allenk752
Joined Sep 2000
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Reviews22
allenk752's rating
All you have to do is go to Netflix to see just how many god-awful horror films there are that were made in the last 10 years. It seems that every loser with a video camera seems to think he's John Carpenter.
While this is no masterpiece, PLASTERHEAD still manages to create a good deal of low-key suspense in the first half, during which we rarely get a glimpse of the murderous Plasterhead. (In that, the film is very much like a lot of 1950's "monster" movies, where budgetary limitations almost dictated that the "creature" not be shown until halfway through {or later}). Since this is obviously a low-budget film, the filmmakers were wise to use this approach.
Some other reviewers of this film have commented on how bad the acting is. The "teenagers" in the film are pretty raw and unpolished in their overly-dramatic performances, but you'll see plenty worse in this genre. And there's at least one really good performance by Gerard Adimondo as the local lawman. He's easily the best element of the film and one wishes the screenwriters had developed his "back story" better because he is the most interesting character in the film. From his first few minutes on film, one can sense that he is a conscientious lawman but there is something dark about the character. All of that is conveyed in the actor's performance: Adimondo is terrific.
The film runs out of gas (and ideas) near the end, but that's not unusual for this genre. As for those "critics" who complained about the characters' accents -- Give me a break. This isn't Shakespeare!!
All in all, PLASTERHEAD is an enjoyable, low-budget film, though it's far from a genre classic.
While this is no masterpiece, PLASTERHEAD still manages to create a good deal of low-key suspense in the first half, during which we rarely get a glimpse of the murderous Plasterhead. (In that, the film is very much like a lot of 1950's "monster" movies, where budgetary limitations almost dictated that the "creature" not be shown until halfway through {or later}). Since this is obviously a low-budget film, the filmmakers were wise to use this approach.
Some other reviewers of this film have commented on how bad the acting is. The "teenagers" in the film are pretty raw and unpolished in their overly-dramatic performances, but you'll see plenty worse in this genre. And there's at least one really good performance by Gerard Adimondo as the local lawman. He's easily the best element of the film and one wishes the screenwriters had developed his "back story" better because he is the most interesting character in the film. From his first few minutes on film, one can sense that he is a conscientious lawman but there is something dark about the character. All of that is conveyed in the actor's performance: Adimondo is terrific.
The film runs out of gas (and ideas) near the end, but that's not unusual for this genre. As for those "critics" who complained about the characters' accents -- Give me a break. This isn't Shakespeare!!
All in all, PLASTERHEAD is an enjoyable, low-budget film, though it's far from a genre classic.
This is one strange, disturbing film!
Part "El Topo," part Peckinpah, part "spaghetti western," this Mexican-made western is just a violent, perverse piece of work. It's the story of a savage gang, made up partly of a son and his stepfather and their crew of sadistic murderers. They have a compound out in the desert, with weird stone structures that resemble a sort of Mexican Stonehenge; but they also have a red-draped mirror and a water hole to bathe in . . . which they frequently do.(!) And the son fancies himself a Shakespearean actor, and when he performs out in the desert, all the members of the gang are required to pay attention and watch.(!)
On the trail of this gang (which features characters named "The Brown" (stepdad) and "The Kid" (the stepson)) is the man in black known as "The Marked" for the huge scar on his face. The members of a corrupt town hire "The Marked" to protect them from the gang. He is aided in this by a crippled gunman known as "one-Armed."
The film tries hard to make some weird connections between story elements and subthemes: family drama, homosexuality, Shakespeare, Western clichés, even religious overtones pop in and out. But although the film is never boring and often quite fascinating, the aforementioned elements never quite gel.
Much of the acting is very good, especially Flor Silvestre as "The Marked," Antonio Aguilar as "The Kid," and Flor Silvestre as The Kid's tormented mother (a madame in a whorehouse).
Stage blood is not spared in this epic. Nor is the violence, the torture, or the sadism. This Mexican western is not for everyone, but it is a very complex piece of work, for the most part directed in very interesting fashion by Alberto Marisal.
Part "El Topo," part Peckinpah, part "spaghetti western," this Mexican-made western is just a violent, perverse piece of work. It's the story of a savage gang, made up partly of a son and his stepfather and their crew of sadistic murderers. They have a compound out in the desert, with weird stone structures that resemble a sort of Mexican Stonehenge; but they also have a red-draped mirror and a water hole to bathe in . . . which they frequently do.(!) And the son fancies himself a Shakespearean actor, and when he performs out in the desert, all the members of the gang are required to pay attention and watch.(!)
On the trail of this gang (which features characters named "The Brown" (stepdad) and "The Kid" (the stepson)) is the man in black known as "The Marked" for the huge scar on his face. The members of a corrupt town hire "The Marked" to protect them from the gang. He is aided in this by a crippled gunman known as "one-Armed."
The film tries hard to make some weird connections between story elements and subthemes: family drama, homosexuality, Shakespeare, Western clichés, even religious overtones pop in and out. But although the film is never boring and often quite fascinating, the aforementioned elements never quite gel.
Much of the acting is very good, especially Flor Silvestre as "The Marked," Antonio Aguilar as "The Kid," and Flor Silvestre as The Kid's tormented mother (a madame in a whorehouse).
Stage blood is not spared in this epic. Nor is the violence, the torture, or the sadism. This Mexican western is not for everyone, but it is a very complex piece of work, for the most part directed in very interesting fashion by Alberto Marisal.