Runtime: 101 minutes
Directed by: Michael Laughlin
Starring: Michael Murphy, Dan Shor, Louise Fletcher, Fiona Lewis, Dey Young
From: A few companies based in the United States, Australia & New Zealand
“Weird” is my best descriptor for this motion picture. I’ve known of this oddity for awhile but its status as “leaving soon” on Arrow’s streaming site yet there being no indicator as to when “soon” will be—it was time to pull the trigger on a movie that was supposed to be set in the real-life city of Galesburg, Illinois but was actually filmed in New Zealand-its first horror film. I grew up about 2 ½ hours from that city and don’t remember ever even been through that hamlet, but it was obvious to me that the scenery was not that of Northern Illinois. That’s more amusing than offensive; after all, Haddonfield, Illinois has blatantly never been actually filmed in Illinois…
Anyhow, think of this as an early slasher mixed w/ a paranoid 1950’s sci-fi film. Weird things are happening in Galesburg, including the murder of teens; is it the college in town where strange experiments are being done… quite frankly, besides online plot descriptions mentioning this detail, the film lays its cards on the table early. Thus, for the viewer it’s watching our heroes attempt to piece together the puzzle, along with us trying to find out WHY the villains have such a devious scheme.
Along the way, there are many interesting or otherwise peculiar moments:
* There’s a Tangerine Dream score; of course it’s bitchin’
* Someone pisses blood in the bathroom of a Steak ‘n Shake. That was certainly memorable and that restaurant chain is definitely a staple in Illinois as that’s where it was founded… but the one in the film looked nothing like any of the locations I’ve ever been to!
* There’s a Halloween dance number done to… Lou Christie’s Lightnin’ Strikes? Yes, the 60’s oldie. As great as that tune is, the New Wave song heard later was more expected for the setting. By the way, the New Wave songs are from Oceanic bands, including The Birthday Party. Yes, Nick Cave fans.
* High school senior Marc McClure notes that a girl named Lucy Brown “gets around.” He is then told that Lucy is THIRTEEN years old. Marc’s response… “No problem there!” Yeah, some men are pretty gross. Lucy actually becomes a minor character, and is soon seen with a guy named WALDO who drives a car with all the doors removed and looks to be about twice her age. She is then chased by someone wearing a Tor Johnson mask-no kidding.
* The town’s mayor and a key assistant in the police department are both elderly men.
* This was written by future Oscar winner Bill Condon. In fact, this is how he began his career.
The film overall is uneven, with at least one plot thread which goes nowhere. That said, it is without a doubt a film which will be different from the other horror I’ll experience the next few months. Between the vibes and the creepy nature of what is creating the scares = of course this became a cult favorite. While I wish there would have been a little more Louise Fletcher, Strange Behavior (or Dead Kids, depending on where you live) was worthwhile to me. One last note: as others have noted, for reasons I won’t elaborate upon, this would make a sweet double-bill w/ Gary Sherman’s Dead & Buried.
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