LOVE ME DEADLY (1972)
Directed by Jacques Lacerte
Video Gems VHS
THE FILM
"The word is necrophilia."
Do you remember when "The Bird"
was the word? Those were good times.
Lindsay Finch has just learned the
new word. You're going to want to
bring some sanitary wipes.
There's nothing like those 70s American
pre-Halloween horror movies.
They all have their own individual
feel and yet they are definitely
of their time. They’re sleazy,
a little sloppy and, generally,
so off-handed in their deviant behavior
that they can be completely disarming.
It's great, isn't it? No formula,
no rules. Excellent. Almost all
of the time.
Lindsay lives in a big, big house
in Los Angeles. She's tall, thin,
beautiful and bountifully bosomed.
But, she misses her father who we
see in sepia-toned flashbacks. There
is a way, though, she can get close
to her Dad again. It involves going
to funerals. It just might possibly
also involve kissing the dead men
in the coffins. A creepy mortician
spots her at several occasions and
invites her to join his exclusive
"Necrophilia Club."
Enter Lyle Waggoner. I'm not sure
what Lyle Waggoner is doing in this
film, but it's him. He plays Alex,
the man who Lindsay marries. (She
reminds him of Dad.) But, they can't
consummate the union because...
Alex is alive. See the quote at
the start.
It is, probably, a film that very
cleverly contrasts what should be
a classic romance between a beautiful
man and a beautiful woman with that
woman's damaged view of what love
is. I’m sure the people who
made it could tell us that that’s
what they had planned but, to me,
it just seems confused and a bit
disappointing.
It is a drama about a woman coming
to terms with her necrophiliality.
There is a romantic musical interlude.
There is drama in the bedroom. There
is a 70s party. There is a studly
fellow who gets a little rowdy.
There are women who wear black mini-skirts
to funerals. But, all of this good
time Charlie-stuff collides with
what seems to be a different movie.
There is a rather disturbing scene
where the mortician brings a young
prostitute (think Midnight Cowboy)
to the funeral home and kills him
in preparation for some necro sex.
There are nude people writhing around
dead bodies and a sick twist or
two waiting at the end. This collision
makes for a conflicting adventure
that doesn’t really go far
enough in either direction.
The first time I watched Love
Me Deadly, I thought it was
all right. The person I watched
it with spent the whole time saying
"I thought this was going to
be a different movie." (There’s
a distinct possibility that I was
thinking the same thing.) We never
figured out what that different
movie was. The second time I watched
it was for this review. My thoughts:
If you like 70's American horror
films, this is a good one but, sadly,
not a great one.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Old VHS print quality. Perfect.
Slightly muffled. Every once in
a while the soundtrack would crackle
loudly. I called them "Static
Kisses."
EXTRAS
No.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you've heard about Love Me
Deadly, you'll want to see
it. It starts off strong and then
backs further and further away from
where you think it's going. It doesn't
really keep you guessing. It just
inevitably moves towards its ending.
Worth a watch but there are better
films out there to hunt down. It
just occurred to me that Love
Me Deadly is the shorter, less
graphic version of Nekromantik
2. One has Lyle Waggoner in
it, so the choice is up to you.
— Dan Budnik, 11.30.06 |
Hot 'n' bothered
Paging Steve Trevor
Robes about to drop
Poor Wade
|
