Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Evil Dead Posters from Bottleneck Gallery
Bottleneck Gallery will release two Evil Dead posters today, March 29, at 9am Pst/12pm Est. Set an alarm if you’re hoping to snag one, because they’re going to move faster than a Deadite.
Adam “Readful Things” Perocchi’s The Evil Dead artwork is inspired by the classic RoboCop poster. 24×36 giclee prints, limited to 125, will cost $60. Evil Dead 2 by Jack Gregory is a 24×36 screen print, limited to 75, for $70.
Bad Lieutenant 4K Uhd from Kino Lorber
Bad Lieutenant shoots onto 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on May 21 via Kino Lorber. The 1992 neo-noir crime film has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision/Hdr.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Evil Dead Posters from Bottleneck Gallery
Bottleneck Gallery will release two Evil Dead posters today, March 29, at 9am Pst/12pm Est. Set an alarm if you’re hoping to snag one, because they’re going to move faster than a Deadite.
Adam “Readful Things” Perocchi’s The Evil Dead artwork is inspired by the classic RoboCop poster. 24×36 giclee prints, limited to 125, will cost $60. Evil Dead 2 by Jack Gregory is a 24×36 screen print, limited to 75, for $70.
Bad Lieutenant 4K Uhd from Kino Lorber
Bad Lieutenant shoots onto 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on May 21 via Kino Lorber. The 1992 neo-noir crime film has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision/Hdr.
- 3/29/2024
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
On the short list of post- classic-era comedies I can see over and over again is this beautifully executed Bill Murray crime comedy, which he co-directed. The fact that its basically silly main joke is whining about New York City doesn’t keep it from being hilarious from one end to the other. When it comes time for a getaway to the airport, Manhattan might as well be an impenetrable maze, an island of doom. Geena Davis and Randy Quaid give excellent comedy support, while Jason Robards holds up the police dragnet end of the story. The disc has no special extras but Murray’s movie is as satisfying as ever.
Quick Change
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1990 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 88 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date April 27, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards, Bob Elliott, Brian McConnachie, Jamey Sheridan, Larry Joshua, Phil Hartman, Kathryn Grody, Tony Shalhoub,...
Quick Change
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1990 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 88 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date April 27, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards, Bob Elliott, Brian McConnachie, Jamey Sheridan, Larry Joshua, Phil Hartman, Kathryn Grody, Tony Shalhoub,...
- 4/27/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Paul Auster on who was originally cast in the role Willem Dafoe plays in Lulu On The Bridge: "I had wanted Salman Rushdie to play the part."
Paul Auster's journey with putting together the production of his solo directorial début Lulu On The Bridge, was a challenging one for him and his producers Peter Newman and Greg Johnson. The film stars Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino and Willem Dafoe with Gina Gershon, Mandy Patinkin, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Edson, Don Byron, Victor Argo, Kevin Corrigan, Sophie Auster, Lou Reed and David Byrne.
At Eternity's Gate with Louise Kugelberg, Jean-Claude Carrière, Julian Schnabel, Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaac, and Rupert Friend at the 56th New York Film Festival Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the second instalment of my conversation with Paul Auster on his film career, we discuss the pitfalls that had to be overcome, the reaction to casting Salman Rushdie, Golden Globe nominee...
Paul Auster's journey with putting together the production of his solo directorial début Lulu On The Bridge, was a challenging one for him and his producers Peter Newman and Greg Johnson. The film stars Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino and Willem Dafoe with Gina Gershon, Mandy Patinkin, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Edson, Don Byron, Victor Argo, Kevin Corrigan, Sophie Auster, Lou Reed and David Byrne.
At Eternity's Gate with Louise Kugelberg, Jean-Claude Carrière, Julian Schnabel, Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaac, and Rupert Friend at the 56th New York Film Festival Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the second instalment of my conversation with Paul Auster on his film career, we discuss the pitfalls that had to be overcome, the reaction to casting Salman Rushdie, Golden Globe nominee...
