.

It is not necessary to choose a rat-based horror film.  However, if you do, I will forward you a special Ratapalooza banner you can display on your website.