Dissolvenza in nero

This is a favorite movie of mine. I rushed out and got it on video when I heard it had been released. A lot of people here have given impressions of the story, I won't add to their great comments. What I would like to say is this this movie is a tremendous tribute to Hollywood Classic Movies. You will see snippets of many films here, all will be readily recognized. You will see Dennis Christopher's character slip deep into psychosis and take on the personas (and look..) of many of these characters in order to wreak his revenge. The more you know about old movies, the more you will get out of this film. Yes, it's essentially a slasher movie but this goes beyond the genre to get deep into the head of a killer. I like to think of this movie as a movie-fans version of "Sunset Boulevard", showing a broken mind on the other side of the fence. Worth seeing.

I'd agree that "Fade to Black" works better in theory than in this actual execution. It should have been more fun, and admittedly the hook IS quite delicious: what if an unstable film geek murdered those who mocked him, while dressed up as his favourite cinematic characters?

The main problem is that our antihero, Eric Binford (Dennis Christopher), an employee for a film advertising firm, is not sympathetic in the slightest. This isn't a character whom you feel sorry for and root for so much as you want to smack him around. He's an ill-tempered, whiny wimp who attaches way too much importance to his knowledge of movie trivia.

Then again, this may well have been the intention of writer / director Vernon Zimmerman. One of my Internet acquaintances once described "Fade to Black" as "showing the dark side of being a film geek". Eric seemingly can't relate to anybody on a normal level, instead thinking entirely in cinematic terms. As unlikable as Eric may be, however, it's hard to say whether the problem is in the character as written or any ineptitude on Christophers' part.

Another thing that doesn't help are the scenes with the normally entertaining Tim Thomerson as a liberal minded police shrink. The character is a dolt and one doesn't want to root for HIM, either, even if he is sympathetic to Erics' plight.

It's still a fairly enjoyable experience, at least for any cinephile. Amid all the movie references, clips from classics such as "White Heat" and "Creature from the Black Lagoon" are edited in with ease. And it's cool to see Eric dress up as Dracula, The Mummy, and Hopalong Cassidy, etc. while in the act of doing away with his nemeses.

The good supporting cast includes Norman Burton, Morgan Paull, James Luisi, Eve Brent, John Steadman, Marcie Barkin, Peter Horton, and a swaggering young Mickey Rourke. The major bright spot is Australian beauty Linda Kerridge, a Marilyn Monroe lookalike who actually gets named Marilyn in the movie. As Erics' would be girlfriend, she shines.

A nice music score by Craig Safan and a rousing face off on top of Manns' Chinese Theatre are also highlights.

Six out of 10.

The concept for Fade To Black could go many different directions, but the film wavers between serious character drama a la Joker, made for TV melodrama, and a cursory attempt at a slasher film. They never really mesh and the film feels too confused to make much of an impact in spite of a wonderful central performance by Dennis Christopher. Linda Kerrige also makes for a smashing Marilyn Monroe impersonator.

Dennis Christopher turns in the performance of his career as a movie obsessed loner who disguises himself as his favorite film characters to get revenge on those he believes have wronged him.

Fade to Black is somewhere between a classy psychological thriller and a slasher movie, but it refuses to lean into either or and ends up not being much of anything other than a missed opportunity. It's hard to imagine a bloodthirsty slasher fan getting much out of this and it's not quite smart and insightful enough to get any mainstream attention.

There is something about the look and feel of this film I love. It reminds me in some ways of "Martin" - my favorite urban vampire flick.

Not that Fade To Black has anything to do with vampires, its about a lost and lonely nobody whose film life takes over from his mundane, put-upon reality to the point where he takes revenge on the world dressed as his fave film figures. Its a cute conceit for a film so obsessed with film references. Dennis Christopher is such a distinctive figure and his sexual scene in this film is just... quaint + oddly saucy. I think this is a cult film ready to be resurrected. Its camp, violent and Mickey Rourke is in it in a bit part. Think "Taxi Driver" cross-bred with "Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer" and "Polyester"