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Dead Again (1991)
If you look up crap in the dictionary...
There are two kinds of people in the world; those who applaud at the end of a movie they enjoy and those who don't. I fall into the former category. Having said that, I would like to add that, only once, I have stood up and booed at the end of a movie. That movie was "Dead Again".
I have to say that I was looking forward to seeing this movie, so I may have set my expectations too high.
No, scratch that. This is easily the most ham-handed piece of celluloid excrement I have ever seen.
As I sat in the theater, I was absolutely stunned, not just that it was so painful to watch, but that everybody else in the theater seemed to think they were viewing a masterpiece. Or so I thought. One of the group of four people I was with leaned over and said in a horrified whisper, "Man. This is TERRIBLE."
I don't want to give away too much because I'm sure some of you will see it anyway. I'll just give you two words to play with while you force yourself to remain seated while watching: scissors and cancer. You can get back to me later.
Every so often you have conversations with friends about the best and worst films you've ever seen. "Best" is hard for me. There are so many wonderful films that I couldn't possibly pick one. When it comes to the worst, I always say "Dead Again". Sure, it's no "Plan 9 From Outer Space" but at least that has some historical charm. "Dead Again" has nothing to offer. Not a thing.
The Morning After (1974)
Still etched in my brain
I saw this movie when it came out. I was ten or eleven at the time and it's effect on me was profound.
One scene in particular, struck me so hard as to become a recurring nightmare:
Van Dyke's character wakes up on a beach and is going through the DTs. He runs down the beach clawing at himself and screaming. I remember asking my mother what he was doing and she explained the concept behind the DTs.
Years later, as a young adult, I discovered the joys (?) of drinking. Although I always had fun, I had a fear of that exact situation happening to me. On a trip to Club Med, I awoke to find myself face down on a beach. No DTs but I immediately flashed back to that movie and viewed myself as Van Dyke's character. A lonely, lost man with a terrible problem. We will just say that things changed from that point on.
Thank you, Dick.
Another note:
This film has always reminded me of "A Face In The Crowd". In that film, America's beloved Andy Griffith gave a chilling performance as a simple country man who allows fame and fortune turn him into a bitter wretch of a human being. As both films allow us to see very different sides of a pair of comic geniuses, I have often thought that they would make a great double-feature.