Discípulos do Caos

My review was written in February 1989 after watching the film on Virgin Vision video cassette.

A youth-themed film noir in the new genre initiated by "River's Edge", "Slipping into Darkness" is an interesting near-miss that ultimately becomes too cute for its own good.

Picture opened theatrically in limited fashion last November and is en route to video stores.

Michelle Johnson, Anastasia Fielding and Cristen Kauffman portray three spoiled, rich college girls in Nebraska who run afoul of hero John DiAquino when they kid around with his slow-witted brother (Neill Barry in a small but tellint role). Johnson (whose dad is the college's dean) accidentally hit the kid's dog with her Mercedes and when Barry is found dead at the railroad tracks, DiAquino sets out with the aid of his biker pals (Vyto Ruginis and David Sherrill) for revenge.

Filmmaker Eleanor Gaver bears down accurately on social class resentment and small-town provincialism well in pic's first half, but it trails off into kinky bondage motifs as the have-nots kidnap the heroines to punish them. Final reel is loaded with unconvincing revelations (flashbacks providing alternae information on the boy's death) and dubious plot twists ranging from incest to a surprising homicidal maniac.

Johnson is an effective anti-heroine and contrasting newcomers Fielding (extremely tall) and Kauffman also make distinctive impressions. Of the male protagonists, Vyto Ruginis' mannered performance is tough to take.

Although this movie is far from good, it's interesting in that it is one of those movies that seems to be made in a place far outside the usual Hollywood cinematic universe (in this case, Nebraska). The plot involves a former biker turned clean-cut college student who suspects that three private-school party girls may be responsible for the accidental death of his mentally retarded brother. He recruits two of his(rather resentful) former biker buddies and they trick and kidnap the three girls. Strangely, he seems to conclude the girls weren't actually at fault, but things get out of hand when the most deranged biker and the most sex-crazed girl pair off and go to an old cemetery...

The only recognizable "star" of this strange, obscure movie is Michelle Johnson who had earlier appeared in "Blame It on Rio" (Demi Moore's first movie) at the tender age of eighteen, and she spent so much time naked or in a bikini in that that no one seemed to notice that she wasn't really much of an actress. Her subsequent roles were all fully clothed ones, but her acting didn't really get any better. This is actually probably her best (acting) performance just because here she's at least at the same level as everyone else. The dialogue actually isn't too bad at all, but actions of the characters are often completely illogical. It's hard to believe even the most sex-mad party girl would willingly go off alone with a crazed biker who just kidnapped her and threatened her life, and the other two girls barely react to their friend's fate. The weak acting and the illogical actions by pretty much all the characters make it hard to really identify with anyone here.

Still, the GENERAL story is kind of different and interesting. And this movies makes great use of eerie Nebraska locations--a deserted factory, a rural graveyard, a foreclosed-upon farm in the middle of nowhere (complete with the body of a dead farmer!). Although it's obviously not in the same league (and it might be a rather dubious achievement) this movie manages to capture the spirit of rural Nebraska more than any other movie I've seen aside from "Boys Don't Cry". And if you're a fan of the War song "Slippin' into Darkness" this movie certainly makes liberal use of it. This is not really good, but it's also far from terrible

Years ago, I owned a video store and I took this home one night to watch it.

This is the worst movie I have ever seen on video -- illogical; poorly acted, written, directed and produced -- this belongs in a massive garbage heap at the very bottom!

Michelle Johnson has never been known for her quality acting choices, probably due to the fact that she is a beautiful girl who cannot act her way INTO a paper bag, let alone OUT of one!

I strongly advise anyone reading this to run as fast as you can from this stinker!

Stupid Movie. You have Michelle Johnson and you don't unleash her fun bags. Would've made the movie watchable.

this movie is not as bad as the above rating might lead you to believe. it's not that good either, but is just an average ultra low budget thriller. one thing it does have going for it is the cinematography, which a much better then the standard, follow the characters around only, type stuff you usually see. however the director clearly had big ambitions, but was unable to hold the movie together, and as a result the entire film feels wrong somehow, like a piece is missing. anyway i wouldn't highly reccomend it, but at least it manages to be interesting.