by Shawn Parker FILM TAINTED LOVE
It’s February and gaudy jewelry, overpriced chocolates and a nebulous little sentiment called romance all per- meate the air. And whether you’re snuggling up with your main squeeze or defiantly going it alone, the time is right for a movie. But rather than an overripe, cloy- ingly sentimental dollop of the usual romantic fare, try one of these left-of-center options. Love, desire and pick axes are featured prominently, and they’ll have you ei- ther clutching your partner tight or patting yourself on the back for flying solo.
Cemetery Man
The Vanishing (1988) This Dutch psychological thriller introduces lovers Rex and Saskia, a young couple on a joyful road trip. But when Saskia fails to rejoin Rex after a ser- vice station stop, Rex mentally unravels and plunges into desperate obsession. When he begins receiving notes from Saskia’s abductor years later, Rex is faced
with a life-altering decision. This tense, un- nerving drama demonstrates the lengths one can go to when their love is unceremoniously plucked away, and the mystery of not know- ing burns deep enough to demand closure at any cost. Harrowing and essential.
Cemetery Man (1994) Francesco has his hands full. As cemetery caretaker of a small Italian town, he has to deal with their little problem; namely that the dead rise from the grave shortly after expiring. At a funeral, Francesco falls feverishly in love with the new widow, but things do not go as planned. Soon, she is returning from the grave and Francesco is doing all he can to stop the walking dead and stay in love. A darkly comic horror/love saga,
Cemetery Man illustrates the depravity a man can sink to when his love and mind are simultaneously shaken. By turns erotic, neurotic and despondent, Cemetery Man is a bizarrely moving tale of a man craving love and connection, but denied it at every turn.
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REVUEMM.COM | FEBRUARY 2012
Fear (1996) Known as the “Marky Mark goes psycho!” movie, Fear brings Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon together, then un-cages Wahlberg’s toxic, raging possessiveness when they’re kept apart. Equal parts corny and legitimately unnerv- ing, Fear is a showcase for how desire and a need for togetherness
can plummet into the abyss of stalking and murder faster than you can say “creepy roller coaster scene.” It’s a siege movie / love tale, full of poisonous longing and violent repercussions, and a wicked guilty pleasure.
My Bloody Valentine (1981) No twisted love film bit would be complete without this February-set, Canadian slasher. While not a love story per se, My Bloody is set on the most romantic of holidays and depicts the aftermath of the homicidal Harry Warden’s return to Valentine Bluff. While technically a color-by-numbers slasher, My Bloody benefits from the tense, claustropho- bic setting of the town’s mine shafts and the gas mask / pick axe of the killer is almost as iconic as Jason’s hockey mask. A no-frills horror romp only coincidentally set on the day of love, My Bloody will encourage either cowering in your partner’s shoulder or chuck- ling derisively, depending on your amorous disposition. n
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