The Barber

Everyone looks for the perfect film and thinks if they do not find it there is nothing worth while. That is why I really enjoy...if not love this film! I need not say anything about Malcolm since his acting and career speaks for itself, but also consider that the films he chooses are not necessarily main stream, but possess some merit(considering his 147 IMDb acting entries).

This film made me think of an Insomnia (foreign or domestic) meets David Lynch (Twin Peaks of course), or the other way around depending on which influenced you first. I can't but wonder if all those things criticized about this film were intentional. The quirky nature of each character, for example, due to effects of S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder - http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/27.cfm), provide the canvas for the film to unfold onto.

This is the one of few reviews I have written, even though I personally own over 1500 films (not that it really means anything or that I have seen them all)! I just felt that someone needed to speak up for the misunderstood. If you spent the time to actually read my comments I thank you for your time, whether you enjoy this film or not. If you have not seen the film, I would like to say it would be worth your while, but this is the kind of film you have to experience for yourself and see how it suits you.

By Trevor Stevens (The Anti Critic) 01-03-2003

OVERVIEW:

Hair today, dead tomorrow, life goes on. In a remote town in the far north of the world lies a town where citizens die out of blue, but to hell if they die without great hair thanks to the barber known as Dexter Miles (Malcolm McDowell). In a town where everybody sleeps with the same woman, hunters kill in the off season, and the chief of police is about as smart as the village idiot one would never suspect a serial killer to waste his time messing with these people since their existence alone is as depressing as the 24 hour darkness they live in.

Suffice to say, bodies of the few and pretty women of the town start showing up and the chief's answer is to get p***ed about his fax machine. The locals know the answer to this of course, it's called S.A.D. which stands for Seasonal Affection Disorder and blame the darkness for making people crazy. Maybe they should change it to Stupid A$$ Drunks. With all of this going on who would ever think it would be the one man who wields a blade as a living?

PROS:

Wonderful serial killer flick with a smooth mix of dark comedy and thriller fare. Malcolm McDowell was the only known star in this and the main role as the satirical mass murdering barber was made for him and no one else. He also narrates through most of it and with his voice that only helps.

The town is covered in darkness throughout the entirety of it's runtime and it only brings out joy from me. Living in darkness would be wonderful, minus a barber that imbibes in killing of customers of course. This brings a wonderful morose mood to the movie and FOR ONCE the serial killer isn't some lame one dimensional single tracked fiend set out on getting himself caught no matter what. Malcolm's character is written very well and in a scene where he says "Come here I have a nice sink to do you in" makes me crack up everytime cause when you see it you'll know why, it just works on so many levels. Not to mention his comments throughout the film are just observations on people's preconceptions of psychopaths and are not only great satire, but also make since and can even dare I say, be informative.

Slick production and some nice Canadian supporting actors make this a sure fire hit that people will surely pass off as a cheap horror movie. Nothing horror about it really, if you love dark comedy it's perfect.

CONS

The only thing wrong with this movie is that I couldn't stop laughing long enough to see some scenes. Wonderful flick.

Eventhough it is damn funny throughout, I digress to say that the comedy in this is dark and you have to have the right sense of humor to enjoy that. It mostly tries to be a thriller so don't feel bad if you don't laugh....maybe i'm just "special"

Well you might think me partial because my girlfriend is in this movie...but I know a bad movie when I see one, and this isn't one of them.

It' engaging from the very beginning. You immediately care about the characters and you feel very much for them as they progress through the story. Malcom Macdowell plays...well Malcom Macdowell, and it's a role made exactly for him. Malcom Macdowell really could be a murderous barber with a knack for charming woman. In fact, the entire movie is perfectly cast. The lines that each delivers, are lines that seem only that actor could deliver.

"Come over here Jewel...I've got a nice big sink to do you in!"

In short, it's believable, funny, engaging and most of all, entertaining. You come away smiling.

ash...

I've saw this movie once and now Im trying to get it to have a copy of it. I found this movie very slow but at times good. Im from the town where this movies was shot but missed watching the shooting of it by a few months.Its based in the fictional town of Revelstoke Alaska but in fact Revelstoke is in Eastern British Columbia Canada.Almost in between Vancouver BC and Calgary Alberta. Every place where the scenes were filmed I knew exactly where it was. Also a lot of the extras that shown I knew them. After watching the movie I was talking to the "locals" who were in the movie only to realize their scenes were edited out. More info on the town and the movie like probably guess most of the scenes were filmed at night. Yes it does snow a lot in fact this past winter we received over 14 feet of snow for the whole winter. Where "the barber" had his shop is located in an antique store that is on Mckenzie Ave. As Revelstoke is what is called a old railway town so we tend old buildings. Never less I want to movie more for where its filmed than for the actual storyline like i had said before the storyline is slow.

Dexter Miles (Malcolm McDowell) is the seemingly benign barber in the remote town of Revelstoke, Alaska. Dexter has found the perfect place to live, cut hair, and work on his hobby. Unfortunately for the townsfolk, Dexter's -Dex to his friends- hobby is serial murder.

THE BARBER features Mr. McDowell at his psychopathic, sinister best. Dexter's cynicism fuels his homicidal spree, while the imbecilic Sheriff (Jeremy Ratchford) and a know-it-all FBI agent (Garwin Sanford) bumble along missing the obvious. Dexter watches as these two clowns overlook his involvement.

This movie works as both a horror-thriller and a morbidly biting black comedy. McDowell has great fun wallowing in the ghastly ghoulishness of it all...