O Espectro

This is a rare cult classic part drama, part comedy and all out bonkers forgotten gem.

The acting through out is a joy to watch and was shocked how this didn't do way better in its day.

The over all story is a psychic needing money for a sex change to being a woman uses a source to do so without giving to much away.

This movie was way ahead of its time and if you get the chance to watch this movie do so.

Auto mechanic Oliver Shadey (Antony Sher) discovers he has the ability to read peoples minds and project those thoughts onto film when he holds a movie camera next to his head. He offers his services to businessman Sir Cyril Landau (Patrick Macnee) under two conditions - he won't work for the military and he wants enough money to afford a sex change operation (!). After Shadey proves his talents, Landau takes him up on the offer but quickly trades him to Dr. Cloud for some real estate. Dr. Cloud is, naturally, working for the British government and Shadey is conflicted. Honestly, this is one of those films where you wonder just exactly how it got made. It is so strikingly original and bizarre. Sher is very good as the odd psychic. Also, 1985 must have been the year Katherine Helmond decided to get all the weird out of her system with her role here as Macnee's insane wife ("You let her eat coal...again!") and her work in BRAZIL. Obviously the producers had no freakin' clue what they had on their hands with SHADEY as the US video box displays a guy in S&M gear surrounded by two sexy women, which has nothing to do with the film at all.

I saw this movie once, and I remember laughing so hard at it. It has that "crescendo of awfulness" that I can't resist. I watched it alone that first time, and I want to see if anyone else would be struck by it the same way.

This is a bizarre little English film centering around the exploits of a bizarre little man who has the ability to transmit telepathic film images from his mind. A number of dodgy looking characters wish to exploit this ability and it's not exactly for the common good. The eponymous Shadey is reluctant to help but is coerced through the obvious ploys of force and bribery. The baddies (or are they goodies, it's difficult to tell) finally get their way after agreeing to pay for Shadey's longed for sex change operation.

There are some genuinely funny moments in this film as well as a couple of quite shocking ones. Antony Sher, Katherine Helmond and Billie Whitelaw are all as excellent as would be expected and the support cast endeavour to be either solid and likeable (or not, depending on their status as goody or baddy) or instantly forgettable. The plot twists are quite clever and the script rather charming but I get the feeling that it all could have amounted to so much more.

If you come across this film in whatever television guide you read you might like to give it a chance - even if just for curiosity's sake. Also to see how delightfully ladylike Antony Sher looks in the closing scene.