Cruising

Cruising (1980)

Runtime: 102 minutes

Directed by: William Friedkin

Starring: Al Pacino, Karen Allen, Paul Sorvino, Richard Cox, Don Scardino

From: Warner Bros

For all the times I've referenced this infamous movie in the almost 10 years I've had this Blogger site up, about darn time I saw this again and finally can talk about it here: 

Hips or lips?

This is another film I had seen before, but the last viewing was at least a decade ago; this seemed like the right time for me for another screening and my finally talking about this infamous motion picture here. Now, I am a heterosexual male so keep that in mind when I talk about this movie and how I am not personally offended by its plot or any risque scene. I do understand how some in the homosexual community still do not like the movie for a variety of reasons, and how at the time some would think that despite the protests of the filmmakers, this does stigmatize homosexuality and people would be led to believe they are all into depraved practices and engage in BDSM.

The plot: Al Pacino is NYC police officer Steve Burns, who is assigned by police Captain Paul Sorvino to go undercover and investigate the murders of gay men who are in the bondage scene... as he resembles the men who have been killed and dismembered. As he is a tough guy cop, this new character he has to play is a drastic change, nevermind the usual stresses of undercover work. This impacts his relationship with girlfriend Karen Allen.

One important thing to mention: while I believe it's never been confirmed, popular rumor is that almost 40 minutes were cut out of this before this could finally get an R rating. Apparently a lot of it was scenes dealing with sexuality but some things were deleted that did impact the story; it'd be nice to see that version yet I will presume this is what is typically the case... meaning that footage was destroyed many years ago. I can only presume the general story would have been the same and the focus would be more on Burns and the metamorphosis he goes through rather than discovering who the killer or killers are, which is deliberately more ambiguous than you'd expect for such a mystery. I am not sure why it was done that way, or why when that decision was made, why the lead character is vague and you feel like you never get to know him that well.

While I wish this would have been less obtuse and more straightforward, I cannot say this was bad. I will presume that underground world isn't too terribly exaggerated, although if those joints actually had guys greasing up their fists for... then yikes. The cast was nice and it is always nice seeing Joe Spinell in a role. Plus, several people that would become famous later had one scene appearances here... Powers Boothe, James Remar, and as Spinell's police officer partner in a hell of a team, Mike Starr. Plus, the odd score from Jack Nitzsche worked for the film. What was great: the dark menacing soundtrack that featured punk, rock (including some songs from Willy DeVille) and even a funk tune... I realize that may sound odd but even that has the appropriate tone as it was several former members of George Clinton's P-Funk empire cutting an entire album where they diss their former boss for being an A-hole. Drugs and drama caused Parliament-Funkadelic to crash and burn rather spectacularly. Anyhow, the fact that this movie was willing to take an unflinching look at this topic (especially for the time) was bold. Now it's an artifact as a few years later the plague of AIDS would take hold and change the homosexual community forever.

Two last notes to bring up: it is easy to say that a movie was inspired by a giallo and the comparison is not always accurate but this time, it was. Of course this doesn't fit all the characteristics of that genre but there still is a mysterious killer dressed in black (this time, black leather) who is psychotic and kills his victims with the simple yet effective weapon of a knife that you could find on the table of a steakhouse to cut your meat. In addition, this movie was based on a novel (which was credited) and also a series of real life murders of gay leather bar patrons. William Friedkin finally agreed to do this film because-in an incredibly creepy moment-Paul Bateson confessed to at least a few of those killings and Bateson appeared in The Exorcist in one scene as he was a doctor's assistant and that's what he played in his brief appearance.