Fade to Black - The beautiful murders of Eric Binford
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Fade to Black - The beautiful murders of Eric Binford |
| Original title | Fade to Black |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1980 |
| length | 102 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Vernon carpenter |
| script | Vernon carpenter |
| production |
George G. Braunstein , Ron Hamady |
| music | Craig Safan |
| camera | Álex Phillips junior |
| cut |
James Mitchell , Barbara Pokras |
| occupation | |
| |
Fade to Black - The beautiful murders of Eric Binford (original title: Fade to Black ) is an American psychological thriller from 1980 directed by Vernon Zimmermann , who also wrote the screenplay.
The film was released in October 1980. Fade to Black was commercially unsuccessful at the time. Later it became a cult film for horror fans.
action
The shy Eric Binford lives with his aunt, who is in a wheelchair, and spends his free time watching television . He especially likes old classics. His love for films is also evident in the fact that he works in a film distribution center . Eric has social difficulties both privately and professionally, as he is constantly disturbed by his aunt while watching TV and is bullied by his boss, which is why he takes refuge in his film world. One day Eric meets a model named Marilyn O'Conner, who looks like his favorite actress Marilyn Monroe . But when Marilyn leaves him on their first date together, Eric is offended and gradually loses touch with reality.
Over time, Eric changes more and more from a shy young man to a psychopath who, humiliated privately and professionally, only finds solace in his films and finally even takes revenge on the people who make real life hell for him, although he always does Reenacts movie scenes:
When his aunt turns off the television against his will, he pushes her off the stairs in a wheelchair, which resembles a scene from The Kiss of Death . He literally scares his boss to death in the form of the mummy , as he suffers a heart attack at the sight of him. Richie, Binford's work colleague, is shot by him in the clothes of the cowboy Hopalong Cassidy . He even drinks her blood when attacking a woman dressed as Dracula just to recreate the scene perfectly. These acts attract the interest of the criminal psychologist Dr. Jerry Moriarty on himself. Moriarty's work is hindered by his supervisor, who himself tries to catch the murderer.
When Eric killed the film producer Gary Bially, who passed Eric's idea for a new film as his own, when the film gangster Cody Jarret from Leap to Death in the barber shop, his face became public. Moriarty manages to surprise Eric when he is recreating a movie scene from The Prince and the Dancer in a photo studio in order to reconcile with Marilyn. Moriarty's appearance leads Eric, who has now finally lost all reference to reality and no longer even knows who Binford is, to flee to the roof of the TCL Chinese Theater with Marilyn . The police surround the building, and Moriarty also sets out. Binford, who still lives in his film world and believes that there can be no bad ending for him since they are in Hollywood , locks Marilyn in the stairwell. Shortly afterwards he was shot and fatally wounded by police officers. While he is dragging himself to the edge of the roof, Binford quotes his favorite scene from "Leap in the Death" (the death scene of Cody Jarret) with the last of his strength, before he, now visible in the light of the police headlights, bowed in front of an audience and fell from the roof.
Merchandise
- An English-language book on the film entitled Fade to Black ( ISBN 0-523-41409-9 ) was written by Ron Renauld and was published by Pinnacle Books in 1980 .
Awards
The film was in 1981 for six Saturn Awards nominations, including as best horror film , for best director ( Vernon Zimmermann ) and for the best actor ( Dennis Christopher ). Eve Brent was named Best Supporting Actress.
Video
In the mid-1980s, the original English version of Fade to Black was released as a home VHS video by Media Home Entertainment and on August 24, 1999 by Anchor Bay Entertainment on DVD . In 2012 it was released in German on DVD by CDV Laservision.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Paul Counelis: 25 Underrated Horror Films (and The Exorcist), Lulu, 2011, p. 33 [1]
- ^ Fade to Black , digitallyobsessed.com
- ↑ Fade to Black , schnittberichte.com