- 12/6/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Paul Auster on Smoke, Blue In The Face, and Lulu On The Bridge star Harvey Keitel: "I loved working with Harvey." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the first instalment of my conversation with author, screenwriter, and director Paul Auster at his home he discusses the performances of Willem Dafoe, Mira Sorvino, and Harvey Keitel in Lulu On The Bridge, Wings Of Desire, and his friendship with Wim Wenders. We touch on Louise Brooks and Vanessa Redgrave, Frank Wedekind's Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, Arnaud Desplechin's view of Marion Cotillard’s character in Ismael's Ghosts, Hilma af Klint, and Ernst Lubitsch's Heaven Can Wait.
Paul Auster on Willem Dafoe: "Willem is an ambiguous character, Van Horn is. I never thought of him as the devil, though. He's more like St. Peter." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Lulu on the Bridge, shot by Alik Sakharov (The Sopranos), edited by Tim Squyres,...
In the first instalment of my conversation with author, screenwriter, and director Paul Auster at his home he discusses the performances of Willem Dafoe, Mira Sorvino, and Harvey Keitel in Lulu On The Bridge, Wings Of Desire, and his friendship with Wim Wenders. We touch on Louise Brooks and Vanessa Redgrave, Frank Wedekind's Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, Arnaud Desplechin's view of Marion Cotillard’s character in Ismael's Ghosts, Hilma af Klint, and Ernst Lubitsch's Heaven Can Wait.
Paul Auster on Willem Dafoe: "Willem is an ambiguous character, Van Horn is. I never thought of him as the devil, though. He's more like St. Peter." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Lulu on the Bridge, shot by Alik Sakharov (The Sopranos), edited by Tim Squyres,...
- 11/30/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Paul Auster on the beginning of ending up directing Lulu On The Bridge: "My good friend Wim Wenders, who gets a credit here, he said he had been working with Juliette Binoche, talking for years about a project to do Lulu, somehow." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Paul Auster's Lulu On The Bridge, shot by Alik Sakharov (The Sopranos), edited by Tim Squyres, and costumes by Adelle Lutz, stars Harvey Keitel and Mira Sorvino with Willem Dafoe, Gina Gershon, Mandy Patinkin, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Edson, Don Byron, Victor Argo, Kevin Corrigan, Sophie Auster (Paul and Siri Hustvedt's daughter), and has scene stealing cameos by Lou Reed and David Byrne.
Lulu On The Bridge and The Inner Life Of Martin Frost in Paul Auster x 2
At Metrograph's screening of a 35mm print on loan from MoMA, attended by Tim Squyres, who is also Ang Lee's incredibly longtime editor, Paul Auster...
Paul Auster's Lulu On The Bridge, shot by Alik Sakharov (The Sopranos), edited by Tim Squyres, and costumes by Adelle Lutz, stars Harvey Keitel and Mira Sorvino with Willem Dafoe, Gina Gershon, Mandy Patinkin, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Edson, Don Byron, Victor Argo, Kevin Corrigan, Sophie Auster (Paul and Siri Hustvedt's daughter), and has scene stealing cameos by Lou Reed and David Byrne.
Lulu On The Bridge and The Inner Life Of Martin Frost in Paul Auster x 2
At Metrograph's screening of a 35mm print on loan from MoMA, attended by Tim Squyres, who is also Ang Lee's incredibly longtime editor, Paul Auster...
- 10/28/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
George C Wolfe has come on board to direct Mankind Entertainment’s adaptation of playwright Nilo Cruz’s Broadway hit Anna In The Tropics. The play had its Broadway berth in 2003, and starred Jimmy Smits, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Priscilla Lopez, John Ortiz, Vanessa Aspillaga, Victor Argo and David Zayas. Playwright Cruz's play is set in a Cuban-American cigar factory in 1929. The factory employs "lectors" to entertain and educate the factory workers, and a new lector who reads aloud from Anna Karenina becomes "a catalyst in the lives of his avid listeners, for whom Tolstoy, the tropics, and the American dream prove a volatile combination." No casting yet but filming is scheduled...
- 12/10/2013
- by Natasha Greeves
- ShadowAndAct
Odd List Ryan Lambie 4 Oct 2013 - 06:41
They're funny, they're sad, they're weird. Here are 50 famous last words from characters in the movies...
Please Note: There are potential spoilers ahead. Check the name of the film, and if you haven't seen it, don't read the entry!
As someone famous probably once said, “We’ve all gotta go sometime,” and if we’re going to die, we might as well do so with a witticism or a memorable line rather than a scream and a cry for mother. Which is the subject of this lengthy but far from definitive list: the memorable things movie characters have uttered shortly (not necessarily immediately) before they’re about to meet their maker.
