How Not To Run A Fan Convention: The Worst Cons Ever

Fan conventions (or “cons”) are a thrill for many, with people from across the globe coming together to celebrate their hobbies and beloved films, TV shows, video games, anime, books, websites, you name it. I attend conventions every now and again, both professionally run and operated by fan communities; my favourite being 2016’s “Summer of Sonic”, and my least favourite being my time at the London Film & Comic Con a few years back, due to a lack of information, and, well, ironically, crowds. I still believe hosting LFCC in Olympia, where there are only three elevators and one staircase up to each floor, is a poor place to hold such a large event.

But, not every con goes well, for a number of reasons. It can be due to mismanagement by the organizers and managers, a lack of finances, chaos on part of the attendees, or in some cases, outright lies and manipulation in order to make a quick buck. Let’s go through some of the most infamous conventions in history, or in other words, the worst of the worst.

New York Star Trek ‘76

Held at the New York Hilton, organizer Lisa Boynton seemed dedicated to undermining other Star Trek conventions occurring in the area, particularly the Schuster Star Trek Convention, which had occurred mere weeks earlier. This move was seen as intentional, to cut into the finances and attendance of Al Schuster’s convention. Fans were put off by Boynton’s priority to make money rather than celebrate Star Trek. Most notably, the convention was the first to pay special guests to attend the event.

Needless to say, the press and fans themselves labelled the con as a disaster (or “DisasterCon”). Up to 30,000 fans attended, and the convention oversold, with some having to be turned away when the hotel grew overcrowded. This can be a problem in some cons, and Lisa Boynton’s convention is a textbook example of how not to run such an event. William Shatner, making one of his first appearances at a convention, had a pie thrown at him whilst giving a panel onstage.

Tentmoot

This fan convention is a little different, as it never actually happened, and is just a part of a much darker, disturbing series of events. Tentmoot was a promoted convention celebrating The Lord of the Rings, run by one Andrew Blake, a disturbed, controlling man who took on many aliases. Blake began his shenanigans under the alias of “Victoria Bitter”, founding a website and alleged charity group called “Bit of Earth”. Blake is a man of many personalities and counts of criminal acts, including multiple cases of assault and domestic abuse, a history of fraud, cult building, etc. Blake also claimed he channelled the souls of fictional characters and actors from The Lord of the Rings.

Blake adopted the alias of “Jordan Wood”, claiming he shared his body with Elijah Wood’s soul, that he was even the actor’s cousin, and that Wood’s family was involved in the IRA. He later claimed to possess Orlando Bloom’s soul too. Bit of Earth launched “Project Eleanor”, the sole positive thing the group actually did, creating a children’s reading garden for the Riggs Institute in Beaverton. The volunteering effort was a success, with Sean Astin (aka Samwise Gamgee himself) attending to create the garden, which still stands outside the institute til this day. Allegedly, the charity money raised at a screening for The Two Towers would go to Reading Is Fundamental, a non-profit children’s literacy organization. The money instead either was used for Project Eleanor’s supplies, or simply disappeared, likely into Blake’s pockets.

Blake then announced Tentmoot, a five-day event celebrating Middle-Earth, to be hosted in Portland. Blake, thanks to his many aliases, caused chaos and confusion with many people, including the police, Middle-Earth related cast and crew, their agents, public relations people, and those who had volunteered to run both Bit of Earth and the imaginary convention. Jed Brophy, Paul Randall, and Brian Sergeant arrived at LAX expecting to attend Tentmoot, but learnt it wasn’t going to happen. Lawrence Makoare never made it out of New Zealand thankfully. According to Blake, a deal he had made with New Zealand airlines to fly the celebrities to the convention fell through. Blake asked friends to donate to ensure guests could travel to Portland. But, as it turns out, he never made any arrangements with airlines to begin with. Just one of many lies he had wove to cheat people out of their money.

Las Pegasus Unicon

The Brony community who make up the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanbase, is one of the more dignified ones online, a welcoming and closely-knitted phenomenon that reached its cultural peak around 2012. A documentary, produced by actor John de Lancie, focused on the Brony community and the 2012 Bronycon, highlighting the artistic talents, and integral sense of unity between the fans, never discriminating or isolating anyone from joining the “herd”. Pony conventions were popping up across the United States, and things were looking good for the fanbase.

But, the 2013 Las Pegasus Unicon in Las Vegas nearly destroyed the future of the Bronies’ conventions, and their relationship with the cast and crew of MLP. Needless to say, the convention was a disaster. Held in the Riviera Hotel Convention Centre, the con was such a colossal train wreck, that some feared it was the end for Brony conventions as a whole. The main problem seemed to come down to mismanagement, a lack of expected attendees, and the financial panic that followed. Funds were overextended, actors could not be paid, and some attendees were even kicked out of their hotel rooms, and left with enormous bills for travel expenses. Voice actresses like Nicole Oliver and Tara Strong were left stuck at the  airport without transport, and had to make their own way to the convention.

In the end, the Everfree Network, the Brony community’s radio channel, stepped in and organized a donation to raise money for the unpaid guests. The event’s lone organizer, Sandi Haas, had no prior experience running a con, and disappeared during the second day, allegedly with most of the money. It goes to show that poor management and mishandling of money can lead to disaster. However, Las Pegasus did not kill the MLP convention circuit, as many have been held since, and better organized.

