...part of my ongoing attempt to post something new every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You know, just like my closest competitor, Penny Arcade.
Anyway, this is a small, low-budget flick heavily inspired by Cat People, starring a very, very young Dennis Hopper. And because of its similarities to that Val Lewton classic (Kim Newman called it the first of the CP homages), it gets slotted as a horror film, but it isn't really. If anything, it falls under the category "Haunted Romance", like Rebecca or Wuthering Heights (not that it's anything like those films or books, of course).
Two of the sources I read for commentary on this flick compared it to Cocteau; admittedly, I've only seen Beauty and the Beast, but I don't see the connection. While the plot, of a young sailor (a good, sensitive performance by Hopper) falls in love with a woman who believes she is a siren destined to kill, certainly has a dream logic to it, the cinematography has that great, sixties indie flavor, full of great B&W photography of real places. It made me think of Cassavette's Shadows, actually.
While the ending is unsatisfying (didn't need the Psycho-esque "Here's what it's really about"), it's really worth watching for Hopper's performance, the atmosphere of loneliness, and especially the sense of place. The story occurs mostly on the long-gone arcades of Santa Monica, wonderfully weather-beaten piers and merry-go-rounds and sideshow attractions. We get to learn a little about the people who work here, and occasionally it has the feel of an Altman film, with the piers like the man-made towns of McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Popeye. A small, modest gem.
Where we saw it: dvd | We deign to rate it: outta 100