pinansky

Making a found footage movie in 2013 is much like making a slasher film in 1982, even if you've done a good job it's going to take a lot to transcend the fact the genre is largely played out. That's too bad because this is actually a very good film Director Goldthwait is mostly known for dark comedies but he actually creates quite a bit of tension here. He also manages to coax some really excellent performances out his actors and create a few moments of complete terror (the tent scene eg.). I will admit I missed about 15mins of the beginning so perhaps other reviewers are correct in complaining about the slow start. Overall I thought this was actually a great example of how to do make the found footage genre seem fresh by using a unique plot and bringing some real filmmaking chops. It's just a shame he didn't either make the film 10 years earlier or later, it just happened to come right as audiences were starting to become sick of found footage/faux documentary horror.

The glitter dome is probably Wambaugh at his most sleazy and cynical. It is hilariously funny but even jaded readers might need a shower afterwards. Given that you have a comedy involving hard drugs, pedophilia, prostitution, child murders and incompetent corrupt alcoholic cops the casting seems like a weird choice. Garner and Margolin are certainly known for comedy, but generally of the light harmless variety (Rockford Files, Maverick) where gunshots always miss and women and children always come away unharmed. Although cast against type, Garner does a decent job here as the corrupt boozehound detective Mackey. Lithgow is given a lot more to work with as his neurotic repressed partner who is in the midst of a psychological melt down due to various personal and professional problems. Lithgow actually does an excellent job and gives probably the most standout performance in the entire film. I will hand it to Margolin he didn't hold back, the movie is very faithful to the nasty sleazy source material and he manages to handle the delicate balance of revolting sleaze and wacky comedy pretty well, though I can understand why many viewers may be put off by the tone, the book also had a sort of scizophrenic feel to it. The only thing I didn't like was that it sort of mangled a few important plot points (how they discover rollerskating pornographer "Mr Wheels" makes a lot more sense in the book) and it jettisons altogether some of the novel's funnier side plots to instead focus on the mystery and also the romance plot. However that is to be expected given that the novel is relatively long and complex with many characters and different plot threads that eventually all intersect to help resolve the mystery.

Overall I was pretty impressed with this film, it's an HBO movie from the era before HBO Films was synonymous with prestige. During the 1980s they were mostly known for making somewhat seedy cheap thrillers like The Hitcher, Apology, or Cast a Deadly Spell. I dont think this film has ever been released on DVD but you can find it bootlegged online from VHS sources and maybe even a find a VHS kicking around on ebay somewhere. I say check it out!

While these days HBO tv movies are pretty much synonymous with critical acclaim back in the mid 80s they were much more into making sleazy thrillers like this or The Glitter Dome. Peter Weller does a good job given what he has to work with. Hell, everyone does a good job, a lot of fun character actors in this really elevates it above the material. Also Robert Bierman's directing really adds a lot. Bierman is most known for directing Nic Cage's loopiest performance (and thats saying a lot) in Vampire's Kiss, a film that if it didn't ruin his career, certainly couldn't have helped it much. But here he demonstrates quite a lot of talent, both in directing the actors and shooting the movie in a way that makes it visually interesting. Overall I enjoyed this film a lot when I saw it on HBO about 20 years ago and just recently found a copy online. Unfortunately it seems to have suffered the same fate of many of HBO's films of that era (Glitter Dome, Cast a deadly spell, etc..) which have somehow never made it to DVD. Obscure film but if you run across it, give it a watch. Also interesting to note this was based (loosely) on a true story of a real "apology line" that ran in NYC for about 20 years, the real story of the life and tragic death of the real life Mr. Apology is possibly even more interesting than this film.