Deadline (1981)

First, a word on The Devil's Rejects which I saw this past opening weekend. It was pretty good and certainly violent and disturbing. I'm not sure if fans knew how to take this movie. Rob Zombie said that people are not supposed to root for the bad guys like they did in his last (awful) movie, House of 1000 Corpses. Not surprisingly, debates about the movie are in full effect throughout the world of internet movie forums, even more so than for the recent Land of the Dead. A lot of stupid people on both sides of the "it was gay"/"it owned" line. The movie opened poorly, but it should still make it's money back without a problem. My prediction is that Rob Zombie will make a mainstream movie, a thriller, or a dark comedy, within the next five years. Maybe he will even drop his stage name and go by something more normal, but that could be ten years down the line.

On to the review:

Here we discovered an overlooked Canadian movie that's up there with Nightmare in a Damaged Brian (my review) or the disturbing later films of Philip Yordan (my review). It's the tale of a filthy rich horror writer, his neglected wife, and spoiled kids. Well, I guess the kids are not that bad, just unlucky. Our hero writes his books and movies to be comments on the degradation of society, but of course the world sees his work as just plain trash. The guy makes buckets of money, but gets no respect, even at his own alma matter where a class room of college students verbally tear him apart.

The writer strives to find the ultimate horror and eventually does in his own household. Everyone is in this movie is a total bastard, though at times we can feel sympathetic to each of their situations. The movie is loaded with pure 80's excess, fur coats, private jets, and two cocaine parties, reminders that there is misery at the top. Most reviewers remark that the writer, named Stephen Young, is meant to represent Stephen King, though I never heard about any turmoil in his family life. Maybe I missed some scandal back in the early eighties when I was two years old.


Deadline from TV director Mario Azzopardi, on Paragon Video, another one not on DVD
The best scenes are the horror sequences inserted throughout the film, meant to be the writer's thoughts and/or clips from his films. We get cannibal nuns, children as brutal hooded executioners, and a post-punk band, much like Siouxsie and the Banshees, that plays through a device making captive homeless listeners shit themselves and explode.

and now, a dialogue with cub, for cub speaks...


In my favorite scene, a goat shows up. The guy cleaning the industrial sized snowplow says something like "you again!" and chases the goat off. The man goes back, working with the huge propellers or whatever they are called and the goat comes around again. We see a close up of the goat. Goat looks to the sky and mysterious music plays. The snow blower turns on (by itself!) and rips of the mans arm. Blood shoots from the stump. Then his leg is torn and and gets twisted by the blades. The final shot shows his head rolling away. I will never forget this moment. Cub, why did I love this scene with an evil telepathic goat?

As many people might not know, you have a strange fascination with goats which is probably the reason for you liking the evil telepathic goat. You thought the goat was the cutest thing you have ever seen and you rooted it on, throwing your hands up in the air and showing me an evil grin.

Did this scene make me hug the goats at the zoo closer? Why did I not fear them?

I do believe that this scene made you hug the goats closer because you felt spiritually connected to them. Doesn't that seem kinda bizarre? You were secretly hoping that the goat could read your mind and deliver that which your evil little heart desires. You have no fear for goats, only love....