Rainfurrest 2015

In some cases, it is the attendees themselves that cause havoc. Rainfurrest was a convention for and by the furry community, which ran from 2005 to 2015. The final event marked the death knell for this unusual convention. Mere hours after Rainfurrest 2015 began, there were multiple arrests, guests got seriously hammered, and went on a rampage, and caused much damage to the hotel. Toilets were deliberately flooded, some guests disabled their hotel room’s fire alarm to get high, sabotaged a hot tub, and the swimming pool was closed because some fool decided to do their business within. There were also fans walking around wearing nappies on their heads, or throwing them out windows and leaving them in the halls and rooms, harassing other guests, and causing anarchy. The response from the hotel was swift, warning other hotels in Seattle to not play host to any future Rainfurrest conventions.

Fyre Fest

Fyre Fest was a music festival in 2017, set on Great Exuma in the Bahamas. The event was organized (and orchestrated) by Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule. The idea for the music event sprung from merely viewing the island by flying over it in McFarland’s private plane. Having no experience running a music event, McFarland contacted other, more experienced companies for advice. He was astonished that these gigs cost between $5-12 million to run. Believing it would cost far less, McFarland and his Fyre Fest team continued under this assumption. Tickets were pricey, but the marketing promised a private tropical island called Fyre Cay, with meals prepared by celebrity chefs, a line-up of popular bands and singers, and being a paradise for all who came. Boy, was that a lie!

Fyre Fest was a total wash out, and like a mass recreation of Cast Away. Guests found out that Fyre Cay did not exist, and instead flew to a dump on Exuma Island. There was no sense of security or order, none of the scheduled musical acts showed up, and there were no luxurious villas and gourmet food, just grubby tents on a gravel site, and cheap, pre-prepared food. 

There was no communication between the staff members (no walkie talkies), the only toilets were portaloos, and McFarland and Ja Rule were nowhere in sight. Guests didn’t receive water, but rather free tequila, and lockers were provided by no one told guests they needed to bring their own locks. Eventually, things were so chaotic that the Bahaman government stepped in to close down the festival.

The exodus from the island was just as messy, with guests stuck at the airport for an extended period of time. Strangely, the security guards locked the passengers in the airport terminal with no access to food and water, leading to one person fainting. People were understandably angry, having paid thousands of dollars to stay in a dump. Ja Rule released an official apology, but took no blame for what went down.

Fyre Fest’s organizers did offer refunds for all, but also the absurd invitation to get tickets for the imaginary Fyre Fest 2018. As for McFarland, he claimed that, get this, a storm had somehow changed the digital marketing into exaggerated lies. Yes, a storm. Can rain, wind, and thunder somehow edit a website? Then, eight different lawsuits were thrown against Fyre Festival, on various counts of fraud and other criminal charges, one seeking more than $100 million in damages. Then the feds got involved, arresting McFarland for one count of wire fraud. He ended up confessing to two different counts of wire fraud towards investors and a ticket vendor. McFarland was sentenced to jail for six years for his actions, and hopefully will never be allowed to plan a convention ever again.

Dashcon

And finally, we have Dashcon 2014, perhaps the most infamous doomed convention. A fan convention “for Tumblr fans, by Tumblr fans”, Dashcon may have been created with good intentions, but was an unmitigated disaster. Within a weekend, the organizers took $17,000 from the attendees as part of an emergency fundraiser to pay off the hotel bill, were unable to pay for or even accommodate guests (or chose not to), and disappointed ticket buyers were offered hotel mints and an extra hour in the pathetic children’s ball pit as compensation. The convention was originally named “TumblrCon”, but had to rename itself since it was unaffiliated with the website.

On the first day of the convention, organizers found themselves overwhelmed, and the entire convention would be booted out of the hotel that night, unless $17,000 was paid to the hotel. Dashcon’s organizers claimed hotel management didn’t like the people attending the event – in direct contrast to the hotel, who publicly welcomed the convention. Attendees agreed to pay for this “con” directly from their wallets, not really stopping to think if the organizers were pulling their legs. The vendors couldn’t make any profit because the attendees had just given all of their cash away to the desperate planners.

The organizers had expected around seven-thousand people to show up, and only about 1500 did. It seems odd that a hotel owned by the Marriot would let a first time convention to go ahead without paying up first. Pacific Rim was illegally screened in a panel, the Dr. Horrible Sing Along Blog listed on the schedule was cancelled since they didn’t have the rights to do it, and the highly anticipated panel of the event was for Welcome to Night Vale, pausing their national tour to attend. But, upon arriving, the Night Vale crew found out their rooms and transport had not been paid for, forcing them to sleep elsewhere.

Other guests, the Sherlock podcast group, the "Baker Street Babes", quit the convention on day two, and were forced to pay for their own hotel rooms. When Night Vale were announced to have bailed, the organizers pathetically offered an “extra hour in the ball pit” as compensation. Yes, really. The headline panel was cancelled on the fault of the organizers who attempted to pin blame on Welcome to Night Vale, who they had invited and offered to pay for, and then couldn’t due to their own incompetence. The reward was an extra in the ball pit, which was about the size that a six-year old could fit in. And even after that, it deflated, and someone apparently urinated in it.

Oh, and during the wait for Night Vale, the organizers sneakily altered their website, so that they would not be offering any refunds to the attendees. Pathetic. Utterly pathetic. And there was also Dashcon’s claim that it was in a partnership with the charity Random Acts, but RA responded that they had no such affiliation with the convention.

