I’ve known Chris Kelso for a while now, and we’ve discussed everything from horror fiction to the ups and downs of the Scottish Premier League. This time out, our conversation was about the evergreen topics of books and movies: specifically, Kelso’s book about the film Possession and its lingering effects on him.
This feels like the appropriate place to start: when did you first hear of Possession? And when did you first see it?
I first saw Possession by pure accident, but I can’t quite remember what age I was. Maybe early 20’s? Anyway, I was scouring YouTube for recently uploaded horror films and happened to stumble across a grainy still of Isabella Adjani mid-primal scream. It was very alluring, and it was obvious even from that still image that this wasn’t some Troma/Roger Corman schlock-fest. It says something about the power and pull of Possession – that it communicated something complex and important to me through a single frame from the film.
How long before writing this book had you been thinking about writing it?
Since I first saw Possession I’ve thought about it almost every day. I feel like when I first watched it no one else seemed to know or care about it. I’m sure that’s not true and it’s just how I felt in my little cloistered existence, but it’s really only been in the past five years or so that it’s had a proper fanfare resurgence. Of course, Arrow released a 4K edition. When I first saw the film I was just a bit perplexed by it, I wasn’t sure if I loved it or hated it. One thing was certain though, I was disturbed enough by it for the film to never really leave me. When you carry a loaded object like Possession around in your head for long enough, pretty soon you start to superimpose your own life over the top of it. The book I wrote is pure projection – my life over the film.
Are there other works by artists reeling from a traumatic breakup that you’ve found compelling over the years?
Well, I did enjoy Blue Valentine, but that might be a bit on the nose. Actually, one of the best ‘break-up’ films I watched wasn’t even about two people involved in a romantic relationship. I rewatch Elain May’s incredible Mikey and Nicky every year and I just think it presents the disintegration of a toxic friendship so perfectly. It emphasises the fragility of the male ego and the mean wee games men play with each other. I’d highly recommend it if you haven’t already checked it out. Eliane May is a real artist and horribly overlooked as a director.
What was your experience with the Midnight Movie Monographs series before becoming a part of it?
Well, my favourite isn’t quite a monograph, but Steve Volk’s Coffinmakers Blues is incredible and came out through Electric Dreamhouse. I’ve said it on record already, but I strongly believe it’s the best book about a writer in the Hollywood system since Goldman’s, Adventures in the Screen Trade. Obviously, Stephen Bissette’s book on The Brood is also an influential edition to the series. I haven’t read them all, but I plan to.
This isn’t your only book about film; you’ve also co-edited an anthology about David Croneberg’s early films. Did you find any connection between working on that project and this one?
I suppose the psychological torment of separation is an overlapping theme – Possession and something like The Brood are considered ‘divorce cinema’. Both of those films in particular offer raw depictions of ugly breakups and how the body is chargeable under extreme stress. Both directors are big on metaphor and push actors to produce these big hysterical performances. There’s also the fact both Zulawski and Cronenberg are intellectual filmmakers. Their work is prenatal with meaning and subtext. That’s something that makes them worthy of critical analysis. You want to write about these films because they are positively heaving with symbolism.
I’ve heard talk of an A24-produced remake of Possession. Do you think this story is inherently tied to the time and place in which it was made?
They could remake and update the context, but there will never be another Berlin story like Zulawski’s. The division between the East and West is such a pivotal metaphorical extension of the films central thesis. I’m probably not one of those people who think a remake of Possession is impossible or sacrilege. I just hope they don’t fuck it up and bring on some smart people to tease out the complex fibres of the story.
Do you have strong feelings on any of Andrzej Żuławski’s other films?
You know, I’ve only seen On the Silver Globe and The Devil. I think both are visually very interesting, but they haven’t stayed with me in the same way Possession has. There’s something about the dialogue in those films that really detaches me from the watching experience. They can be feasted upon as painterly spectacles, though. I’m more of a Wojciech Has enthusiast when it comes to broader bodies of work.
– What’s next for you?
So much. I’m editing a book with my friend and long-time collaborator Preston Grassman called Through a Glass Darkly about occult detectives. I also have a ‘Best of’ collection coming out which is a curated book of my ‘best’ short fiction from 2012-2026. I’m in the early stages of editing 2 anthologies, one with the brilliant Roy Christopher, and another with the inimitable duo of David Leo Rice and Logan Berry. I have an exciting sports book coming out in May as well which is a bit of a departure for me, and Nick Hudson and I are chipping away at a follow up to the last Vantablack record. But if I can also plug a book Ewan Morrison and I wrote together called Shadowspheres I’d be grateful. It’s something I’m really proud of and came out in February there.