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Released by: Something Weird Video
Released on: 9/12/2006
Directors: Brian De Palma/Larry Moyer
Cast: Margo Norton, Jared Martin, William Finley, Andra Akers/Barry Newman, Lionel Stander
Year: 1967/1963
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The Movies:
Something Weird Video's latest release is a truly interesting pairing for not only the trash movie fans that they normally cater to but also to the serious cineaste as it marks the home video debut of one of Brian De Palma's earliest features.
MURDER A LA MOD
Rarely seen outside of the occasional film festival screening (usually from De Palma's own personal print) since its original single New York City theater run, this truly obscure film is far from De Palma's best work but it is a really interesting look at an integral part of his early career and works really well as a showcase for the themes and techniques that he would become known for later on down the road.
As the opening credits play out as a series of still photographs set to the tune of a pop song performed by none other than William Finley (of Phantom Of The Paradise), we see a woman sitting on a bed through the camera that is filming her. She's auditioning for a part and the man behind the camera (whose voice is rumored to have been provided by De Palma himself) is insisting she take off her top. She's none too keen on that idea and soon we see her murdered by someone wielding an ice pick.
From there we meet Karen (Margo Norton) who is involved with a filmmaker named Christopher (Jared Martin who would later play Dusty Farlow in Dallas!). He's ashamed when she asks to see his latest project as it's a skin flick but she insists and he confesses to her that although he wants to marry her, he'll have to divorce his wife first and he's only making this movie to raise the money to make that happen. Karen, completely love struck, steals a wad of cash from her good friend and confident, Tracy (Andra Akers who had a career playing bit parts on televisions throughout the eighties) who is a wealth socialite with a sizeable stash of money and jewelry tucked under the front seat of her roadster.
As Karen makes her way back to Christopher's studio a strange man named Otto (William Finley) comes up behind her and in a rather sadistic murder scene that plays like something straight out of a Giallo, he cuts her with his ice pick and then crams it into her eye. Christopher finds her corpse when he returns and, despite the fact that his wife is causing him problems, decides he'll track down and catch the bastard who murdered his beloved Karen no matter how dangerous it might turn out to be. He narrows it down to three possible suspects but figuring out which one is the real killer will not be easy.
Some interesting people show up in this cast. In addition to the intensely creepy Finley (who is fantastic as Otto) who we all know De Palma would go on to work with a few times throughout his career, look for Jennifer Salt in an early appearance as one of the women in front of the camera during the opening sequence. She'd later show up in De Palma's Sisters and also played Texas Annie in Midnight Cowboy. Her role is marginal but it's neat to see her turn up. De Palma would also use Andra Akers again in 1969 when he shot The Wedding Party, where Salt and Finley also show up in small roles.
Murder A La Mod is, appropriately enough, a very weird film. The opening is a little on the confusing side as it bounces around a bit and introduces characters fairly quickly without really giving us much to care about at first. It happens fast and it's a little confusing until Karen and Christopher have their talk at which point, though the movie takes a few more really odd turns before the end, at least the story starts to flesh out a little bit. Whatever shortcomings the narrative might have, however, are covered over nicely by some slick visuals and very creative cinematography. De Palma keeps things looking tense throughout using strange angles to frame his performers (look for an interesting split screen effect when Karen and Tracy are trying on clothes) and some strange cutting during dialogue to accentuate the pacing.
The movie builds quite nicely, especially during the last half. Once Karen is killed off the film gets stranger and bloodier until it explodes in a delirious murder set piece that needs to be seen rather than read about (to describe it would spoil it). The movie also has a surprisingly voyeuristic feel to it that would develop into something that many of De Palma's thrillers would become known for. The camera we watch the women through at the opening of the film leers at them and we're right there with the faceless director encouraging them to take it all off for us. The murder scenes are shot in a similar fashion, the camera getting close up shots of the wounds as they're inflicted in a style not unlike that employed by Dario Argento in films like Deep Red or The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. There's also a very strong vein of black humor running through the film, accentuated by odd touches such as the way Finley's character is shown as he follows Karen in one scene. De Palma doesn't just follow him with the camera, he edits it in such a way to almost make it look like he's popping from one spot to the next. The whole thing plays out in and around New York City's Greenwich Village, which makes for a nice, atmospheric backdrop for the unusual story and off kilter characters.
