In the summer of 1999, Chestnut Hill's Andrew Repasky McElhinney began creating "A Chronicle of Corpses," a 2000 film shot in Germantown and Mt. Airy that blends gothic horror with art-house sensibilities — and earned a spot in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Haunting and provocative, the film — now with a 25th-anniversary screening Nov. 2 at PhilaMOCA in Spring Garden — established McElhinney as a distinct voice in independent cinema. At just 22, McElhinney crafted a film with deep roots in his hometown neighborhood that defies conventions of both mainstream horror and period dramas, eschewing gore for eerie stillness.
The plot follows a cursed family as they are methodically killed by an unknown and largely unseen assailant. The true horror comes not from the murders themselves — which McElhinney often cuts away from — but from lingering close-ups of his actors, their aging bodies and the stark reality of their mortal shells. His camera captures wrinkles, folds of flesh, weak chins and blemishes. Viewers are confronted with uncomfortable, unsettling images, then pulled into a trance by the same.
McElhinney, whose influences span from German Expressionists to American filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, explores the tension between beauty and decay, light and darkness, and life and death. His masterful use of chiaroscuro — stark contrasts between light and shadow — invokes the work of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer and creates a gothic fairy tale atmosphere recalling the Brothers Grimm at their most grim. No Disney version, this is all dark forest and death.
In a refreshing approach for an industry that often caters to broad, safe appeal, McElhinney aims to challenge, even disgust, his audience with bold and transgressive choices. The film's poetic pacing is juxtaposed with startlingly well-lit close-ups of youthful beauty, only to return to hypnotic monologues in isolation moments later. It is this deliberate provocation that has earned McElhinney comparisons to filmmakers Robert Bresson, Ingmar Bergman and Wes Craven. As The New York Times critic Dave Kehr wrote, "'A Chronicle of Corpses' belongs to the small but significant tradition of outsider art in American movies... the films that haunt American cinema."
McElhinney, who started making films in his teens, recalls how his early projects, including "A Maggot Tango" (1995) and "Magdalen" (1998), were filmed around Chestnut Hill, using familiar landmarks like Campbell's Place, the Chestnut Hill Library and local trails. The Chestnut Hill Local, too, played a role, giving McElhinney early press coverage that helped cement his status as a filmmaker to watch. The community's enthusiasm for his work during the '90s, a golden era of independent cinema, provided the foundation for his future projects.
In the credits of "A Chronicle of Corpses," McElhinney thanks many local individuals and institutions, including his family — parents, sister and grandfathers — who were integral to the project. Reflecting on that time, McElhinney notes, "People were excited to be part of a movie back then. It was novel, and the air was perfumed with the idea of perhaps having a breakout hit, like 'Clerks' or 'The Blair Witch Project.'"
McElhinney's filmography — including "Georges Bataille's Story of the Eye" (2003) and "Christmas Dreams" (2015) — along with "A Chronicle of Corpses," earned critical acclaim and recognition from institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art. His commitment to following his artistic instincts, rather than yielding to commercial pressures, continues to define his work. As he puts it, "Cinema should be provocative and intellectual," and "A Chronicle of Corpses" exemplifies that philosophy.
Join director Andrew Repasky McElhinny as he introduces a new 4K restoration of the film at PhilaMOCA, a former showroom for mausoleums turned art gallery at 531 N. 12th Street in Center City, on Nov. 2. A question and answer session with cast and crew will follow the screening.
