Dennis Christopher elevates what might as well be another generic slasher/thriller every step of the way with his thoughtful and committed performance as a movie obsessed loner who develops an obsession with a Marilyn Monroe lookalike and begins killing people he doesn't like while dressed as his famous cinematic heroes.
There's something a little too somber and serious about Fade To Black and if it could just let loose and have a little fun every now and then, it might have been a more enjoyable film. It plays more like Taxi Driver or the more recent Joker film, taking itself deathly seriously even when it should be adding a little levity to the story. It's admirable for the first half of the film, but once the killings start, it stops being that serious psychological study and turns into something entirely and logic flies out the window a bit.
There's also an entirely unnecessary subplot involving a police officer and the new, cocaine snorting psychologist she works with that adds very little except padding to the run time.
It's only Christopher's performance that holds the film together and it's worth seeing just for him.
There's something a little too somber and serious about Fade To Black and if it could just let loose and have a little fun every now and then, it might have been a more enjoyable film. It plays more like Taxi Driver or the more recent Joker film, taking itself deathly seriously even when it should be adding a little levity to the story. It's admirable for the first half of the film, but once the killings start, it stops being that serious psychological study and turns into something entirely and logic flies out the window a bit.
There's also an entirely unnecessary subplot involving a police officer and the new, cocaine snorting psychologist she works with that adds very little except padding to the run time.
It's only Christopher's performance that holds the film together and it's worth seeing just for him.