Jonathan Frid dépeint un romancier d'horreur qui fait un cauchemar récurrent à propos de trois personnages de son livre qui le terrorisent, lui, sa famille et ses amis pendant une fin de sem... Tout lireJonathan Frid dépeint un romancier d'horreur qui fait un cauchemar récurrent à propos de trois personnages de son livre qui le terrorisent, lui, sa famille et ses amis pendant une fin de semaine de divertissement.Jonathan Frid dépeint un romancier d'horreur qui fait un cauchemar récurrent à propos de trois personnages de son livre qui le terrorisent, lui, sa famille et ses amis pendant une fin de semaine de divertissement.
- The Spider
- (as Herve Villechaize)
- Jackal
- (as Henry Baker)
- Anchor
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Avis en vedette
Oliver Stone, the legend, the man, Vietnam Viet, makes his directing debut with this great horror flick about a writer (Jonathan Frid from Dark Shadows), who keeps having his nightmares that he is about to die, along with the rest of his family. This is a great flick, lots of suspense, some gore, and a twist at the end.
I have no doubt this flick inspired movies like "Nightmare On Elm Street" with it's emphasis on evil, illusions and nightmares that come to life.
Very hard to find, but it's well worth.
Oliver Stone can do it all.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Horror author Edmund Blackstone (Jonathan Frid) is having nightmares about three characters that he created for one of his stories. In the nightmare, the three (a vamp, a dwarf, a strongman) terrorize him, his family and friends on a weekend. Sure enough, his friends gather around for a weekend of fun and the killers show up.
SEIZURE was director Oliver Stone's first feature film and he has pretty much disowned the picture, which is a real shame. I say that because a lot of great directors got their start doing these type of horror or exploitation movies so for him to completely overlook it is a real shame. I also say that because the movie is actually a lot better than you might expect and it's certainly much better than some of the other horror movies that people got their start on.
I thought Stone did a very good job in his role as director. Sure, there's not really anything here that shows proof that he would go on to make such great movies as JFK and NATURAL BORN KILLERS but at the same time it's evident that he had talent. I really liked the surreal nature that he brought to the film and I thought he also managed to create a very good atmosphere. The entire film has a dreamlike (or nightmare) quality to it and I thought this here really helped keep the viewing glued to what was going on.
There's no question that the locations were quite good and I also really enjoyed the cast. Frid, best known for his Dark Shadows series, turns in a good performance as the writer and I thought the actor was very believable when it came time for his character to be terrorified. Jospeh Sirola is excellent as the meanest character and he's not even one of the villains! Herve Villachaize, Henry Baker and Martine Beswick are all extremely good as the bad guys.
There were spots in the film where it dragged and it's basically a "home invasion" picture but I do think it's a bit harsh for Stone to just write the picture off.
The film sees writer Edmund Blackstone (Jonathan Frid) and his wife Nicole (Christina Pickles) welcoming a group of friends to their lakeside house for the weekend. There's brash businessman Charlie (Joseph Sirola) and his willowy unfaithful wife Mikki (Mary Woronov), womanising stud Mark (Troy Donohue), and philosophical oldster Serge (Roger De Koven) and his wife Eunice (Anne Meacham), all of whom are plunged into a night of terror when three demented strangers - The Queen (Martine Beswick), The Spider (Hervé Villechaize) and Jackal (Henry Judd Baker) - crash the party with murder on their minds.
The origins of the film's terrible trio is unclear: are they the escaped lunatics mentioned in a radio broadcast, or are they characters from Edmund's books, somehow come to life? What is clear is that they intend to kill all but one of their victims before the night is through.
This was Stone's first feature film, and as such isn't as assured as his later, more acclaimed work - it's undeniably rough around the edges in terms of photography and editing. There is, however, plenty of the director's visual excess in evidence, with wild camerawork and rapid cuts, and unrestrained performances, particularly from Beswick, Villechaize and Woronov (would we expect anything less from such a B-movie/exploitation legend?). While I wouldn't pretend to understand precisely what is going on for much of the time, there's enough of interest going on to make it a reasonably entertaining one-time watch.
Any film that sees the diminutive Villechaize breaking through a window and duffing up several full-sized adults is going to have some entertainment value, but this one also delivers fun in the form of Woronov in her panties engaged in a knife fight, the friends competing for their lives by racing around the house, a wiener dog hanging from a tree, and Serge positing interesting back-stories for each of the villains. Sure, none of it makes much sense, but it's certainly different and never boring (although the death scenes could have done with being more graphic - they feel rather restrained given the film's general wild nature).
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesIn a 2007 interview with Maitland McDonagh, actress Martine Beswick related that Tango macabre (1974) was filmed within a lakeside house in Quebec, which also served as housing for the cast and crew to save on hotel costs, as well as to intensify the feeling of claustrophobia sought by director Oliver Stone. The house's plumbing noise would frequently ruin takes, so no one was allowed to use sinks, showers or toilets during shooting. "It was a little hairy, to say the least... everybody was a little crazed. I mean, the moods! The things that happened! And then the drinking. Everybody took to drinking. We'd have gallons of wine. I started making sangria. I became truly the Queen, I really did. I took over; the crew would eat stuff and leave dirty plates all around everywhere. I'm going, 'This cannot work! So I started leaving notes everywhere: 'If you do not clean that I will kill.'
- Citations
Gas Station Attendant: I can't take a credit card.
Charlie Hughes: Why?
Gas Station Attendant: They have a counterfeit investigation.
Charlie Hughes: Listen idiot, this is a VIP card.
Gas Station Attendant: Look Jack, I...
Charlie Hughes: No wait a minute, Charles Hughes, not Jack. Did I say my name was Jack?
Gas Station Attendant: Jack, I don't particularly like being called an idiot.
Charlie Hughes: Wait a minute, wait a minute, my name is not Jack. It's Charles Hughes!
Gas Station Attendant: I don't care if your name is Rockefeller; nine dollars and twenty three cents.
Charlie Hughes: No no, not Rockefeller. Hughes, Charles Hughes, do you know what that means? You see that sign up there? I own two percent of that sign. That sign licenses you to sell gasoline. On Monday morning, that sign no longer licenses you to sell gasoline, because I own two percent of that sign, which means I own two percent of you. I don't want my two percent of you, so I'm going to get rid of it now! You understand what I mean? I hope you do, because there's a grade 'B' gasoline station down the road, selling grade 'B' gas to grade 'B' people, maybe you can get a job there fixing flats understand?
Gas Station Attendant: Nine dollars and twenty three cents, cash!
Charlie Hughes: Aha. Here's ten, Big Shot. Keep the change, because you're gonna need it! Remember the name? Hughes!
Gas Station Attendant: Hughes. Charles Hughes. Mr. Hughes? Screw you!
- Autres versionsThe UK video, released in 1989, included almost 4 minutes of extra footage
- ConnexionsFeatured in Seizure: An Interview with Richard Cox (2014)
Meilleurs choix
- How long is Seizure?Propulsé par Alexa
Détails
Box-office
- Budget
- 250 000 $ (estimation)