The haunted house story can get really old.
We’ve seen different variations of this story, about half a dozen times. Yet, there is always some brilliant creator who is able to take a trusted and proven theme and breathe new life into it. Stephen King’s Shining comes to mind, where the house/hotel is not only haunted, but so is Jack’s mind. We watch as the main character spirals into insanity, a madness that was brought on by the ghosts who fester in the Overlook Hotel. Edgar Wright brings more color and depth to the theme of the haunted mind, in his psychological thriller, The Last Night in Soho. It’s a beautiful horror, where the ghosts of a sex worker, haunts a fashion student. This theme packs a hefty punch, because many of us fail to understand how the ghost from the past affects both our future and our present. I’ll explain why and how in this video, so please stay tuned.
There is a resounding theme that I am starting to see in movies.
I guess it could be called, beautiful horror. I supposed if a chick flick and a supernatural thriller had a baby, well, that would fall into the beautiful horror category. Movies, such as The Love Witch and Midsommar, come to mind, because they break many of the outdated rules of horror. The setting isn’t dark and scary, the villain isn’t cruel, mean, and ugly. Instead, the protagonist immerses herself in a world of culture, art, and beauty. She does this as a means to escape yes, but also as a way to deal with her deep-seated pain and trauma. We all know that no one can run away from their problems. (you can’t run away from me Sandie). So, the environment moves in to strangle her, exacerbating all of her fears and weaknesses, resulting in her imminent death. Beautiful horror movies are often great examples of nurture v nature. And many of these stories are cautionary tales of what happens to us, if we betray our nature. Let me explain why.
You see, ghost stories have been around since the beginning of time.
Almost every culture in the world has spoken about phantoms, or ghouls who roam the earth in the after life. For many, ghost are brushed off as supernatural beings. Yet, for others, they are very real. In fact, ghosts in story telling are metaphorical for deeply seated memories. Memories that can morph into trauma and pain. These memories haunt us, and if we are not careful, can consume us entirely. Right now, we are in the middle of a mental health crises, where millions are suffering from some sort of debilitating disease. Why? Well because we are no longer in tuned with our nature. Our ancestors believed that everything around us was alive. They also believed that everything around us has a memory. This is why some places, and some people, have that special vibe that resonates with you, or repels you in some way, shape, or form.
Our ancestors also had a better grasp on how trauma not only affects the brain, but also the soul.
They believed that trauma, especially when experienced in childhood, caused the soul to break into dozens of tiny pieces. Once the soul is broken, it’s not equipped to deal with the vicissitudes of nature. So, a person with a broken soul has no choice but to succumb and meet their inevitable demise. This was the case for Eloise’s mother. She too was an aspiring fashion designer, whose mental health took a turn for the worse in the city of London. I believe that Ellie’s journey was different. She was supposed to rise above the turmoil, put back the pieces of her broken soul, all to be whole again. Sadly, healing is hard for some people, especially for those who are intuitive. Eloise was a young and gifted girl. She was creative, intuitive, kind, and clairvoyant. She could see ghosts. She could feel other people’s pain. She could even heal them from this pain. Yet, she was an outcast, a Debbie Downer, a weirdo that no one wanted to be around.
Her isolation brings her closer to Sandie, an aspiring singer and dancer, turned sex worker and murderer.
(Sandie and Jack her pimp). Only Sandie isn’t a ghost. Sandie is Alex, an elderly woman who sublets rooms for money in Soho London. It is made clear that Eloise is not being tortured by her own memories, but by someone else’s. We’ve seen this concept before in the Shining where Jack Torrence was being tormented by the ghost of the Overlook hotel, and his son, Danny was receptive to all of his thoughts, emotions, and memories. Both the Shining and the Last Night in Soho are based on parallels between the young and the old. Both movies tell how memories, or ghosts from the past can rise up and completely destroy a person. However, The Last Night in Soho seeks to break the pattern of self-destruction, by allowing Eloise to save herself, her boyfriend, and all the ghosts that are buried in the floor panels in Alex’s Soho flat.
As a result of this, Eloise is a victor.
She was able to become whole again, and piece back together her broken soul. She didn’t succumb to her weakness. Unlike Jack Torrence who tries to murder his wife and child, only to take his own life in the end. Or, Elaine, who falls into the dark pits of murder and madness. Or, Dani, who burns her boyfriend alive because he wasn’t loving or supportive. We have to understand that we as individuals are not just dealing with trauma. We as a society are dealing with trauma. It is a big part of our collective unconsciousness. And those of us who are incredibly intuitive, can feel the pain of our ancestors. This pain, the ghost that haunts us, can compel us to do some awful things. I believe that these ghosts compel us to drink irresponsibly, to engage in behaviors that destroy ourselves and our communities. They can cause us to spread the disease known as hate. And these ghosts put us into mental state of dire straits. I believe that it is the unresolved pain in the collective unconscious that causes many of us to become depressed, for no clear reason. Truth be told that the memories from our past, has a great deal of control over our behaviors. And if we don’t take control over them, they will seek to control us.
