You… you told me once that you weren’t a hero. Umm, there
were times I didn’t even think you were mouse, but let me tell you this: you
were the best mouse, and the most mouse… mouse being that I’ve ever known, and
no one will ever convince me that you told me a lie, and so… There. I was so
alone, and I owe you so much. Please, there’s just one more thing, one
more thing, one more miracle, Basil, for me. Don’t… be… dead. Would you,
just for me, just stop it? Stop this.
I just watched ‘Horror Europa’, a documentary by Mark Gatiss made in 2012 for BBC4. You can watch it on youtube if you are so inclined: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brEzdZnoMzY
Anyway, MG talks about the history of European horror films and lists his favourites. One is by the legendary Italian horror director Dario Argento. It’s called
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (Italian: L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo), made in 1970. In the documentary, there’s one specific scene MG emphasises:
Watch the documentary or the original film to get the context (the man is a helpless witness to a brutal murder).
It reminded me heavily of these shots from THoB (Henry Knight’s conservatory):
When I remember the THoB commentary correctly, MG even crouched behind that counter, directing Tovey in this scene.
I think the visual parallels are striking. Quoting Argento in the most scary episode of Sherlock is a nice touch (and a tiny bit geeky…)