So, what went wrong? It appears to be a mix of the organizers not anticipating the responsibility and finances needed to run a convention, and the amount of attendees was shorter than expected. Asking the guests to pay for the convention’s finances pretty much killed it, leaving vendors and attendees unable to spend money, as there was nothing to spend. The organizers literally blamed everyone but themselves. There were rumours that the whole operation was a scam. Whether or not it was, Dashcon is without a doubt one of the worst planned conventions in history, and could be used in classrooms on how not to run a business!

The Symbolism of Return to Oz

Return to Oz is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by The Walt Disney Company, and is heavily regarded as a cult classic, a loyal adaptation of the books by L. Frank Baum, and one of the scariest family films of all time. In some respects, the film is superior to The Wizard of Oz, serving as a spiritual sequel to the 1939 classic.

For this analysis, we shall be taking a look at the symbolic meanings behind the story and imagery of Dorothy Gale’s journey throughout the film. The major psychological symbolism of the film is Dorothy’s decision to choose between reality and fantasy, and the damage she had done to her own mind because of her indecisiveness and lack of judgement. As a sequel to The Wizard of Oz, the film carries over the question whether or not Oz is a real place or just a dream, leading to a lot of mental imprinting from the real world into Dorothy’s imagination and subconsciousness.

The film opens with Dorothy lying in bed, obsessed with Oz, and has become an insomniac because of her issues. Whether or not Oz is real is immediately brought up, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry dismissing it as a child’s imagination-turned-obsessive fantasy, brought on by Dorothy’s trauma from the tornado. 

Dorothy’s life is not exactly good. Uncle Henry is trying to rebuild the farm whilst in debt and suffering from a limp. Dorothy is aware of this, but remains caught up in her own troubles to help out. Dorothy sees a shooting star pass by her window and assumes it means something good is to come.

Aunt Em decides to take Dorothy to see a therapist, Dr. Worley, who specialises in electroshock therapy. The next day, Dorothy finds a key shaped like the Oz emblem, assuming it was sent by her friends and they are in trouble. She tries to show it to Aunt Em as proof, but her aunt dismisses it as being from the old house and silences Dorothy’s attempts to argue.

They head on out to the clinic, but Toto gives chase, concerned for his master’s welfare. Dorothy scolds her dog and leaves him behind, symbolising the beginnings of her separation from her innocent fantasies, but also her key connection to home. 

 At the clinic, Dorothy tells Dr. Worley about her adventures in Oz. Worley is a charismatic man, but his ambition and reputation are more important to him than the needs of his patients, as revealed later on when it turns out patients are locked in the cellar due to being mentally damaged by the ECT.

Worley asks Dorothy about the Ruby Slippers, which serve as a tie-in to The Wizard of Oz. The slippers represent the link between the conscious and subconscious mind, allowing Dorothy to return to reality and symbolise the power she has over her own mindscape. Dorothy reveals the slippers were lost, implying her understanding between fantasy and reality is mixed and distorted. Worley shows her his ECT machine, which will play a hand in Dorothy’s descent into her psyche, and the basis for Tik-Tok.

Dorothy sees a reflection of a girl in the ECT machine, who we later learn is Princess Ozma. Ozma symbolises Dorothy’s true subconscious self and possibly her conscience. Dorothy is the only character who interacts with Ozma in Kansas, so it is possible that she is not real - though that wouldn’t explain how she got a jack o’lantern.

Aunt Em leaves, and Dorothy is locked in a room by the creepy Nurse Wilson until her operation. Seriously, she gives Nurse Ratched a run for her money! 

Ozma appears, giving Dorothy the jack o’lantern and asks why she was brought to the clinic. Representing Dorothy’s conscience, Dorothy is effectively talking to herself and accepts the knowledge that Oz might just be made up. Ozma’s question also hints to Dorothy that the clinic is dangerous, informing us that Dorothy is subconsciously aware that something is wrong.

Dorothy gets escorted to the operation room to get her brain zapped. Let’s say for the sake of this analysis and theory, Dorothy undergoes the ECT, has a complete dissociation from reality, escapes the clinic, falls into the river, and later washes up on the bank while experiencing her journey into her subconscious. The blackout symbolises Dorothy’s dissociation from reality due to the trauma of the ECT.

Ozma appears and rescues her, revealing the fate of other patients. Dorothy finally realises the clinic is dangerous and flees out into the equally deadly storm with Ozma, pursued by Nurse Wilson. The two girls fall into a river, Dorothy surviving but Ozma drowns. This symbolises Dorothy’s submergence into her mind, and losing her conscience, who would guide her back to reality.

Dorothy wakes up in the Deadly Desert, a vast wasteland where everything that steps into it dies and turns to sand. This represents Dorothy’s inner despair and fear, losing herself in her subconscious, and the loss of her identity caused by the ECT.

She is accompanied by a talking chicken named Billina. Said chicken appeared on Dorothy's farm, so Billina is Dorothy’s sole connection to home and reality, but also a voice of logic and reason, asking questions about Oz and reminding Dorothy of home, and thus reality. Her egg is also significant to the plot, representing new life and hope, later killing the evil Nome King. The two leave the desert and explore Oz. However, the rocks around her are literally watching her and report back to the Nome King, who is Dr. Worley’s counterpart in Oz.