Murder A La Mod isn't going to be as accessible as some of his better-known and more polished thrillers like The Fury or Blow Out but it definitely stands out as an interesting and entertaining low budget homage to Hitchcock.
THE MOVING FINGER
Available previously on VHS from Something Weird Video, 1963's The Moving Finger also takes place in Greenwich Village where we see a gang of beatnik hooligans robbing a bank. The plan backfires and only one of the guys makes it out alive, though thankfully for him he's got $90,000.00 in cold hard cash in a bag with him. He's been shot and is bleeding fairly heavily but he manages to stumble onto a freaky tour bus where a bunch of other beatniks are hanging out. A guy named Mason (Barry Newman of Vanishing Point) and a few of the others get him some morphine for his wound and let him get some rest on a grubby mattress back at their hang out.
Upstairs from where the robber is crashing is a coffee shop run by a strange man (Lionel Stander of Cyclone) who uses the beatniks who live down stairs as 'atmosphere' knowing that the tourists who frequent the area want to see the subculture in action when they frequent his establishment. In return, the beatniks are allows to hang out and stay in the downstairs apartment. The beatniks run around and do wacky things like smoke pot, steal a deli tray from an art showing, and shower as a group at a strange old ladies house, all the while with the bank robber maxing and relaxing in their pad.
What the crook doesn't realize is that these beatniks aren't as innocent as they might want him to believe and each of them has their respective eye on that loot bag he's holding so tightly. When the cops show up and shut down the coffee shop, everyone starts to show their true colors and greed becomes the order of the day.
Written and directed by Larry Moyer, this is an odd film. It starts off as a standard crime film but very quickly evolves into what is essentially a fly on the wall look at the beatnik culture of early sixties New York. Much of the running time is made up with a look at beatnik activities such as odd and impromptu readings, jazzy musical bits, drug use and strange philosophical ramblings. These slices of beatnik life are far more interesting (and amusing) than the actual crime story that the film is centered around and in that regard the movie works better as a time capsule of the era and the culture than anything else. Not a great movie by any stretch, but an interesting one that's worth seeing if you have an interest in beat culture and pre-hippy activism.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Both movies were shot for a fullframe presentation, which is how they are shown on this DVD, with brand new transfers that has been taken from restored elements and re-mastered to surprisingly nice effect. Something Weird has obviously put some serious effort into making this transfer as clean and as nice as possible and it shows. Print damage has been all but completely eliminated save for a trace of grain here and there (and cigarette burns around the reel changes), and the black levels stay strong throughout for both features. Detail levels are strong and contrast appears to be set properly. There aren't any problems with edge enhancement or mpeg compression though some aliasing does rear its head in a couple of scenes and every once in a while there is some flickering. Aside from that, however, both features look very nice with Murder A La Mod looking slightly cleaner (it's apparently been taken from the original negative!) and sharper than The Moving Finger.
The original English language tracks are here in Dolby Digital Mono sans any alternate language dubs or subtitle options. Dialogue is usually clean and clear (in the opening scenes where the director is talking to the girls on camera he sounds quite muffled but this is probably on purpose) and there aren't any major problems with hiss or distortion even if it does creep into the mix from time to time. There are spots where things sound just a little flat but that's not surprising considering the age and obscurity of the movies and there really isn't anything to complain about here in terms of the audio presentation for either feature.
Unfortunately, the only extra feature on this release, save for the menus and the chapter stops that we all know and love, is unrelated to either Murder A La Mod or The Moving Finger, it's a third film entitled An Eye For The Girls.
The Final Word:
A long lost De Palma thriller and a beatnik crime film make for an interesting double feature. The addition of the third film is a nice treat and the films both look and sound quite good. Murder A La Mod/The Moving Finger is well worth checking out!