The Reflecting Skin (1990)

In the 1950's, a young boy living with his troublesome family in rural USA fantasizes that a neighboring widow is actually a vampire, responsible for a number of disappearances in the area.

Director:

Philip Ridley

Writer:

Philip Ridley

Stars:

Viggo Mortensen, Lindsay Duncan, Jeremy Cooper

6 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Viggo Mortensen	...	Cameron Dove
Lindsay Duncan	...	Dolphin Blue
Jeremy Cooper	...	Seth Dove
Sheila Moore	...	Ruth Dove
Duncan Fraser	...	Luke Dove
David Longworth	...	Joshua
Robert Koons	...	Sheriff Ticker
David Bloom	...	Deputy
Evan Hall	...	Kim
Codie Lucas Wilbee	...	Eben
Sherry Bie	...	Cassie
Jason Wolff	...	Cadillac Driver (as Jason Wolfe)
Dean Hass	...	Passenger
Guy Buller	...	Passenger
Jason Brownlow	...	Passenger

Storyline

A young boy tries to cope with rural life circa 1950s and his fantasies become a way to interpret events. After his father tells him stories of vampires, he becomes convinced that the widow up the road is a vampire, and tries to find ways of discouraging his brother from seeing her. He must deal with an abusive mother, a father with a charge of molestation, a band of youths creating havoc, and an unforgiving environment in general.

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Plot Keywords:

1950s | united states | usa | united states of america | rural america | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes terrible things happen quite naturally

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for intense violent behavior, and for sensuality

Details

Country:

UK Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 November 1990 (UK)

Also Known As:

Det gyllene fältet

Filming Locations:

Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Screen Productions,BBC Films,Zenith Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 115 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The industrial/experimental band Coil used the line "you've been exploding frogs again" on their album « Stolen and Contaminated Songs » (1992).

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Quotes

Cameron Dove: Why don't you go play with your friends?
Seth Dove: They're all dead.

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Connections

Referenced in Ancient Evil 2: Guardian of the Underworld (2005)

User Reviews

Fails to shock, disturb or reveal...

If you watch THE REFLECTING SKIN closely (or even not so closely) you'll notice that it sucks. This is a film that tosses in bits and pieces of imagery and motifs that might have come from American/Southern gothic sources like Sam Shepard, Flannery O'Connor, William Faulkner, David Lynch, Anne Rice and Tobe Hooper (and others) -- but it fails to make its world seem the least bit vital or interesting. All we are left with are pseudo-disturbing characters and bits of imagery that don't want to fit together: the cliched townie puritans and religious fanatics, a dead baby, an English neighbor nearby who may or may not be a vampire, an hysterical mother with a husband who is a repressed homosexual, and most strangely there is a group of greaser murderer/pedophiles who drive around almost completely unnoticed in a shiny black Plymouth. This narrative is all led by a 9 year old protagonist boy named Seth Dove (and his stock set of small town friends) and his older brother Cam (played by Viggo Mortensen) who just returned from fighting the Japanese.

Not much really happens in this film except that there is a lot of yelling and menacing looks. Seth runs back and forth between the different characters and locales as though he were attending exhibits at the Yakpanatwa (sorry about the spelling) Country Fair for Southern Gothic Cliches. Occasionally he or one of his friends runs around draped in an American flag. Hmmm -- this must have some sort of deep meaning. But who cares about subtext when text is so boring and phony?

The film has some nice cinematography, which is what makes it tolerable to watch. But as it goes on you begin to realize that this over-emphasis on visual beauty is a kind of device to distract the audience from possibly realizing that there is nothing interesting going on.

Disparate stock characters and cliches from American gothic horror and southern gothic sources could be interesting if it all these elements were supported by a unique screenplay and guided by a gifted director (go rent Jim Jarmusch's DEAD MAN, which is not a great film, but a much better one that takes a similar approach to its material). But this writer/director unfortunately has little such skill in either department. The acting is mostly over the top (though many of the actors are good) and there is little suspense or mystery about the visual style and directorial approach. By trying to bombard the audience with style (especially the excruciatingly over the top orchestral and choral score) the director proves to have hardly any style at all.

One gets the sense that this director is not an American -- but for some reason felt compelled to try to say something deep and meaningful about America. One gets the sense that he doesn't really know these characters at all -- or the land they live on. Yet perhaps as a kid this director feverishly and fetishistically read and viewed materials about death, perversity and horror in the Midwest and Great Plains - and could only come up with a kind of Wisconsin Death Trip for Basic Cable. Nice try. Better luck next time.