The Nome King represents Dr. Worley’s influence over Dorothy’s mind. Both characters wish to erase all memory and trace of Oz’s existence. Worley is obsessed with the power of his machines, viewing the human brain as a machine which can be influenced and controlled, but his experiments have led to patients being injured and locked away.

The Nome King transforms all of the Ozians into lifeless statues or ornaments, reflecting the need to stamp out all of Dorothy’s imagination and free will. His true goal is to become human, or rather become the controller of a human mind, namely Dorothy’s, replacing her subconscious with his own, representing Dr. Worley’s desire to control the mind through ECT. This also explains why the King is terrified of Princess Ozma getting out, knowing it she would help Dorothy regain her willpower. The Nome King also symbolises Dorothy’s depression, which threatens to consume her from within.

Dorothy travels to the Emerald City where she discovers all of the citizens have been turned to stone. The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion are amongst the victims, whilst the Scarecrow has been kidnapped by the Nome King. The trio represent wisdom, love, and courage, but they are suppressed by the Nome King’s influence. Scarecrow, in particular, represents Dorothy’s common sense, wisdom, and understanding, but also her physical brain which faces destruction by Dr. Worley’s experiments. The loss of losing one’s mind is symbolised throughout the film.

It is at this point in her journey that Dorothy encounters the menacing, psychotic Wheelers. Out of all of the monsters in Return to Oz, they have to be the scariest. They are demonic humans who have wheels for hands and feet. Inspired by the orderlies in the clinic and their squeaky-wheeled stretchers, the Wheelers bring with them chaos, terror, and act as the twisted enforcers of the Nome King’s new laws. The Wheelers chase Dorothy, stating that chickens are banned in Oz - i.e. bringing new life, imagination, and individualism.

Dorothy and Billina then meet Tik-Tok, the clockwork man who serves as the Royal Army of Oz. Tik-Tok is a robot powered by three wind-up keys which control his thoughts, speech, and movement, but they wind down easily. He represents a multitude of things like inner strength, logic, reason, self-control and restraint, but also the limitations of the human mind, as seen when his mind breaks down and becomes erratic. 

His Kansas counterpart is the ECT machine, symbolising how it was designed to support Dorothy’s mind. Dorothy does not blame the machine but rather Dr. Worley, so it appears as a friend. Tik-Tok may also represent the Ego of Dorothy’s mind, suggested by Sigmund Freud, to be the organized, realistic part of the brain which keeps the other two parts, the Id and Super-ego in check.

Dorothy, Billina, and Tik-Tok go outside where he beats up the Wheelers, easing the chaos in Dorothy’s mind. They then meet Mombi, the evil witch who serves the Nome King and now poses as the new ruler of Oz. Mombi has an ability to swap her head with those of other characters, namely women who have had their heads removed. 

Mombi symbolises Nurse Wilson, a cruel, sinister figure who abuses others, and is thus nasty towards Dorothy. The interchangeable heads and personalities symbolises Dorothy’s madness and loss of identity, Mombi threatening to remove Dorothy’s head to add it to her collection. Though sentient, the heads are only hosts for Mombi, and are truly hollow, symbolising the patients hurt by the ECT.

There are over thirty heads, with Mombi’s original head locked up in Cabinet #31, the same number of Dorothy’s room at the clinic. Interestingly, 31 is a number associated with “El”, another name for God. In Oz, Dorothy is considered an almighty figure of mythic properties, while Mombi is god in her domain, her true self hidden in Cabinet #31 with her source of power (the magical Powder of Life).

Mombi locks Dorothy and Billina up in the attic of the royal palace to eventually take Dorothy’s head. Tik-Tok’s action key ran down, immobilising him and Dorothy’s sense of self-preservation. It is here that we meet Jack Pumpkinhead, a Scarecrow-like character, who is childlike, innocent, naive, and quite dependent on others. He was created by Ozma and is her son, later referring to Dorothy as his mother til he finds his real one.

Jack represents Dorothy’s innocence and childhood but also her vulnerabilities. He also serves as a substitute for her conscience (Ozma) til she is found. He may also represent the Id of Dorothy’s mind, driven by simplicity and a need to feel things. However, this is debatable, since he later claims he won’t miss such sensual things before undertaking the Nome King’s game of doom.

Dorothy comes up with an idea to escape Mombi, fixing Tik-Tok, before going to retrieve the Powder of Life. This part is the darkest and scariest part of the film, with Dorothy awakening the real Mombi, who rages and screams hysterically, wanting Dorothy dead. She represents Dorothy’s lingering madness, causing Tik-Tok’s brains to run down. Dorothy gets lost whilst running away, but Ozma’s image shows her the right way. Dorothy and Jack bring the Gump to life, a mismatched creature made from furniture and a moose-like head, showing that Dorothy’s imagination and creativity still exists.

The Gump himself is a rather snarky, honest, and gloomy character, representing Dorothy’s rationale but also her sense of mortality, since he has already died once and been reborn. Mombi leaps into the room but our heroes escape the castle and fly across the Deadly Desert. We learn Ozma was trapped in a mirror by Mombi, who claims no one remembers her or her true lineage as Queen of Oz. Dorothy has misplaced her conscience and need to return home.

The Wheelers give chase to the Gump but several fall into the Deadly Desert and die, pretty much symbolising their end as a threat to Dorothy’s subconscious. However, without her conscience (Ozma) and wisdom (Scarecrow), Dorothy’s mind is starting to fracture, as seen when the Gump falls apart midair and the gang crash land on the Nome King’s mountain without dying. The group rebuild the Gump, symbolising Dorothy beginning to rebuild her mind.