Some of these last words are long, tear-jerking monologues. Others amount to little more than a word or two. But all of them, in our estimation, are worthy of mention, and one...
They're funny, they're sad, they're weird. Here are 50 famous last words from characters in the movies...
Please Note: There are potential spoilers ahead. Check the name of the film, and if you haven't seen it, don't read the entry!
As someone famous probably once said, “We’ve all gotta go sometime,” and if we’re going to die, we might as well do so with a witticism or a memorable line rather than a scream and a cry for mother. Which is the subject of this lengthy but far from definitive list: the memorable things movie characters have uttered shortly (not necessarily immediately) before they’re about to meet their maker.
Some of these last words are long, tear-jerking monologues. Others amount to little more than a word or two. But all of them, in our estimation, are worthy of mention, and one...
- 10/2/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Odd List Simon Brew Ryan Lambie 19 Sep 2013 - 07:20
From dramas to action and everything in between, here's our pick of 20 underrated films from 1990...
Think back to the big films of 1990, and you'll probably immediately come up with things like Ghost, the year's top-grossing film, or maybe Home Alone, which made a star out of the young Macaulay Culkin.
If you're into sci-fi or action, you might pluck Total Recall, Back To The Future Part III or even Die Hard 2 out of your memory banks. But what about all those movies that didn't make it into the year's top 10 ranking films? As ever, there's a huge number of duds and forgettable flops, but there were plenty of films that were wrongly overlooked, too.
That's where this list comes in, which aims to shed a bit of light on 20 films that were either unfairly overlooked by audiences at the time, or...
From dramas to action and everything in between, here's our pick of 20 underrated films from 1990...
Think back to the big films of 1990, and you'll probably immediately come up with things like Ghost, the year's top-grossing film, or maybe Home Alone, which made a star out of the young Macaulay Culkin.
If you're into sci-fi or action, you might pluck Total Recall, Back To The Future Part III or even Die Hard 2 out of your memory banks. But what about all those movies that didn't make it into the year's top 10 ranking films? As ever, there's a huge number of duds and forgettable flops, but there were plenty of films that were wrongly overlooked, too.
That's where this list comes in, which aims to shed a bit of light on 20 films that were either unfairly overlooked by audiences at the time, or...
- 9/19/2013
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Odd List Simon Brew Ryan Lambie
From dramas to action and everything in between, here's our pick of 20 underrated films from 1990...
Think back to the big films of 1990, and you'll probably immediately come up with things like Ghost, the year's top-grossing film, or maybe Home Alone, which made a star out of the young Macaulay Culkin.
If you're into sci-fi or action, you might pluck Total Recall, Back To The Future Part III or even Die Hard 2 out of your memory banks. But what about all those movies that didn't make it into the year's top 10 ranking films? As ever, there's a huge number of duds and forgettable flops, but there were plenty of films that were wrongly overlooked, too.
That's where this list comes in, which aims to shed a bit of light on 20 films that were either unfairly overlooked by audiences at the time, or have faded rapidly from general discussions about cinema.
From dramas to action and everything in between, here's our pick of 20 underrated films from 1990...
Think back to the big films of 1990, and you'll probably immediately come up with things like Ghost, the year's top-grossing film, or maybe Home Alone, which made a star out of the young Macaulay Culkin.
If you're into sci-fi or action, you might pluck Total Recall, Back To The Future Part III or even Die Hard 2 out of your memory banks. But what about all those movies that didn't make it into the year's top 10 ranking films? As ever, there's a huge number of duds and forgettable flops, but there were plenty of films that were wrongly overlooked, too.
That's where this list comes in, which aims to shed a bit of light on 20 films that were either unfairly overlooked by audiences at the time, or have faded rapidly from general discussions about cinema.
- 9/18/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
King of New York
Directed by Abel Ferrara
Written by Nicholas St. John
Us, 1990
Something of a cult hero among worshippers of ‘video-nasty’ exploitation flicks and latter day grim and grungy crime flicks, it’s a surprise to learn that Bronx director Abel Ferrara is still working diligently behind the camera, albeit on the kind of B-movie fodder that never threatens to break its way into the mainstream zeitgeist. Beyond his eye catching if hard to watch Driller Killer debut, Ferrara is best known for the fondly remembered Bad Lieutenant. His best rounded effort, however, may be the more controversial and divisive King of New York, a slick and stylish slice of understated pulp which earned walkouts at its premiere.
