The Little Man-eating Mermaids

This year saw the American release of the best (only?) man-eating mermaid rock opera ever made: The Lure, from Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska. It sounds weird because it is, but also gorgeous and fun.

The story is a 1980s retelling/retooling of the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale "The Little Mermaid." Two mermaids join a rock band they encounter one day on a beach. Soon they begin performing as their own act called The Lure in a nightclub. One of the mermaids falls in love with a guy in the band, while the other thirsts for blood like a good mermaid should. She proceeds to quench her thirst via a bar patron, while the other mermaid thirsts to be less fishy and more leggy. I won't give away the ending, other than to say someone turns into sea foam and someone gets to continue swimming around and eating people. Ah, fairy tales. We can always learn something from them, can't we?

Other than imaginative characters and storytelling, The Lure's sets, songs, cinematography, and costumes are a feast for the senses. But you don't have to take my word for it--just a couple of weeks ago, The Lure was released on Blu-Ray by the prestigious Criterion Collection. So if you choose, you can invite these ravishing water nymphs into your very own home! Have a look at one of their performances in the bar and see if you're brave enough to answer their siren call.