The Nome King appears to Dorothy and friends, dragging them down into his throne room where he reveals the Emerald City was created from stolen gems and blames the Scarecrow. The Emerald City was the centre of Dorothy’s subconscious until destroyed by the Nome King, his mountain now the source of power and influence within, stealing the emeralds and Dorothy’s wisdom/common sense. The emerald itself is associated with love, hope, wisdom, and appropriately, a healer for a troubled mind. The Nome King took the emeralds to crush all of these elements of Dorothy’s psyche.

The Nome King challenges Dorothy and friends to a rather cruel game - he has changed the Scarecrow into an ornament and hidden him in a vast chamber of antiques. Each character (save the hidden, unseen Billina, whose eggs can kill Nomes) has three guesses to identify the Scarecrow and he will be freed if they guess correctly. However, if they lose, they will become an ornament too. Such a fate represents the damage done to the patients and further destruction of the mind.

The Gump goes first but quickly loses, possibly due to his weakened sense of judgement. Jack also fails, due to his Id-based lack of thinking, as described by Tik-Tok, claiming Jack has many excellent qualities but “thinking isn’t one of them”. Dorothy agrees, beginning to doubt her ability to win, leading to her friends’ defeat. During this, the Nome King is becoming more and more human, having begun as a face on a wall, symbolising his growing influence over Dorothy.

Tik-Tok goes in next to guess, leaving Dorothy to talk with the Nome King. He questions her reasoning to come back to Oz, thus putting her dreams and mindset into doubt (“You came all this way for a scarecrow?”). However, the Nome King then reveals his power has come from the noneother than the Ruby Slippers, which he now wears, claiming they fell out of the sky, discarded by Dorothy to go home.

The slippers represents Dorothy’s link to reality and is now under the Nome King’s control. The power over her own mindscape, which the King has exploited and now rules. Dorothy is clearly shaken by this, but now realises what she has done by not making her mind up.

The Nome King is informed that Tik-Tok has run down, sending Dorothy in to fix him and then guess herself. However, he then reveals a newer agenda - offering to use the Ruby Slippers to send Dorothy home and forget Oz forever. His influence over Dorothy’s mind is at its peak, controlling her one link to reality, but it would mean she would be unable to recover. Dorothy marches away into the collection room, finding Tik-Tok has faked his movement to get her in so she can see what he transforms into.

Tik-Tok admits he is having trouble thinking, not out of a lack of thought but because he is sad, crying emerald-green tears. He has thus taken on a new role, representing Dorothy’s humanity. He has also made the emotional choice to sacrifice himself to help Dorothy win. However, the game is not so fair, and Tik-Tok disappears. Mombi arrives to a gloating Nome King, admitting he could have transformed all of the heroes immediately but set up the game out of amusement. He now has near-complete control over Dorothy’s mind and is now just playing with it.

However, when Mombi suggests the possibility that Dorothy guesses right and learns about Ozma, the Nome King’s confidence is shaken for the first time. He knows her true identity and purpose, knowing the return of Dorothy’s conscience could take away his control over her. Meanwhile, Dorothy resorts to pure chance to guess. She stumbles around with her eyes shut until she notices an emerald on a shelf. And as the emerald symbolises hope, Dorothy frees the Scarecrow, reuniting with her wisdom. Immediately, Dorothy guesses Ozians transform into green ornaments, restoring Jack and the Gump.

The Nome King rages, his power now reversing. He imprisons Mombi for failing him and transforms into a giant rock monster to devour Dorothy and her friends. Declaring he is tired of games and Dorothy’s defiance, he proceeds to just consume her mind by force rather than slow influence.

However, when he tries to eat Jack, Billina lays her egg in fright, which falls into the Nome King’s mouth, poisoning him. The egg represents birth, symbolising Dorothy taking control over her mind again. Eggs turn out to be lethal to Nomes, and the Nome King slowly crumbles and dies in horrific fashion, ending his influence over Dorothy. She then uses the Ruby Slippers to transport everyone to Oz (including Mombi) and restore the Emerald City to life, effectively healing her mind.

The gang briefly assume Tik-Tok is dead but the Gump discovers a medal hanging from his antler, actually Tik-Tok, representing Dorothy’s victory, and free him. Some time later, Dorothy and friends celebrate in the royal palace alongside the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. Mombi has been caged, and even the Wheelers are joining in the festivities, now a positive part of her mind. Dorothy has one last choice to make - to remain in her fantasies or return to reality, despite her friends’ pleas for her to become queen.

However, Jack exclaims that they understand Dorothy’s decision, fulfilling his role as her substitute conscience. Dorothy wishes to be in both places at once, the slippers granting her desire by summoning Ozma in the mirror. Dorothy reunites with her conscience and pulls Ozma out of the mirror. Several women explain Ozma’s role as queen, and it is revealed Dorothy stripped Mombi of her magic, removing Nurse Wilson's influence too.

Dorothy surrenders the slippers to Ozma, who promises to visit Dorothy from time to time with the offer to let her visit Oz. This is basically Dorothy’s conscience to balance or limit her time in her fantasy world but leaves the door open to return. Dorothy is then abruptly sent packing by Ozma, likely her own mind preventing her from hesitating in her decision. She awakens on the riverbank, clearly saddened by the outcome but knows it is for the best. Toto, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em appear moments later, serving as Dorothy’s reward for overcoming her problems.

