Tuneful Tuesday: Experiment IV

Here's a classic video and song from the great Kate Bush seems perfect for the final Tuneful Tuesday of these 31 Nights of Halloween.

By the way, I chose that particular portrait of Kate Bush, as well as to not to say too much about the nature and the horrors coming in the video for "Experiment IV", because I didn't want to spoil the experienced for those younger people who have discovered Bush's work through its use in the "Stranger Things" television show this year, and who may not have come across this masterful video and song yet.

While I have known and loved this song for decades, I don't think I'd seen this music video before coming across it while preparing this year's post line-up. While the song inspired an idea for a dark and sinister tale--like so many of Kate Bush's songs, this one sketches out a story and prompts the listener to fill in the details with his or her imagination--it wasn't the tale that unfolds in this short film set to music.

Whether it's new to you, or a return to an old favorite, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And I thank you for visiting during this Halloween Season!

Experiment IV (1986)

Starring: Kate Bush, Richard Vernon, Hugh Laurie, Dawn French, Del Palmer, and Peter Vaughan

Director: Kate Bush

Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

Tuneful Tuesday with Kate Bush

Today's Tuneful Tuesday is different than anything we usually present during the 31 Nights of Halloween, in that it's 40 minutes long and it's a musical. Yes, a musical.

The Line, the Cross, and the Curve (1993)

Starring: Kate Bush, Miranda Richardson, and Lindsey Kemp

Director: Kate Bush

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A multi-talented musician and performer (Bush) is going through a crisis of confidence when a supernatural creature (Richardson) tricks her into putting on a pair of cursed pointe shoes. She must travel through alien dimensions and confront demons to remove the curse before she is compelled to dance herself to death. 

"The Line, the Cross, and the Curve" is the rarest of films: It's a musical that is also succeeds brilliantly at being a dark fantasy film. Given that Kate Bush is not only a highly skilled dancer, musician and vocalist, but also has a talent telling stories infused with ethereal spookiness and outright horror, she could well have been the only creator in the 1990s who could have pulled this off. Or the only creator, ever.

Partly inspired by a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and a movie from the 1940s (both titled "The Red Shoes"), this film is built around songs from Bush's album "The Red Shoes". It was made as the music video was reaching its creative pinnacle as a format, and it deserves to be ranked among the very best of those efforts. (The film did win some awards Back in the Day, and it was also broken up into pieces to serve as videos for the songs featured.)

"The Line, the Cross, and the Curve" is beautifully shot and brimming with great music. It may be a bigger time commitment than items we generally offer for your entertainment during the Halloween Season, but we think you'll find this a very enjoyable.

31 Nights of Halloween: Hammer Horror

This tribute to the classic monster movies and thrillers from Hammer Films fits nicely into the 31 Nights of Halloween on this Musical Monday. (The song was originally released on October 27, 1978.)




Hammer Horror (1978)
Starring: Kate Bush
Director: Unknown
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars



To read my take on some of the Hammer films, click here. You can also find reviews of Hammer's black-and-white films at the Shades of Gray blog. You still have time to rent or buy a few to watch on the Big Night when it arrives next Monday!