Film should fade away
The psychotic main character Eric Binford, played by
Dennis Christopher.
Review: ‘Fade to Black’
“Fade to Black,” the latest in the
series of movies about pervert kil
lers, should fade to obscurity.
Vernon Zimmerman actually
accepts credit (maybe punishment)
for writing and directing this movie.
It’s hard to tell whether his direction
is any good, because his script is so
bad. All his characters are shallow,
worthless and deserve what they
get.
His plot is weak, and his dialogue
is spastic.
Our psychotic wonder is Eric Bin-
ford, played by Dennis Christopher
who does a good job of acting like a
wimp, even though his James Cag
ney imitations sound like Jerry
Lewis. Binford is an emotionally dis
turbed movie buff who’s seen “Dra-
cula” one too many times. Incap
able of supporting himself, he lives
with an invalid who nags and mis
treats him.
Guess who Binford’s first victim
is.
And he kills using famous murder
scenes from, of course, movies.
Binford’s guardian pushes him too
far, so he returns the favor and
shoves her down the stairs like the
crippled woman in “Kiss of Death,”
an old Richard Widmark movie.
But Eric is basically a good boy,
so what started his little distorted
mind rolling? He meets a Marilyn
Monroe lookalike played by Austra
lian Linda Kerridge, who apparently
is not only new to American cinema,
but also to acting. Or maybe she’s
seen too many dumb blonde
movies. Binford absolutely idolizes
both the dead Monroe and the
cheap substitute, who for some
dumb reason, decides to go to a
movie with him, even though it ob
vious from their first meeting he’s
not sane.
When she forgets her date with
him, Binford makes her life miser
able, but she’s too dumb to even
know it.
Even the good guys lack any nor
mal human intelligence and emo
tions. There’s a macho social work
er named (honestly) Dr. Moriarty,
played by Tim Thomerson. When
he isn’t fooling around with a police
woman, he’s making idiotic remarks
like, “There’s something strange
about that Eric Binford.”
Now, “Fade to Black” is sup
posed to be scary — a la "Terror
Train” or “Friday the 13th” — the
kind of film in which audiences love
to scare themselves not waiting to
see WHO the next victim of The Evil
Thing is, but HOW he dies. The
scariest thing in this film is a “Hallo
ween” movie poster tacked on an
office wall.
But then again, “Fade to Black”
could all be a joke like “Motel Hell,”
which was a funny exploitation film.
Maybe we’re supposed to laugh
when the police act like the Keys
tone Kops. Maybe Zimmerman is
trying to comment on the phony glit
ter of Hollywood, and the frivolity of
being young, stupid and blonde.
Maybe “Fade to Black” is a warning
of what happens to emotionally ins
ecure persons who get too much
California smog.
But “Fade to Black” is so bad that
I seriously doubt whether even Eric
Binford would waste his time watch
ing this film.
Linda Kerridge, who stars as a Marilyn Monroe look-alike. -KATHLEEN MCELROY
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