It is revealed Dr. Worley died when a fire broke out in the clinic, trying to protect his machines, ultimately symbolising his choice to preserve his power than his life and profession. A police cart passes by, showing Nurse Wilson inside, the same as Mombi’s punishment. In a final scene, Dorothy’s farmhouse has been completed, Henry is recovering, and Dorothy is now a healthier, happier person. Ozma and Billina appear to her in her mirror, but when Dorothy goes to summon Aunt Em to show her, Ozma hints at her not too, reminding her own her decision to remain firmly within reality.

Dorothy realises she cannot dwell in her fantasies as they leave her detached from the real world. Thus, she surrenders the Ruby Slippers over to Ozma, allowing her alter ego to rule and tow the line, so she can return home a better person.

And there you have it! Just one fan’s take on the symbolism of the film. By no means am I an expert on symbolism, philosophy, or that sort of thing, but I do like to analyse films and find a deeper meaning to them, particularly films that make you think, theorise, and examine them more closely.

The Grudge: A Retrospective

Well, we have done a retrospective on The Ring franchise, so it makes sense to do the same to its sisterly series: The Grudge. Better known as Ju-On in Japan, the series was created by Takashi Shimizu, who made a bone-chilling premise. I caught the American remake on television and it scared the hell out of me, giving me nightmares for a long time. Both The Ring and The Grudge are both creepy, unsettling experiences that thrive in unnerving the audience.

Ju-On revolves around a cursed haunted house in suburban Tokyo, where a family were murdered through violent means, and their ghosts return as unstoppable, vengeful, and very angry, restless spirits. The housewife Kayako Saeki had an obsessive crush on her son’s teacher. Her husband Takeo found out, went berserk, and broke her neck. Depending on the often confusing continuity, he may have also killed their son Toshio, and his pet cat too. Anyone who steps into the house is doomed, and will eventually be consumed by the curse, or even becoming a part of it. Kayako’s signature, disturbing, croaky death rattle, and Toshio’s meowing taunts have cemented their place in my mind.

Each film is told through a series of vignettes focusing on different characters, though often in a disorganized, non-linear fashion, so each film jumps around a lot in its own timeline. Each film, at least in the Japanese series, connect to one another through minor scenes or background events. The franchise consists of two short films, two TV movies, two cinematic releases, two back-to-back spin-offs, a reboot and sequel, an American trilogy, and a crossover with The Ring. But, remarkably, it feels like the same film has been remade over and over again. The same things often happen, and it can make The Grudge a little tiring if you intend on watching the whole franchise.

Ju-On: The Curse

The first “V-Cinema” television film released in 1998 by Takashi Shimizu, Ju-On: The Curse was preceded by two short films – “Katasumi” and “44444444”, which both tie-in to the film. Why on earth they didn’t just insert them into the film is beyond me? It revolves around the cursed Saeki house, and those who encounter it – as does every other film that follows.

The main plot focuses on Toshio’s teacher Kobayashi visiting the home, unaware that the Saeki family are all dead, and his student is a freaky, meowing ghost. This sequence has a lot of creepy moments, and eagle eyed viewers can spot some really creepy things in the background and wide shots. Kobayashi discovers Kayako’s body in the attic, and then receives a rather disturbing phone call from her jealous husband Takeo (Takashi Matsuyama), revealing he has murdered Kobayashi’s pregnant wife. Then, Kayako (Takako Fuji) emerges from the attic and slowly crawls down the stairs. Having a broken neck and ankles, she can only groan and crawl around the franchise, and in an increasingly hair-raising manner. Though, it doesn’t stop her from uttering her lone line of dialogue in the whole film, still enamoured with the teacher. And during all this, Toshio is meowing down the phone. We also see Kayako’s ghost then come for her murderous husband.

This whole sequence is severely unsettling, and perhaps the scariest that this franchise gets in terms of atmosphere. The performances by Fuji, Matsuyama, and Toshio’s actor Ryota Koyama are all fantastic and extremely frightening. Kayako’s marionette movements and death rattle, Toshio’s meowing, and Takeo’s dark breathing are creepy as hell. The trio, or at least Takako Fuji and Takashi Matsuyama, would play the roles throughout the Japanese series and then in the American remakes.

The remainder of the film focuses on the family who moved into the house after the Saekis died. Sadly, there isn’t much character growth in the film (or the series), and most characters are just canon fodder to be killed. One character has a phobia of cats, which doesn’t help when her friend has tons of cat toys that stare at her, hinting at the larger supernatural presence in the house. As we shall see, Kayako and co. can do just about whatever they want with reality in their house.

Another great moment is when one character disappears offscreen and returns as a shuffling zombie missing her bottom jaw, though the special effects are naff. Chiaki Kuriyama, best known from Battle Royale and Kill Bill, appears in a supporting role. The film doesn’t really have a final act, but rather a set up for the sequel, involving a pair of sibling estate agents plotting to sell the Saeki house to a new family. The sister, being psychic, a common occurrence in Japanese films, senses something is wrong with the house. But, her brother has already sold the house. The film has a memorable score by Geirî Ashiya, and the use of minimalistic scares works well.

