Black Rainbow (1989)

Director:

Mike Hodges

Writer:

Mike Hodges (writer)

Release Date:

3 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

She can see the killer's face. She knows the victim's name. The only thing she doesn't know ... is when the murder will take place.

Plot:

Martha Travis is a medium who makes contact with spirits "on the other side" and connects them with their loved ones still alive...

Plot Keywords:

Alcoholic | Train | Female Nudity | Psychic | Mayor

Awards:

5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Rosanna Arquette	...	Martha Travis
Jason Robards	...	Walter Travis
Tom Hulce	...	Gary Wallace
Mark Joy	...	Lloyd Harley
Ron Rosenthal	...	Lieutenant Irving Weinberg
John Bennes	...	Ted Silas
Linda Pierce	...	Mary Kuron
Olek Krupa	...	Tom Kuron
Marty Terry	...	Mrs. Adams
Ed Grady	...	Editor, Geoff McBain (as Ed L. Grady)
Jon Thompson	...	Jack Callow
Helen Baldwin	...	Eva Callow
Darla N. Warner	...	Shirley Harley
Christopher L. Gray	...	Choirmaster
Lucy Williams	...	Choirlady

Runtime:

103 min | Argentina:95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-15 (new rating: 2001) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Goldcrest Films International

Quotes:

Martha Travis: Men lie with me, not to me!

Movie Connections:

Features White Heat (1949)

Soundtrack:

HE'S SO WONDERFUL

This was worth watching.

The script is filled with a series of chilling twists which Hodges plays with an absolute and certain confidence - the eeriness as Arquette's first vision starts to come, and her agitation and attempts to cover as what she is performing turns to real; the second vision where she reels off a list of names of the dead trying to contact the living and said people still alive in the audience start standing up puzzled. Hodges' depiction of a seedy con-job slowly becoming darker is beautifully written. The imagery as Arquette's vistas of heavenly meadows and tranquil afterlife cliches start to change into impressions of cancers, empty lives and of people suffering is a stunning and powerful one. The final soliloquy Arquette gives, coming out to taunt the audience - how they want there to be an afterlife so they can confirm their own lives, how if there wasn't an afterlife and what they had was all that they were given, then wouldn't that make her a fake ? - is superbly written and utterly rivetting in delivery. Arquette's performance in the film is exceptional.