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Joe Spinell, one of the most intense actors of the 1970's and 1980's, reteams with Caroline Munro in their third and final film together.
Spinell is Vinny, a frustrated cab driver and wannabe film maker obsessed with genre actress Jana Banks (Caroline Munro), who is at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival preparing to pick up an award for her latest horror movie. Vinny flies to Cannes, under the impossible dream of getting Jana to appear in his own horror film. Suddenly, people who work with and know Jana are ending up dead, while Vinny grows more and more frustrated at not getting Jana to talk to him.
This was infamous for its guerilla film making at the actual Cannes festival. There are plenty of celebs caught on camera, and eventually I was more interested in the films being shown that year than I was in Jana's trials and tribulations. Director Winters gets Spinell to do some crazy things, especially in Vinny's hallucinations, and Spinell is game. There aren't many kills here, but the makeup effects and brutality are all done well. The ending leaves a bit to be desired, but overall I'm glad I finally screened this after decades of seeing it in video stores and passing it up. It almost succeeds more as an experimental documentary than a horror film, although if you've heard this is some of the worst hairstyling ever captured on celluloid then trust me, it is. It's ironic that Spinell was a trained actor with years of stage work, but got typecast in heavy urban roles. It would have been interesting to see him do a light comedy, or other non-villainous roles. Rest in peace, Joe. Also known as "Fanatic."
Stats:
(1982) 87 min. (6/10)
-Directed by David Winters
-Written by Judd Hamilton & David Winters & Tom Klassen
-Cast: Joe Spinell, Caroline Munro, Filomena Spagnuolo, Susanne Benton, Judd Hamilton, David Winters, Devin Goldenberg, Robin Leach, June Chadwick, Richard Marner, Glenn Jacobson, Joanne Hicks, William Whittington
(R)- Physical violence, some gun violence, gore, some profanity, nudity, mild sexual content, sexual references, adult situations, tobacco use, alcohol use
Media Viewed: Streaming