Ju-On: The Curse 2

After the first film, its sequel is a half-film, since a majority of its footage is recycled from the original, specifically Kobayashi’s vignette, and the last fifteen minutes, which set up this film’s plot. The estate agent siblings, Tatsuya and Kyoko, sell the Saeki house, but soon face its influence. It turns out Tatsuya and his son Nobuyuki live in Kobayashi’s old apartment. Nobuyuki and Kyoko are left traumatised and clearly haunted after encountering a re-enactment of Takeo murdering Kobayashi’s wife. Tatsuya takes them to his parents’ house, but things go very wrong. This plot wraps up halfway through, and the last twenty-five minutes or so go through a series of increasingly silly scares to kill off the remaining cast of the first film. One thing of importance is established about the curse – it spreads like an infection. If a person goes into the house, but dies elsewhere, that location becomes infected with the curse.

Ju-On: The Grudge

The first cinematic release, Ju-On: The Grudge is commonly mistook for the first film in the series. Our main heroine or victim is Rika, a care worker who is assigned to care for an elderly woman living in the infamous house. She hears meowing behind a taped up closet door, and finds Toshio trapped inside. It has a great build up of tension. Rika then drops out of the story for, well, years. She doesn’t return til the third act, set years later, and is drawn suddenly back into the spider web and suffers a terrible fate. Yes, not only does the curse influence space, but also time.

In another subplot, a traumatised police officer Toyama has to confront his demons, his colleagues consumed by the curse. There is a terrifying moment where he watches security footage, and witnesses Kayako’s spectre lurch towards the camera, vanish, and then suddenly appear right in front of it with her eyes staring directly at him. Whilst trying to burn down the house, Toyama is flung forward in time and encounters a high school girl who regards him with familiarity. Toyama then dies offscreen, and this girl turns out to be his daughter, Izumi, who was introduced as child. Izumi is certainly one of the more tragic victims of the curse, tormented by the phantoms of friends she abandoned in the house after a dare went wrong.

I’d say the most eerie part of the film is the very end, showing desolate streets of Tokyo with tons of missing persons posters covering every wall and lamppost, implying the curse has spread far and wide.

Ju-On: The Grudge 2

The fourth installment can easily be considered the finale of the original series. While it has the usual tentpoles of the franchise, it has the most fascinating goals of the franchise. The film focuses on an actress named Kyoko who is caught in a car crash staged by Toshio, suffers a miscarriage, and her husband is left comatose. But, then Toshio appears to her in hospital, touching her stomach, and Kyoko ends up pregnant. We learn through the vignettes that Kyoko was involved in filming a TV show in the Saeki house, now a local legend. The other crew members get their own plotlines along the way, though it is mostly to be killed through creative means.

Kayako becomes particularly violent and unforgiving, murdering characters without mercy. The crew’s screenwriter is hung through an elaborate, time-displacing sequence, and the make up artist is, well, attacked by a wig that transforms into Kayako. Any sense of sympathy for Kayako and Toshio is gone, as they are depicted as malicious banshees, and Kayako is at her most frightening, now a lurching, bloodstained contortionist. The curse’s ability to play with time becomes even more absurd, with Toshio, still alive, steps out of the past into the present to interact with Kyoko. There’s a rather pointless subplot involving one of Izumi’s surviving friends, who is dragged through time by the curse, and then randomly dies.

The film’s ending is pretty amazing. Kyoko comes across Kayako’s personal diary and suddenly falls into labour. She is rushed into hospital, and gives birth to a reborn Kayako. This may have been the ghosts’ plan the whole time. Cut to several years later, the now toddler Kayako pushes Kyoko off a bridge for no reason, and departs into the unknown with her diary in hand. And this is, chronologically, the last time we see the character, leaving a lot of unanswered questions about the curse and timeline of the films. What about that apocalyptic ending of the last film? This by far the best of the Ju-On films, and if Takashi Shimizu intended on this to be the last hurrah, it was a wonderfully bleak film to end with.

The American Trilogy

Chronologically, the American trilogy was released next. The Grudge is basically a direct remake and fusion of the first and third Japanese films. Sarah Michelle Gellar fulfils Rika’s role, but sadly never whips out a vampire stake at any point to fight the ghosts. Takako Fuji and Takashi Matsuyama returned for the remakes, and are now even more terrifying as Kayako and Takeo. Being an American remake, a few familiar actors show up. Bill Pullman appears as Toshio’s teacher, and Ted Raimi appears in a supporting role. Japanese horror veteran Ryo Ishibashi (of Audition fame) appears as Detective Nakagawa. Originally, The Grudge was going to be a standalone film with a relatively happy ending, with the ghosts allowed to move on and find peace, but the ending was changed to make sequels.

The Grudge 2 takes elements from Ju-On: The Grudge 2, but does some original things to, unnecessarily trying to explain certain parts of the mythology. There are three stories: Amber Tamblyn (who had also appeared in The Ring) plays Sarah Michelle Gellar’s sister, who goes to Japan to retrieve her sister, but she is killed by Kayako; three high school students go into the house and you can guess what happens; and far away in Chicago, a family move into a tower block and find the neighbours are a little creepy. The three subplots all connect together, with a couple of surprises about who, what, and when take place.

