Time for another Two Movies One Moment look back and this week we’re hiding in the closet. Movies are filled with some great moments involving closets, from horror to comedy and everything in-between. Here are two movies we think are some of the best.
The Faculty (1998) Director: Robert Rodriguez
What it’s About: Something isn’t right at Harrington High. Students Delilah (Jordana Brewster), Zeke (Josh Hartnett), Stan (Shawn Hatosy), Casey (Elijah Wood), Stokely (Clea DuVall) and the new girl Marybeth (Laura Harris) have to work together to find out why the teachers have started acting so strange.
The Closet Moment: Casey and Delilah are dead set on getting to the bottom of whatever is going on at their high school. Their friend Stan had just witnessed one of the teachers, Mrs. Brummel (Susan Willis), panicking in the men’s shower room and when he went to comfort her, a chunk of her hair, with the scalp still attached, came off in his hand. Although the other teachers are trying to brush it off as something to do with Mrs. Brummel’s cancer and the medication she is on, Casey and Delilah decided to look into it themselves. They sneak into the teacher’s lounge when it’s empty but almost immediately hear someone coming. As quickly as possible they both duck into the closet to hide. At this point Coach Willis (Robert Patrick) and Mrs. Olson (Piper Laurie) come into the lounge. Coach Willis takes a long drink from the water cooler and asks Mrs. Olson, “Has the entire faculty been commuted?” Before they can say too much more, Nurse Harper (Selma Hayek) walks in. She’s different though; she doesn’t seem to know or be involved in what’s going on with Mrs. Olson and Coach. Without warning, Coach grabs Nurse Harper, pins her to the couch, turns her head to the side and spews a slug-like creature into her ear, making blood drip down her face. Casey and Delilah are terrified and back up as far as they can into the back of the closet. As Delilah pushes further and further back, trying to get as far from the horrible scene in the lounge as she can, something is pushed lose and starts to topple down on top of her. It’s Mrs. Brummel’s withered corpse! Coach Willis and Mrs. Olson hear the ruckus in the closet and go to investigate. As Coach Willis opens the door, Casey jabs his gut with the end of a broom and he and Delilah make a run for it.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEAmUOrMd3o?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0&w=920&h=425]
Real Genius (1985) Director: Martha Coolidge
What it’s About: High school student Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret) is recruited into Pacific Technical University by Professor Jerry Hathaway (William Atherton), who is secretly working on a laser for the CIA that is mounted on the Space Shuttle and can target a single human being on the ground. Regarded as unethical by opponents, he has his unpaid students unknowingly work on the project, including genius physics student Chris Knight (Val Kilmer), Taylor’s roommate.
The Closet Moment: Knight and Taylor aren’t the only ones living in their dorm rooms, though the third is not officially a student, nor actually in the room. Confused? So is Taylor who thinks he’s seeing things when a man appears to be coming and going out of the closet, but when he looks inside, there is no one there or even room for a person. After some time, Taylor becomes gets curious and decides to solve the mystery by entering the closet and searching for how the man is able to disappear. Soon, he unlocks a mechanism that opens a wall that leads to a small metal seat, like on an amusement park ride. A hydraulic system engages and he’s transported along rails and an elevator to the steam pipe room of the university. From there, he hides in the shadows and finds a scraggly looking man hunched over a computer. His name is Lazlo Hollyfeld (Jon Gries) and we learn later that he used to be the ‘real genius’ on campus, but lost it when he spent all his time studying and not enjoying life, but more so when he learned his discoveries and inventions were being used as weapons. Now he hides from the world only coming and going through the closet in Mitch and Chris’ room. But don’t worry, he joins the real world again and helps save the day.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa8kCQQUjHM?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0&w=920&h=425]
What are you favorite movie closet moments? Let us know in the comments below.