⚠️ The 4th Film

It’s not just that Carol Carolle’s murder robbed the world of a promising career – her death has eclipsed the three films that she made. Carolle was acclaimed as a great talent by Stephen King and, in an echo of King’s early praise of him, Clive Barker described Carolle as the future of horror. Who knows what other films she might have directed had her life not been cut short?

The Thong Killer
Carolle’s first film started as a post-graduation spoof. The Thong Killer is wildly funny before it becomes terrifying. It features a group of women wearing ridiculous amounts of clothes who are hunted by a man wearing only a thong, reversing the usual trope of scantily clad women fleeing a killer with no visible skin (think Jason, Leatherface, Michael Myers). Carolle was praised for her technical skill and the practical effects. The Thong Killer is a superb slasher, setting aside its intended message – which is what most of the audience did. Its adoption as a straightforward piece of entertainment drove Carolle to greater lengths with her subsequent films.

Tenant
Living in shared accommodation provided Carolle with the inspiration for Tenant. Filmed in her friends’ houses, the film makes impressive use of cramped living spaces. Messy beds and closed curtains become claustrophobic as characters drift between rooms, turning the rented houses into one huge labyrinth. The only natural light is a skylight in the infamous mouse scene. Some critics have complained that there is no clear shot of the killer, and that those few images are contradictory. But this is a petty response to a masterwork. All that remains of Tenant is a section captured on a phone at a screening, the angle awkward to ensure that the person filming was not caught.

À la carte
One of the most controversial scenes in 2010’s horror comes from Carolle’s film À la carte. A satire on the sex trade, it divided audiences. It might have been Carolle’s breakthrough movie, had distribution problems not caused it to sink without trace. Millions have, however, watched the frog scene, which is shared out of context on shock sites. This film is Carolle’s only acting role, since she couldn’t find anyone to play Linda. Off-camera, a man tells Linda how to skin, dismember and eat a live frog – itself a reconstruction of a notorious Youtube video. Carolle was outraged by the controversy, saying that people were more disturbed by the animal cruelty than what the film had to say about real-world misogyny.

The Murder of Carol Carolle
Shortly after The Gourmet was released, Carolle was stabbed to death in a park. The leaked police file describes a savage attack from which Carolle stood no chance. Rumours on Tiktok soon claimed that Carolle had arranged her own murder through a misogynist message board. These claims are summarised on Youtube documentary The Murder of Carol Carolle which combines the surveillance footage with old interviews and Tiktok conspiracies. Some have claimed this documentary can be considered Carolle’s fourth film, that she directed the events to cause such a controversy. But that argument is unconvincing, given that Carolle’s appalling murder has changed nothing, becoming simply another true crime sensation.

Background

This ran longer than 300 words and I couldn’t see how to compress it – but I’ve broken it into five sections so people can skip ahead if they get bored.

I was inspired to write this by reading the introduction to Ross Sutherland’s Guided Writing Journal. Ross often plays with formats in his podcast Imaginary Advice (previously recommended in December). In the journal’s introduction he talks about how he’s “written stories that only contain one vowel, produced fake novelisations ofmartial arts movies, created essays about artworks that don’t exist.” This story is my imaginary review of three horror films. I’d love to see Tenant, but I suspect that À la carte would be too much for me.

One interesting question is, should this have been longer? I could definitely have spent more time talking about the films, possibly introducing people who knew Carolle. But the current size is similar to hundreds of quickly-written online pieces, dealing with fascinating subjects while not quite getting to the bones of their topic. I also like that the piece has a few very strong images in a short amount of text. I’m not sure it could be lengthened without diluting some of the effect.