ecl@hocsj.UUCP (10/17/84)
STEREO and CRIMES OF THE FUTURE
Film reviews by Mark R. Leeper
It must be something like eight or nine years since I went to a drive-
in in Michigan and saw a horror film called THEY CAME FROM WITHIN. My
impression at the time was that it was a mixed bag of graphic horror, absurd
ideas, and fun satire. That film, better known as SHIVERS, was the first
major film by Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg. Without really trying I
have seen all the films he has made since then: RABID, THE BROOD, SCANNERS,
VIDEODROME, and THE DEAD ZONE. Based on these films Cronenberg has become,
I am told, the second highest Canadian filmmaker. Cronenberg's films are
now known for their angry social commentary, their cold, uninvolving style,
and their graphic but creative images.
Recently it came as a surprise to me that I'd seen all of Cronenberg's
films but his first two, STEREO and CRIMES OF THE FUTURE. Well, now I have
see them all. The first thing that becomes obvious is that these are not
feature films. These are amateur films, each about an hour in length. Each
is silent but narrated. Each takes the form of a pseudo-documentary about a
supposed scientific experiment. There will be a little narration which will
be incredibly incoherent followed by two or three randomly chosen minutes of
footage that sometimes seems to have something to do with the monotone
narration but which is more intended to present disturbing visual images.
Words that came to my mind while watching were "plotless," "pretentious,"
"dull," "over-long" (almost no plot at all, much less enough to fill an hour
each), and "slow-moving." These are experimental films and the experiments
of the films, like the experiments in the minimal plot, are failures. To
include these films in a Cronenberg filmography is probably a disservice to
the filmmaker. I do not know if Cronenberg wants these films included with
his others, but it makes as much sense as including Hemingway's worst grade
school essays in his bibliography. If it were not for a few ideas in STEREO
that show up again in SCANNERS, this would have been a totally wasted two
hours, as well as being the longest two hours in my recent memory.
(Evelyn C. Leeper for)
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!lznv!mrlwmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (10/23/84)
> Based on these films Cronenberg has become, > I am told, the second highest Canadian filmmaker. What does he do, smoke the cuttings?