The Advent Calendar

The Lament Configuration. Ouija boards. The Necronomicon. Disconnected landlines. Saying “Candyman” five times in front of a mirror. Conduits to other dimensions allow for lots of storytelling freedom. And Le Calendrier, aka, The Advent Calendar is no exception. But this Belgian/French co-production stands out as being unbelievably unique, if nothing else. And another worthy addition to the Christmas horror canon.

Paraplegic Eva is slogging her way through a career in insurance. Her best friend comes to Belgium via Germany for a visit, a large antique wooden/triptych advent calendar in tow. Before too long, a bored Eva is counting down to Christmas, opening doors and popping treats, which the Boschian-looking piece of furniture dutifully dispenses.

And like clockwork, every night at midnight, the calendar’s Jack-in-the-Box top pops, and says to Eva, “‘du musst jetzt öffnen,” which she does, leading to increasingly weird adventures.

One such trip is a reconnection to her father, who’s mute and suffering from Alzheimer’s dementia. However, when the calendar reveals an After Eight (pops’ favorite treat) he’s suddenly, though briefly, wholly communicative. Further confectionery portal revelations get odder and odder.

If this all sounds very idiosyncratic and weird – it is. But the performances are so grounded and so charming, you’ll be rewarded with a treat as well.

The Advent Calendar is casually paced, but different enough to resonate – especially this time of year.

***1/5 (out of 5)

Creep (2004)

The London Underground is the true star of the show in Creep, as sewage works introduce us to the dank milieu before we see a woman en route to a party getting stuck overnight at Charing Cross.

Creep – not to be confused with the stellar POV horror which came out a decade later – exploits all the horrors that can be found in subways, tunnels, the isolation, the smells/sewage, noise, junkies, rats etc. (and boy, are there a lot of rats). And it relishes in its location too, unlike say, the Bradley Cooper-starrer, Midnight Meat Train, wherein the subway system is just background rather than foreground too.

The specificity of locale is a plus, and Creep will definitely resonate with big city commuters above others.

Franka Potente (Run Lola Run) plays Kate, whose pre-drinking makes her pass out on the platform. She boards the last train, only to be accosted by a randy colleague from a prior office party.

But Creep takes a detour from what could’ve been a stalk-and-slash thriller, a la the similarly plotted though quite great of its type, P2, which features a protagonist trapped in an underground parking garage. It brings subterranean terror through a deformed Hills Have Eyes-esque antagonist, operating a sewer dungeon/lab.

There are a few horrors that tap the anxiety of subway commutes, most notably Maniac and Demons, courtesy of the Berlin S-Bahn and the creepy man in the chrome mask. But few would dare set a whole film there, and populate it with pretty accurate characters too – affable homeless people, indifferent security guards, reluctant union/city workers .

***1/2 (out of 5)