Amidst a wave of crime violence and institutional corruption within a big apple entering a fearful new decade, legendary drug kingpin Frank White (Christopher Walken) is released from Sing Sing...
Directed by Abel Ferrara
Written by Nicholas St. John
Us, 1990
Something of a cult hero among worshippers of ‘video-nasty’ exploitation flicks and latter day grim and grungy crime flicks, it’s a surprise to learn that Bronx director Abel Ferrara is still working diligently behind the camera, albeit on the kind of B-movie fodder that never threatens to break its way into the mainstream zeitgeist. Beyond his eye catching if hard to watch Driller Killer debut, Ferrara is best known for the fondly remembered Bad Lieutenant. His best rounded effort, however, may be the more controversial and divisive King of New York, a slick and stylish slice of understated pulp which earned walkouts at its premiere.
Amidst a wave of crime violence and institutional corruption within a big apple entering a fearful new decade, legendary drug kingpin Frank White (Christopher Walken) is released from Sing Sing...
- 12/16/2012
- by Scott Patterson
- SoundOnSight
King of New York, arguably the most popular and accomplished work from the cannon of cult New York filmmaker Abel Ferrara, finds a loving home on Blu-ray, thanks to that dedicated restoration team at Arrow Films.
Frank White (a haunted, yet volatile, turn by Christopher Walken) is a notorious drug lord who has just completed a lengthy prison sentence and is looking to move back up the ranks as swift and ruthlessly as possible. Hooking up with his old associates, he begins to do just that, although his ultimate aims sit firmly outside the drug business, as he see’s himself as a benefactor to the poor inhabitants of the city, whom he seeks to help and provide the appropriate support for.
A team of no-nonsense detectives are a little less enamoured by his rebirth as a philanthropist, and as the bodies of rival gangs start mounting up while White...
Frank White (a haunted, yet volatile, turn by Christopher Walken) is a notorious drug lord who has just completed a lengthy prison sentence and is looking to move back up the ranks as swift and ruthlessly as possible. Hooking up with his old associates, he begins to do just that, although his ultimate aims sit firmly outside the drug business, as he see’s himself as a benefactor to the poor inhabitants of the city, whom he seeks to help and provide the appropriate support for.
A team of no-nonsense detectives are a little less enamoured by his rebirth as a philanthropist, and as the bodies of rival gangs start mounting up while White...
- 6/26/2012
- by Adam Lowes
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
First off, I have to tell you that this page may load slow. We're making an awful lot of calls to the Amazon Api here, and that's bound to monkey with things. If you have no idea what that means... it's shiny. Please note also that, for the same reason, you may find, depending on traffic, that not all of the Amazon details will load properly. I apologize for that, it's just the nature of the beast, and the fact that the Api wasn't really meant for such things. If you refresh, it will probably fix.
You may have heard me mention this giveaway quite a while ago, and it's taken me a long time to figure out what sort of format to put things in, and I kept added things. Eventually it became too much to really give any kind of run down on the items, so I decided...
You may have heard me mention this giveaway quite a while ago, and it's taken me a long time to figure out what sort of format to put things in, and I kept added things. Eventually it became too much to really give any kind of run down on the items, so I decided...
- 9/15/2011
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
[Our thanks to Joshua Chaplinsky for the following review.]
The Electric Chair was screened Friday, October 15th at The 92Y Tribeca Screening Room in NYC. It will be available on DVD Tuesday, October 19th through Wild Eye Releasing.
What do you get when you Frankenstein scenic documentary footage of a desolate island with a filmed stand-up routine written for the stage? You get an avant-garde miasma of self-loathing and Jewish paranoia called The Electric Chair. Part King of Comedy part Death of a Salesman, director Mark Eisenstein's little (never?) seen black comedy is most note-worthy for being veteran character actor Victor Argo's sole starring role. In it he plays a shoe salesman turned comic working out his marital issues in front of an audience that includes his domineering mother and himself as a boy. On stage with him- an electric chair, which he is continually warned to stay away from.
