![]() ![]() One has to wonder whether director Charles Finch (son of actor Peter Finch, working with a script co-authored by his father's widow, Yolande Turner) let autobiographical elements creep into WHERE SLEEPING DOGS LIE. Bruce gets a last letter from his former housemate, now primed to begin a fresh killing spree. When Eddie states where he hid the bodies of his victims, Bruce finally calls the police, who dig up the yard, discover no bones, and dismiss the now vanished Eddie as a hoaxer. But while Eddie takes charge of the writing, Bruce sinks into a He's not even upset when Bruce discovers his secret, because now they can collaborate openly on the gruesome memoir. Much longer it becomes apparent that Eddie is the long-sought serial murderer, returned to his old killing ground. Before long he's helping Bruce work on the book, and before Serena declares the manuscript-in-progress a blockbuster and sells it as a non-fiction interview with the unknown maniac.Ībout this time Bruce takes in a boarder at the mansion, a twitchy, timid soul named Eddie (Tom Sizemore) who quotes Shakespeare and bloodier bits of the Bible, ties himself to the bed at night, and keeps under control with medication. After initial revulsion, he gets a brainstorm, races to his old typewriter, and starts pounding out "Diary of a Murderer," a first-person account based on his fevered impressions and Bruce has a failed second career selling real estate, and when the would-be author gets evicted from his apartment he moves into a dilapidated old mansion he's supposed to put on the market.īruce learns why no one will buy the place-it was the site of grisly, unsolved slayings eight years earlier. "Feeling, morals, all that sweet-smelling shit went out with a bullet and the two Kennedys," sneers his ex-lover Serena Black (Stone), now a glamorous literaryĪgent. Nobody in Hollywood will buy the high-minded novels and "message" screenplays of penniless writer Bruce Simmons (Dylan McDermott). ![]() As he settles into his new life, the country is experiencing its own turmoil: an oil embargo has led to martial law and civil war, into which Smith reluctantly finds himself increasingly involved.Ĭo-starring Warren Oates (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia) as the commander of a US army unit drawn into the conflict, Sleeping Dogs is simultaneously a political thriller, a personal drama and a true landmark in New Zealand cinema.This horror genre variation on BARTON FINK is not a great film, but it is a brave one, on two counts WHERE SLEEPING DOGS LIE is both a serial killer drama devoid of gore, and a Sharon Stone vehicle without any nudity. Neill in his first lead role in a feature plays Smith, a man escaping the break-up of his marriage by finding isolation on an island off the Coromandel Peninsula. Stead s novel Smith s Dream, Sleeping Dogs almost single-handedly kickstarted the New Zealand New Wave, demonstrating that homegrown feature films could resonate with both local and international audiences, and launching the big-screen careers of director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Species) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, Possession). The 1977 New Zealand thriller SLEEPING DOGS Starring Sam Neill and Warren Oates will be available on Blu-ray from Arrow Academy on April 17thĪdapted from C.K. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |