Depths of Obsession

Deep End (1971)
Director-Jerzy Skolimowski
Starring- Jane Asher, John Moulder-Brown, Karl Michael Vogler

15-year-old Mike (Moulder-Brown) experiences life as an employee in a public swimming pool/bath house. He meets some strange women, including one who sexually abuses him in a strange, not-very intrusive way, but becomes obsessed with his coworker Susan (Jane Asher), who is not only engaged, but is also seeing the lascivious swimming instructor (Vogler).

Despite her engagement and pool flings, she still flirts a bit with him, enticing him all the more to be with her at any cost. He begins following her to places like he theater, restaurants, even home. She seems to fluctuate between enjoying it, tiring of it, and enjoying it again throughout the movie.

One day, after crashing a foot race organized by the swimming instructor, Mike decides to pop the tires of the man's car, which had been loaned to Susan for the day. Susan chases Mike in a rage, and ends up losing the diamond on her engagement ring in the snow. They decide to bag up the snow surrounding them and take into the pool after hours to thaw, which leads to an awkward tryst and a downbeat ending.

The pacing in this movie wasn't great. There were times it seemed to drag on, and Mike got himself into places that didn't seem to go anywhere in the movie. At one point he finds a nude cardboard cutout of Susan in front of a peepshow, suggesting she is much more well-known to men than he had previously known, but no more explanation is given.

Despite the pacing, the acting was done well, and the minimal effects did nothing to take away from the effectiveness of the movie overall.

Rating: 3/5 Bonedaddies.

Can't Pull Your Eyes Away

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Director- John McNaughton
Starring- Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold, Tom Towles

Ex-stripper Becky (Arnold) shacks up with her brother Otis (Towles) to escape a bad home situation and ends up meeting his roommate, Henry (Rooker). They hit it off, but there's tension with Otis in the home. Otis makes some innappropriate advances toward his own sister, and Henry is quick to defend her. In an effort to make up and blow off some steam, The two get a couple hookers. Otis witnesses Henry choke one of them to death, then break the other's neck, and is horrified.

As he learns more about Henry, however, Otis becomes curious himself about what it feels like and is recruited into serial killer training. They use their sadistic hobby to obtain some nicer things for themselves like a television and video camera. Unfortunately for Henry, tensions flare up again when Otis starts becoming sexually obsessed with his victims. Things come to a head as Henry catches Otis attempting to rape his own sister, and knows he must get her out of there, even if he still sees her as a potential victim.

This movie was incredible to watch, and VERY well-written. Henry doesn't give much of himself away through words, but shows a lot through actions and reactions. When the three are dancing around for their new video camera, Henry is instructed by Otis to watch Becky dance. This brings on some bad memories of his mother, and Henry quietly pleads for Otis to stop, and seems on the verge of tears. This particular scene is so out of regular character for Henry, which makes it all the more disturbing, since it lays bare one of the troubled corners of his mind.


It's interesting to note some sympathy with Henry throughout th movie, while at the same time, he is a sick serial killer. He becomes both the villian and the hero, and then the villian again, as the movie progresses. The ending is great. For such a simple ending, I didn't really see it coming. Who knew he'd "take one for the road"?

Rating: 5/5 Bonedaddies.