Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Dennis Christopher | ... | Eric Binford | |
Tim Thomerson | ... | Dr. Jerry Moriarty | |
Gwynne Gilford | ... | Officer Anne Oshenbull | |
Norman Burton | ... | Marty Berger (as Normann Burton) | |
Linda Kerridge | ... | Marilyn O'Connor | |
Morgan Paull | ... | Gary Bially | |
James Luisi | ... | Captain M.L. Gallagher | |
Eve Brent | ... | Aunt Stella Binford (as Eve Brent Ashe) | |
John Steadman | ... | Sam | |
Marcie Barkin | ... | Stacy | |
Mickey Rourke | ... | Richie | |
Peter Horton | ... | Joey | |
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Hennen Chambers | ... | Bart |
Melinda O. Fee | ... | Talk Show Hostess (as Melinda Fee) | |
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Anita Converse | ... | Dee Dee |
Shy, lonely Eric Binford delivers film cassettes and film-related supplies in Los Angeles for a living. But he really exists only to watch movies and immense himself in fantasies about cinematic characters and stars. Frequently bullied and betrayed, Eric comforts himself by pretending to be one of the many tough heroes and villains who have captivated him from the silver screen. However, his sanity takes a turn for the worse and he launches grotesque murders all patterned after characters and incidents from his beloved movies. He becomes known as the Celluloid Killer, one of the most horrifying murderers the city has ever known. Written by matt-282
This one presents an interesting and original idea for a slasher: a disturbed film buff kills people who have wronged him while dressed up as his favorite movie characters! It even has a Hollywood backdrop: in fact, I visited some of the places where it's set such as Hollywood Boulevard (the violent climax itself takes place atop Grauman's Chinese Theater) and Venice Beach when I was there in late 2005/early 2006.
Still, despite some undeniably good moments, I don't feel that the film extracts the full potential offered by this fascinating premise: to begin with, some of the references it makes are simply too obscure to be picked up by casual audiences (99 RIVER STREET [1953]) while to others is attributed a significance beyond their worth (Hopalong Cassidy, THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL [1957]). The film is buoyed, however, by Dennis Christopher's striking leading performance who gets to 'play' popular roles, interspersed with genuine excerpted footage, from the horror (Dracula and The Mummy), gangster (James Cagney from WHITE HEAT [1949]) and Western (William "Stage" Boyd as the afore-mentioned cowboy hero) genres during his various stalk-and-kill maraudings; he even replicates the famous wheelchair-down-the-stairs murder of an old woman perpetrated by a cackling Richard Widmark in KISS OF DEATH (1947).
Also notable are Tim Thomerson (later of TRANCERS [1985]) and Linda Kerridge: the former appears as the Professor of criminal psychology who reveals himself sympathetic to Christopher's plight (he's assisted by a female rookie, but eventually gets overruled by the stuffy Precinct Captain); Kerridge's uncanny resemblance to Marilyn Monroe, then, makes her the perfect 'idol' to drive Christopher in his warped crime-spree (among whose victims is a young Mickey Rourke). Finally, the film is equally enjoyable as a time-capsule for the singular opportunity it offers of seeing various current releases on the marquee (ALL THAT JAZZ [1979], KRAMER VS. KRAMER [1979], COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER [1980], HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT [1980], SERIAL [1980]).