31 Days of Horror Recommendations: Eclipse (2009)

 

Year: 2009

Country: Ireland

Subgenre: Ghosts

Runtime: 88 minutes

Director: Conor McPherson

Now here is one that you may not have heard of, let alone seen. To call this a "sleeper film form 2009" would be a significant understatement; Eclipse might better be described as a "coma film from 2009." On the face of it, it is a drama, with deep psychological wounds; believe me, though, when I say that it is so much more. But even if that were all that it was, this would still rank a must see from me. Those wounds, gouging as they are, dripping with dark meaning, have a draw to them. The kind that makes you feel normal or okay about having bad, bad moments in life that are beyond your control. The film starts off exploring these darkest depths and despair caused by trauma, grief and guilt. Add to that the beautiful but haunting Irish sea village that it is set in--complete with that dark north sea light--and you know you are immersed in something haunted. You don't need much more to feel you are watching a psychological horror...but hey, it doesn't stop there. You do indeed get actual haunting, complete with visuals that still chill me just thinking about it them. There are not many films that have ghosts/spirits minus an actual house that feel like a haunted house film. This is one of the rare exceptions. It feels like a haunted house tale for some reason that I still can't put my finger on. Maybe it's a successful statement that it's not really places that are haunted, it's people? Be warned though, Aidan Quinn (who has already made an appearance in one of these recommendations this year in Haunted) plays a massive dick in this, like almost Three Stooges "eye poke" dick. He is so good in the part that my mother said he ruined the movie. He plays an over the top obnoxious writer, who has come to town with a bevy of other writers, for a writers convention. Without his mansplaining, loud drunken antics, we wouldn't get the gentle and sensitive performance from the power-house actor Ciarán Hinds. He is a widower who is volunteering time to basically act as taxi for the writers at the literary brew-ha-ha. One of the giveaways that this is indeed a ghost horror, is that the female love interest in the film is a ghost story writing from the U.K. Hinds character Michael Farr watches her read from her works at the festival with a shy interest. Farr is not just a widower who seems lost and tethered at the same time, he is also the father of two kids who he doesn't want to disappoint, but feels the weight of single parent responsibility at the same time. His shy demeanor covers over a keen eye into the nature of people and writing talent he is just beginning to acknowledge, add to this that he is actually a haunted man and you get a very compelling complicated role that a lesser actor would never have been able to pull off. This is a good one!