THE QUEEN OF SPADES

I think my favorite part of my Halloween Movie Marathon is allowing myself to research and watch films I haven’t seen or heard of. It was like that a couple of years ago when I found The 7th Victim, a Val Lewton produced film about a devil cult in 1940s Greenwich Village and has since become a personal favorite.

The Queen of Spades is one I didn’t even know existed until I was reading Fangoria magazine last month (it was mentioned favorably). Released in 1949, the story takes place in 1800s Russia, where a working-class army Captain gets tired of being under the thumb of his Bourgeois higher-ups and tries to figure out a way to get rich and outwit them. He finds a book of the occult that describes how a local countess sold her soul to Old Scratch for the secret to win at cards. The Captain becomes obsessed and hatches a plan to infiltrate her manor by way of seducing her protege. 

As with most movies of the era, it’s a bit of a slow burn; a lot of time is spent showing the Captain’s step-by-step seduction of the Countess’ ward. But there is also a very unsettling and electric vibe when the picture veers into its Satanic themes: the Captain’s discovery of the occult tome; the tale-within-the tale of how the beautiful Countess struck her bargain (and boy, she WAS beautiful); a nicely drawn-out sequence where a ghost visits the Captain; and the final scene where the Captain lays it all on the line. I loved another scene where the Captain attempts every form of manipulation under the sun to try to get the Countess’ secret: bargaining, pleading, reason, and threats — all met with a vacant and impersonal stare.

Like Curse of the Demon (another huge favorite of mine), the occult is left mostly off-screen and lends a lot to the imagination. The best part of these movies is asking my kids to choose if the main characters are encountering a real paranormal entity, or if their sanity’s just snapping. That and asking what’d they trade their souls for. Fortunately, everyone in the Zimmermann household has declared their inner-spark safe, tucked away from the Devil, in their own meat-shells. 

At least for now. We’ll see if they have any interest in politics in the coming years…