Skinner

This is the coolest movie I have ever seen. It takes a porn star and gives her a chance to get vengance on the man whom she took in to her home (she was not a prostitute, but his landlord, like ricki lake) and skinned her while she was still alive. I still want to know exactly how she killed the hotel manager, though. That has always intrigued me.

Skinner feels like someone put a Hitchcockian thriller, a trashy Euro giallo, an 80's slasher movie, and a John Waters movie into a blender and served it up. There are inspired moments and Ted Raimi's performance is interesting and committed, but the film as a whole feels a little wonky like a woman trying to walk with only one stiletto on a rainy evening. One thing is for sure - a scene where Raimi murders a black man and wears his face while taunting another victim with a Fat Albert-esque voice is genuinely unforgettable.

I feel like this sits at a slight tipping point. It would have been very easy for it to have been shaped into a morbid horror comedy; alternatively, it would have taken little for it to become an erotic horror-thriller, or a more pointedly grotesque gorefest. I like that as we see it the feature strikes a bit of a balance: touches of cheeky levity without being ham-handed, flashes of imagery and suggested brutality without being utterly viscerally repulsive. That's not to say that 'Skinner' isn't plentifully nasty, and in fact this rather has "video nasty" written all over it. Yet director Ivan Nagy demonstrates just enough restraint to keep from going overboard in any direction, and the different aspects somewhat keep one another in check. For all that, this is a whole lot of grisly fun, with bizarre, grim imagination tempering the utmost violence.

Not to sell anyone or anything else short, but I don't think it's unreasonable to say that Ted Raimi is the chief selling point here. I don't think I've ever seen him in a role that's at once so stunningly dark, but also peculiarly over the top. From Skinner's neighborly candor, to his more out of control moments, to the outrageous "personas" he adopts at select points, Raimi embodies the killer with fantastic, dexterous range, and it's a joy to watch him here. For that matter, though, the rest of the cast is swell, even those in smaller roles (like Time Winters as watchman Bob), and it's an unexpected delight to see Ricki Lake in such a picture that seems so uncharacteristic for her.

It's not all fun and games, though, and 'Skinner' surprises in some other ways. The production design and art direction are genuinely terrific; the setting of every scene feels so real, like one could reach out and touch it (though in most cases we probably wouldn't want to). Nagy demonstrates an unlikely sense of artistry with some shots and scenes, and this includes primo use of lighting. Though plainly overdone the blood and gore are suitably delicious within the limits of suspension of disbelief, and this dovetails with fine costume design, makeup, and hair styling, not least for Traci Lords as she capably portrays hard-bitten Heidi with downcast determination. And while all this is going on, the ambient original score of Contagion adds some definite pensive atmosphere to the proceedings.

This isn't the most immediately grabbing horror flick; for all the instances of heightened vibrancy of one flavor or another, the pace is very deliberate. The most gnarly scenes are measured out so they never overwhelm, or lose their punch. With a little bit of patience, however, the movie is wonderfully enjoyable and satisfying for those who appreciate the genre. It's solidly made in every regard, with tight writing and direction that carefully spotlights every best detail in the narrative and scene writing. If you have the chance to watch 'Skinner,' this is worth checking out.

Ted Raimi is Dennis Skinner, a friendly, grinning wacko who kills women, skins them and wears a suit made of their stitched-together flesh. He rents a room from lonely housewife Kerry (Ricki Lake), who's glad to have some company since her moody trucker husband (David Warshofsky) is always gone. Meanwhile, Heidi (Traci Lords), a depressed, soft-spoken, scarred, limping morphine addict who managed to survive an attack years earlier, balances her time in a grimy hotel room shooting up, crying and plotting revenge.

This is a dark, dreary, depressing and often awkward film and I hated it when I first saw it. However, I gave it another chance and am glad I did. Aside from the top-notch KNB FX work, it takes place in a unique, graffiti-tinged decaying urban hell landscape, has a great score from Contagion and plenty of clever movie references if you're looking for them. There's one odd and powerful moment in this film, where Dennis is talking to the shell of a victim he's just killed and skinned about his traumatic childhood and rubbing the hands of the deceased along his face for comfort. Moments like these, done with some thought and care, lift a film like this right up out of the gutter.

I completely disagree with the potshots made at Traci Lords. Many people just cannot put their perceptions of her behind them long enough to even consider the fact she's capable of giving a competent performance. I found Lords to be more than just a little competent in this particular role. It is by no means an easy or flattering part to have to play, but I thought she played it very, very well.

Speaking of unflattering portraits, you can learn more about director Ivan Nagy by viewing HEIDI FLEISS: Hollywood MADAM.

Score: 7 out of 10.

The movie Skinner is about a serial killer who has a disturbing hobby of skinning his victims and then wearing their skin like clothing. To me, that sounds like a credible horror film story line, but the execution of this film was very poor. The acting was unbelievable, the film quality looked like the movie was filmed in the 1800s, and the effects were not good at all. I would not recommend this film to anyone at all for any reason. There are no memorable scenes or lines in this movie, so I'm going to give it a 1 out of 10 star rating.