Still Life: The Fine Art of Murder (1990)
"Still Life" (original title)

The alleys of downtown Manhattan become a modern killing field when corpses begin turning up, disfigured and gruesomely posed to appear as pieces of art.In the frightening climate of the "... See full summary »

Director:

Graeme Campbell

Writers:

Graeme Campbell, Dean Parisot,

Stars:

Jason Gedrick, Jessica Steen, Stephen Shellen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Gedrick	...	Peter Sherwood
Jessica Steen	...	Nellie Ambrose
Stephen Shellen	...	Teddy Bullock
Gary Farmer	...	Billy
Sam Malkin	...	Frank
Lubomir Mykytiuk	...	Lieutenant Topolski
Dave McKay	...	Dave (cameraman)
Johnie Chase	...	Officer #2
Ted Loviscek	...	Stan
Beverly Murray	...	Performance Space Lady
Eric Murphy	...	Al
Elena Kudara	...	Maggie Stefanova
Lawrence Mayles	...	Confessed Art Killer
Jane Schoettle	...	Margaret
Gene Mack	...	Man in Beret

Storyline

The alleys of downtown Manhattan become a modern killing field when corpses begin turning up, disfigured and gruesomely posed to appear as pieces of art.In the frightening climate of the "Art Killer", Peter Sherwood, a struggling musician, is hired to compose for a patron of the arts, and thinks his dreams are coming true. But as the body count continues to rise, the clues surrounding the murders oddly begin to lead police closer and closer to Peter and his new job. Suddenly, all eyes are on Peter and he must scramble to find the real killer - before he becomes his next masterpiece.

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | art | reporter | new york city | musician | 

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Taglines:

The Fine Art of Murder.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 November 1990 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Still Life: The Fine Art of Murder

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bucko Pictures, Cineplex Odeon Films, SC Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Nellie Ambrose: The Art Killer has struck again. Another homeless man has been found shot to death through the forehead and turned into a macabre piece of modern art. This time, similar to the last, the murderer artist has left his mark: a sign near the body inscribed "A.K.": Art Killer.

User Reviews

It's not still life, if it's death.

Not a great movie and the tracking on my ex-rental was terrible.

The idea of a killer who makes art out of his victims is nothing new, although in this case, he isn't hiding victims under the art (e.g. inside wax figures), they're quite obviously dead people. The killer gains fans, which is an odd phenomenon that seems to sometimes happen in real life - though usually after the killer is caught, executed, or dies. Perhaps they should have explored that more.

The killer also inspires copycats. One of the main characters is screwed onto a large framed canvas, his mouth duct-taped, and hoisted into the air. This is sort of funny, particularly the label "ART KILLINGS ARE MURDER BY ANY OTHER NAME... Oil and Man on Canvas." The victim here, left alive, is a terrible keyboard player who's been hired by a man he speaks to only on the phone to create music inspired by videotaped images of nuclear explosions and whatnot. His girlfriend is a reporter who covers the real Art Killer.

A friend of the synthesizer and reporter is an actor who fires a real bullet into the air during a theatrical performance, to the surprise of his actress. When someone in the audience calls for a stop, he fires a blank at them. Shades of the surrealists, but there's not too much of interest otherwise.