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IMDb > Anamorph (2007)
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Overview

User Rating:
5.7/10   3,591 votes
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Up 32% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Henry Miller
Writers:
Henry Miller (writer)
Tom Phelan (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Anamorph on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
5 August 2008 (Netherlands) more
Genre:
Thriller more
Tagline:
Madness. Mayhem. Mutilation. The masterwork of a serial killer.
Plot:
A psychological thriller based on the concept of anamorphosis, a painting technique that manipulates the laws of perspective to create two competing images on a single canvas. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Dafoe, Sevigny to Topline Lynch's 'My Son'
 (From Bloody-Disgusting.com. 6 February 2009, 11:45 AM, PST)

DVD releases for Tuesday December 9, 2008
 (From QuietEarth. 8 December 2008, 1:43 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Anamorph: the truth depends on where you stand more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Willem Dafoe ... Stan Aubray

Scott Speedman ... Carl Uffner

Don Harvey ... Michael C.
James Rebhorn ... Chief Lewellyn Brainard

Peter Stormare ... Blair Collet

Amy Carlson ... Alexandra Fredericks

Yul Vazquez ... Jorge 'George' Ruiz

Clea DuVall ... Sandy Strickland

Samantha MacIvor ... Crystal

Billy Wheelan ... Young Man

Paz de la Huerta ... Young Woman

Desiree Casado ... Teenage Checkout Girl (as Desiree F. Casado)

Robert C. Kirk ... Heavy-Set Detective

Robin Goldsmith ... Stone-Faced Detective
Marcia Haufrecht ... Diner Waitress
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for disturbing grisly images, some violence and language.
Runtime:
107 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS
Company:
Kamala Films more

Fun Stuff

Goofs:
Continuity: When Stan meets his former partner, he rolls down the window of his car on the passenger's's side. During this scene the height of he window is changes in every shot. more
Quotes:
Medical Examiner: [after performing autopsy] His intestines have been removed. The killer went to the trouble of removing them, and enclosing the incision before he strung him up. more

FAQ

Does this movie have anything to do with people who can turn into animals?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is "Anamorph" based on a book?
more
Anamorph: the truth depends on where you stand, 22 February 2009
6/10
Author: jonathanruano from Canada

Anamorph is a unique film on many levels. It is about an ex-detective, named Stan (Willem Dafoe), who is asked by the NYPD to solve a series of murders that are eerily familiar to the Uncle Eddie murders he solved five years earlier. Are these murders committed by a copycat or did they get the wrong man the first time round? What makes this movie all the more interesting is that the murderer has an obsession with Renaissance art. This would not be a problem under normally, except that he murders his real people and then arranges them in a particular way before painting them. He also uses artistic tricks (like anamorphosis) in his works.

Now some reviewers have compared this movie to Silence of the Lambs, which is not really fair (in the academic sense) because Anamorph really stands on its own. Sure there is a lot of blood and gore and body parts (this is not a movie for children), but these sights are in aid of an entirely different purpose -- art, not cannibalism. It is also worth noting that this film did not rely on the shock value of graphic violence, like many slasher films do. One reviewer, who is a fan of psycho thrillers, correctly observed that you never see any scenes where the killer is murdering his subject and cutting him or her up into pieces. I also believe, unlike some of the reviewers here, that there wasn't anything wrong with any of the performances. True, Stan is a loan wolf who withholds information and acts irrationally at times. But this behavior is explained to us in the film. Willem Dafoe plays a man haunted by his failure to save a girl from Uncle Eddie and who is often so depressed and withdrawn that he rarely opens up to others (who would really listen? he may be asking himself) and often finds solace in the bottle. Of course, there are better performances than others. The low-level art dealer (Peter Stormare in a wonderful performance) is undoubtedly the best thing in this picture. He provides the drama and the depth that a movie like this needs.

So what's wrong with this movie? Anamorph has some truly spectacular scenes (such as the girl walking passed the ray of light in the beginning of the film to name one), but there are other scenes that do not work. For example, the flashbacks are shown in such a bright light that the colours seem to fade away. It is almost as though you are seeing a black and white movie of poor quality made in the 1920s or early 1930s or a film that was shot with a cheap video camera. The film also lacks nity. Sometimes the film seems to pick up and you feel you are getting involved with the characters on screen, then it becomes boring and you start to lose interest. It also does not help that the music score is so damnably gloomy. The film sometimes feels like you are visiting someone else's funeral; you don't care about the dead person either way, but the atmosphere is so gloomy that you would prefer not to be there. Only at the very end does the music become really good with its mournful violins. But with all that said, Anamorph is still a movie worth watching even if it falls short of being a gem.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Anamorph (2007)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
So who is uncle eddie? Possible spoilers*** ceheh
What relation does the title have to do with the movie? didyoueatyourgreens
Gerri Harden? wild_fire18
Who was Uncle Eddy *SPOILERS* alexbauman
Biggest disappoint related to the movie 'Anamorph' jabberttp
Understanding the ending *spoilers* jsrrts
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