An intriguing premise, but an intriguing premise...
The Electric Chair was screened Friday, October 15th at The 92Y Tribeca Screening Room in NYC. It will be available on DVD Tuesday, October 19th through Wild Eye Releasing.
What do you get when you Frankenstein scenic documentary footage of a desolate island with a filmed stand-up routine written for the stage? You get an avant-garde miasma of self-loathing and Jewish paranoia called The Electric Chair. Part King of Comedy part Death of a Salesman, director Mark Eisenstein's little (never?) seen black comedy is most note-worthy for being veteran character actor Victor Argo's sole starring role. In it he plays a shoe salesman turned comic working out his marital issues in front of an audience that includes his domineering mother and himself as a boy. On stage with him- an electric chair, which he is continually warned to stay away from.
An intriguing premise, but an intriguing premise...
- 10/17/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Director: Werner Herzog Writer: William M. Finkelstein, Victor Argo DVD and Blu-ray release date: September 27 2010 Studio: Lions Gate Home Entertainment Number of discs: 1 Price: From £9.99-£15.93 Certificate: 18 DVD and blu-ray running time: 118/122 minutes Starring: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge, Tom Bower, William M. Finkelstein, Victor Argo, Werner Herzog After his ingenious portrayal of the controversial Big Daddy in Kick-Ass earlier in the year, Nick Cage returns in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans, suggesting the old grittier Cage is here to stay. In the opening sequence the “Bad Lieutenant” is presented with a valour award but is then shown sixth months later snorting a white powder, stealing confiscated drugs and smoking marijuana with a suspect while questioning him. Terence McDonagh is an old-skool second generation city cop who believes “a man without a gun - that's not a man” and is warned...
- 9/24/2010
- by Salty Or Sweet
- t5m.com
Chicago – The Round-Up is back with a quintet of standard DVDs that may have gone unnoticed in your latest Best Buy circular. There’s at least one very good movie in here and a few unique independent offerings that you might want to take a peek at. We wish we had time to cover these titles in more depth, but here are the details - synopsis, cast, features - that you really need to know.
“Horsemen” was released on July 14th, 2009.
“Bad Lieutenant,” “Bart Got a Room,” “Big Man Japan,” and “The Great Buck Howard” will be released on July 28th, 2009.
“Bad Lieutenant: Special Edition”
Photo credit: Lionsgate Synopsis: “Harvey Keitel is a nameless New York cop, hopelessly addicted to drugs, gambling, and sex. As he makes his way to various crime scenes, he is concerned only with taking bets from his fellow cops on the outcome of the ongoing National League playoffs.
“Horsemen” was released on July 14th, 2009.
“Bad Lieutenant,” “Bart Got a Room,” “Big Man Japan,” and “The Great Buck Howard” will be released on July 28th, 2009.
“Bad Lieutenant: Special Edition”
Photo credit: Lionsgate Synopsis: “Harvey Keitel is a nameless New York cop, hopelessly addicted to drugs, gambling, and sex. As he makes his way to various crime scenes, he is concerned only with taking bets from his fellow cops on the outcome of the ongoing National League playoffs.
- 7/27/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
NEW YORK -- Filmmaker Nancy Savoca, whose last project was the ill-fated "Dogfight, '' has made another film about Italian-Americans in her new "Household Saints, '' but she has replaced the realism of "True Love'' with a fantastical fairy-tale quality that is both the strength and weakness of her film.
Told in the form of an extended flashback, the film relates the history of the marriage between Joseph Santangelo (Vincent D'Onofrio), a butcher, and Catherine Falconetti (Tracey Ullman), the 17-year-old daughter of his widowed friend Lino (Victor Argo). One night in the 1950s, in the midst of a torrid heat wave, Joseph, Lino and Catherine's brother Nicky (Michael Rispoli) get involved in a heated game of pinochle. In one wager over a single hand, Lino bets his daughter's hand in marriage vs. a blast of cold air from Joseph's freezer, and loses.
The seemingly misbegotten union, which occurs over Catherine's objections, actually turns out charmed, despite the families' squabbles and the sniping of Joseph's old-world mother Carmela (Judith Malina)., whose favorite story is about how she made delicious soup from clam shells that she dug out of the garbage. Eventually, Joseph and Catherine have a child, Teresa, whom they name after the saint of flowers and labor.
