Extremely accomplished debut from Peter Bogdanovich – that’s if you count this, and not Voyage to the Planet of the Prehistoric Women as his first feature. It’s very confident and assured, as befits a man who was young at the time but had been obsessed by film since he was a boy, had studied it (and acting) for years, and knew many people in the industry to give him advice. Chief among them in this case was Roger Corman, who gave Bogdanovich an early break by hiring him for The Wild Angels and Voyage, and funded this movie (budget of $100,000 plus Boris Karloff for two days and some old footage from The Terror; it was later sold to Paramount). There was also Samuel Fuller who helped him knock the story into shape, and his then-wife Polly Platt, who worked on the story with him and did the production design.
It helps that it has a terrific subject matter: a serial killer in the Charles Whitman mode, well played here by Tim O’Kelly (what happened to him?) – a seemingly all-American boy who is stressed out then goes on a shooting rampage. Part of the reason this is so effective is O’Kelly isn’t “explained” at all through backstory, but via action; also Bogdanovich was confident enough even at this stage to have long takes where nothing much happens, then exploding into violence – which makes the violence more effective and terrifying. (You wish Bogdanovich did more bang-bang stuff in his career he handled it well without desensitizing the viewer.)
It helps that it has a terrific subject matter: a serial killer in the Charles Whitman mode, well played here by Tim O’Kelly (what happened to him?) – a seemingly all-American boy who is stressed out then goes on a shooting rampage. Part of the reason this is so effective is O’Kelly isn’t “explained” at all through backstory, but via action; also Bogdanovich was confident enough even at this stage to have long takes where nothing much happens, then exploding into violence – which makes the violence more effective and terrifying. (You wish Bogdanovich did more bang-bang stuff in his career he handled it well without desensitizing the viewer.)
The plot with Boris Karloff playing Boris Karloff and Peter Bogdanovich played Peter Bogdanovich is an enjoyable counterpoint, with plenty of film in-jokes. Bogdanovich’s acting is a little stiff in places but he does an okay drunk scene. It builds up very effectively to a strong climax. A great film for Karloff to make towards the end of his career - part of me wishes it was his last.
No comments:
Post a Comment