I'm absolutely obsessed with movies, especially horror, and I'm guessing that you are too, since you're currently reading an IMDb review of a relatively obscure, thirty-five-year-old horror flick. But as much as we love films, I doubt that either one of us is quite as crazy about them as Dennis Christopher's character, Eric Binford, in Fade to Black (at least I hope not).
Eric, a shy, dysfunctional loner, immerses himself in the make-believe world of cinema 24/7, ultimately confusing reality with fantasy, taking on the identities of characters from his favourite films to mete out punishment to those who victimise him. Disguising himself as gangster Cody Jarrett from White Heat, cowboy Hopalong Cassidy, and Universal monsters Dracula and The Mummy, he settles the score with his overbearing Aunt Stella (Eve Brent), a workplace bully (Mickey Rourke), and his tyrant of a boss. Eric also poses as Lawrence Olivier from The Prince and the Showgirl to woo a Marilyn Monroe lookalike he meets in a diner (Linda Kerridge). Meanwhile, the police are trying to piece together the clues before the killer strikes again
Fade to Black is a technically competent effort with some stylish touches—the inter-cutting of old movie clips is a particularly effective trick—but the film suffers from some weak performances (Tim Thomerson, as a counsellor working with the police, is extremely wooden), a script that just gets more and more ludicrous (where the hell does Eric find a working tommy gun?), and a message that doesn't sit very well with this particular movie fan: that consistent exposure to violent movies will cause the viewer to act in a violent manner. We horror fans take enough crap as it is, without our own genre making us out to be loony tunes as well!
Eric, a shy, dysfunctional loner, immerses himself in the make-believe world of cinema 24/7, ultimately confusing reality with fantasy, taking on the identities of characters from his favourite films to mete out punishment to those who victimise him. Disguising himself as gangster Cody Jarrett from White Heat, cowboy Hopalong Cassidy, and Universal monsters Dracula and The Mummy, he settles the score with his overbearing Aunt Stella (Eve Brent), a workplace bully (Mickey Rourke), and his tyrant of a boss. Eric also poses as Lawrence Olivier from The Prince and the Showgirl to woo a Marilyn Monroe lookalike he meets in a diner (Linda Kerridge). Meanwhile, the police are trying to piece together the clues before the killer strikes again
Fade to Black is a technically competent effort with some stylish touches—the inter-cutting of old movie clips is a particularly effective trick—but the film suffers from some weak performances (Tim Thomerson, as a counsellor working with the police, is extremely wooden), a script that just gets more and more ludicrous (where the hell does Eric find a working tommy gun?), and a message that doesn't sit very well with this particular movie fan: that consistent exposure to violent movies will cause the viewer to act in a violent manner. We horror fans take enough crap as it is, without our own genre making us out to be loony tunes as well!