The first two-thirds of the film, detailing the courtship and first years of the marriage, has a sweet charm and flavorful ethnic humor, aided by the expert comic work of the cast (Ullman, in an atypical role, gives a beautifully modulated and restrained performance). With the arrival of Teresa, played from the age of 13 on by Lili Taylor, the film turns darker, as the character becomes increasingly obsessed with the idea that she is experiencing divine visitations.
Her behavior becomes ever more bizarre; she agrees to have sex with her nerdy boyfriend because she thinks he has been sent by God; and she experiences a visit from Jesus while she is ironing. The latter incident results in her commitment, and a tragic finale that results in her unofficial ascension to sainthood.
Savoca is unable to make the latter scenes truly work, and they are particularly jarring after the light-hearted build-up that has preceded them. Taylor, as usual, gives an amazing performance, her most intense yet. But the film is not stylish enough to carry across its intention of being a modern-day folktale. "Household Saints'' is imaginative and audacious, qualities rare in today's cinema, but it falls short of its aspirations.
HOUSEHOLD SAINTS
Fine Line Features Release
Director Nancy Savoca
Executive producer Jonathan Demme
Producers Richard Guay, Peter Newman
Screenplay Nancy Savoca, Richard Guay
Director of photography Bobby Bukowski
Editor Beth Kling
Costumes Eugenie Bafaloukos
Cast:
Catherine Falconetti Tracey Ullman
Joseph Santangelo Vincent D'Onofrio
Teresa Lili Taylor
Carmela Santangelo Judith Malina
Nicky Falconetti Michael Rispoli
Lino Falconetti Victor Argo
Running time -- 124 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Told in the form of an extended flashback, the film relates the history of the marriage between Joseph Santangelo (Vincent D'Onofrio), a butcher, and Catherine Falconetti (Tracey Ullman), the 17-year-old daughter of his widowed friend Lino (Victor Argo). One night in the 1950s, in the midst of a torrid heat wave, Joseph, Lino and Catherine's brother Nicky (Michael Rispoli) get involved in a heated game of pinochle. In one wager over a single hand, Lino bets his daughter's hand in marriage vs. a blast of cold air from Joseph's freezer, and loses.
The seemingly misbegotten union, which occurs over Catherine's objections, actually turns out charmed, despite the families' squabbles and the sniping of Joseph's old-world mother Carmela (Judith Malina)., whose favorite story is about how she made delicious soup from clam shells that she dug out of the garbage. Eventually, Joseph and Catherine have a child, Teresa, whom they name after the saint of flowers and labor.
The first two-thirds of the film, detailing the courtship and first years of the marriage, has a sweet charm and flavorful ethnic humor, aided by the expert comic work of the cast (Ullman, in an atypical role, gives a beautifully modulated and restrained performance). With the arrival of Teresa, played from the age of 13 on by Lili Taylor, the film turns darker, as the character becomes increasingly obsessed with the idea that she is experiencing divine visitations.
Her behavior becomes ever more bizarre; she agrees to have sex with her nerdy boyfriend because she thinks he has been sent by God; and she experiences a visit from Jesus while she is ironing. The latter incident results in her commitment, and a tragic finale that results in her unofficial ascension to sainthood.
Savoca is unable to make the latter scenes truly work, and they are particularly jarring after the light-hearted build-up that has preceded them. Taylor, as usual, gives an amazing performance, her most intense yet. But the film is not stylish enough to carry across its intention of being a modern-day folktale. "Household Saints'' is imaginative and audacious, qualities rare in today's cinema, but it falls short of its aspirations.
HOUSEHOLD SAINTS
Fine Line Features Release
Director Nancy Savoca
Executive producer Jonathan Demme
Producers Richard Guay, Peter Newman
Screenplay Nancy Savoca, Richard Guay
Director of photography Bobby Bukowski
Editor Beth Kling
Costumes Eugenie Bafaloukos
Cast:
Catherine Falconetti Tracey Ullman
Joseph Santangelo Vincent D'Onofrio
Teresa Lili Taylor
Carmela Santangelo Judith Malina
Nicky Falconetti Michael Rispoli
Lino Falconetti Victor Argo
Running time -- 124 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 9/15/1993
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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