FADE TO BLACK

Dennis Christopher and Linda Kerridge

FADE TO BLACK (1980). Writer/director: Vernon Zimmerman.

"I can't imagine the creature who would want to marry you. Who is this unlucky girl?"

A frustrated film buff nerd, Eric (Dennis Christopher), who lives with his monster of an aunt (Eve Brent), dresses up as famous movie characters and kills off his alleged enemies in manners relating to the pictures he loves. Fade to Black has a great premise -- if only it hadn't all been left up to undistinguished writer-director Zimmerman, for the movie is painfully slow-paced with a dull, dragged-out climax; 25 minutes of the film's running time should have been cut. The production is also rather cheapjack. That leaves it to the actors to make the film even remotely entertaining, and Christopher does a good job in the lead. Veteran actors James Luisi and Norman Burton make the best impression as, respectively, a police captain and Eric's boss, but there are also good moments from Immortals' Mickey Rourke (in an early film appearance) and Linda Kerridge, as a Monroe lookalike; she was "introduced" in this picture but only made a few more film appearances. Eve Brent (Forty Guns) overacts horribly as Eric's Aunt Stella.  There's at least one good scene -- a mob-style attack in a barber shop on an unethical producer -- and a Psycho shower scene spoof is slightly amusing. Tim Thomerson is a cokehead idiot psychiatrist named Dr. Moriarity; Gwynne Gilford is a cop named Anne; and Peter Horton is a guy on the make for Kerridge.

Verdict: Fade to Black all right. **.

IMMORTALS

Henry Cavill vs. opponents

IMMORTALS (2011). Director: Tarsem Singh.


After his mother is murdered in front of his eyes by Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), Theseus (Henry Cavill) -- with the aid of pretty seeress Phaedra (Freida Pinto) and plucky Stavros (Stephen Dorff) -- takes on the evil ruler and his armies of masked, bloodthirsty warriors. Hyperion has a weapon called the Epirus Bow, and hopes to unleash the imprisoned Titans for even more havoc. If only this was half as interesting as it sounds! If you're expecting mythological fun a la Jason and the Argonauts, be forewarned that this is a fairly tedious mess that juggles around a lot of mythology without ever coming up with an intriguing storyline of its own. Previous films have cast imposing filmic legends [think Olivier, Maggie Smith etc. in the original Clash of the Titans] as the gods of Mount Olympus, but here we get a kind of bony Luke Evans as Zeus, proclaiming that "no god may interfere in the affairs of man!" Since when? The movie has one impressive sequence, when Theseus rallies the troops and they all bang their swords in unison and there's a temporary excitement, as well as skill in editing and direction. Then we're back to fight scenes that resemble gory video games. Cavil, Pinto and Dorff are okay, but Rourke underplays his role to the point of somnambulance; he's as bad in this as he was good in Iron Man 2 [there has to be more to a performance than intensity]! John Hurt and Stephen McHattie turn up in supporting roles. The film is generally good to look at, with some beautiful photography and striking scenic design, but that and some okay FX work can't save a pretty lousy and tedious picture. This is even worse than the remake of the aforementioned Clash of the Titans.

Verdict: Even if you think you like mythological movies, think again about this one. **.