The most interesting part is when Amber Tamblyn tracks down Kayako’s mother, a spirit medium who force fed a young Kayako bad spirits, mostly an excuse to explain why she is such a frightening ghost. Kayako then appears and kills her mother in what feels like one of the few personal kills in the film. I do particularly like the plot twist in the third act, and it opens up a whole new can of worms with the curse going international. Sadly, this was the last time Takako Fuji plays Kayako; like Boris Karloff, she worried her iconic role would turn stale, and bowed out from the role. Takashi Shimizu also stopped directing the films after this. Too bad the producers didn’t do the same.

The Grudge 3 is just pants. Kayako seems to have ditched the psychological, crawling-under-your-skin scares and just relies on American clichés and gore to kill people. Kayako’s sister Naoko, heads to Chicago to exorcise her sister from the tower block. Tenants of the building, specifically three siblings, Lisa, Max, and Rose, become involved in Naoko’s task. Toshio is played by Shimba Tsuchiya, making the young boy appear slightly older. Despite an engaging finale and interesting ideas, it is a poor end to the American trilogy, lacking Shimizu’s sense of chills and thrills, and relies on jumpscares and gore to frighten the audience.

White Ghost & Black Ghost

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Ju-On, two back-to-back spin-off films were released: White Ghost & Black Ghost. Aside from cameos by Toshio, these films are disassociated with the main characters and completely original. I do like this idea and exploring that possibility of there being more than one “grudge” in Tokyo. The Halloween series attempted this, but it backfired, since audiences were accustomed to Michael Myers. Both films are only an hour long and vaguely connected if you pay close attention.

White Ghost is closer in tone to the main series, involving another haunted house and a ghostly family. A teenager, Akane, mourns the death of her childhood friend Mirai, feeling guilt for not protecting her from her abusive uncle. After performing an Ouija game, Mirai’s ghost appears and haunts Akane. The film is told in a non-linear fashion as always, but has a few pointless subplots. Mirai’s ghost appeared to murder Akane’s father on Christmas Eve, but acts innocent and as a victim throughout the film. The film clumsily handles moments that are meant to be serious, but feel silly. What should feel like a serious movie, comes off as unintentionally hilarious.

Black Ghost is the better of the two, and has a far more original story. It is about a hospitalised girl, Fukie Yotoka, who shows signs of possession. Her mother and aunt discover Fukie’s body is shared with a cyst – the remains of an absorbed twin, which wants its own life. What a fantastic idea. It takes a couple of viewings to understand the plot, but it is a good one. The film has a rather tragic ending, and dramatic consequences for well-intentioned people. There is a minor tie-in to White Ghost, both involving the same house, so Black Ghost actually takes place before the other film. I would love to see more original Ju-On films, but sadly, the next film was yet another remake.

Ju-On: The Beginning of the End

A pointless remake with a pointless title. A remake and reboot of the original films, recycling plot elements and offers little original content. A teacher, this time a woman, goes to the Saeki house to find out why Toshio isn’t coming to school, while a group of school girls dare each other to go into the haunted house. As you might expect, the ghosts soon start to stalk and kill the characters. Rinse and repeat. Toshio gets a strange new origin story. He is a body-jumping ghost of a dead child, reborn anew as Toshio, only to then die again and become a ghost again. He’s stuck in this weird loop.

The titular grudge comes on a whim, when Kayako randomly tells Takeo that Toshio isn’t his child (technically he is, but he’s also the spirit of an already dead child). Takeo starts mugging at the camera, goes nuts, and murders his wife, and nukes the family cat in the microwave. What a creep! One thing of interest is that we see Kayako’s transformation into her iconic phantom appearance. A lot of the film is taken from the others – the broken jaw, the spooky diary, etc. There is a lot of silly moments in the films. Cardboard boxes shudder and jump around “menacingly”, one girl is dragged to her doom into a fridge (does Toshio know Zuul?), and then there’s the subway scare scene.

One character, Nanami, encounters the ghosts of her dead friends on the train. One is missing her lower jaw, and Nanami’s reaction isn’t exactly one of fright. She then turns around, and finds another friend has become a giant for some reason, and this causes her to scream in terror. Even the traditional “Kayako comes down the stairs” scenes gets mishandled. The camera hovers on the stairs, the music rises in anticipation, only for the camera to then swing to the right, revealing Kayako is upside-down on the ceiling. This whole film is a waste of time and not worth the watch. 

Ju-On: The Final Curse

 

The quote-on-quote final film of the Ju-On franchise (if Sadako vs. Kayako doesn’t count), Ju-On: The Final Curse is a sequel to the previous film, and is a little better. The teacher from the last film disappeared, and her sister becomes the main character. But her storyline is boring and treads through familiar water. What is really interesting is the other subplot, where Toshio (who can leave his mortal body) moves in with his cousin Reo and her mother. Toshio is still creepy as hell, but it does humanise him a little. Sadly, he brings the curse and his mother’s ghost with him, so his family meet unfortunate fates.

There’s a lovely scene where Toshio visits a terminally ill girl in hospital after she spots his ghost from afar. Rather than kill her, Toshio has a conversation with her, even letting her pet his cat (who somehow went from ginger to black). She states she’ll die soon, and offers to keep him company in the afterlife. This turns out to be a double-edged deal, since Toshio possesses her body and then dumps it aside, revealing the curse continues through him, and he can control bodies like puppets for some reason. The Final Curse isn’t a bad film, but focuses on the wrong story.

I feel that the Saeki family have run their course. White Ghost and Black Ghost found the right track, and if this franchise was to continue, it should follow a similar path by telling original stories. You can only make the same movie so many times.

Happy Halloween!