OCTOBER 9, 2012 8:27AM
I is For ... (31 Days of Halloween, Oct. 9)
I YAM AN ANTI-CRRRIST!
Fear No Evil (1981, directed by Frank LaLoggia) is a bizarre piece of horror cinema, a result of yet another lonely night and the bizarre VHS selection at that Blockbuster on 95th and 3rd.This film, you see, is The Omen meets Carrie. The Son of Satan is a misunderstood, skinny, effeminate bullied high school teenager. There are reincarnated angels who are popular kids.
Ostensibly, to underscore the teen alienation/angst, the film features a punk rock soundtrack. Eh. Ramones, Sex Pistols, B52s, Rezillos are all heard throughout the movie. Notably, I remember catching Patti Smith's "Hey Joe" in the background - her cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic, overlaid with a poem for Patty Hearst:
Patty
Hearst, you're standing there in front of the Symbionese Liberation
Army flag with your legs spread, I was wondering will you get it every
night from a black revolutionary man and his women or whether you really
did and now that you're on the run what goes on in your mind, your
sisters they sit by the window, you know your mama doesn't sit and cry
and your daddy, well you know what your daddy said, Patty, you know what
your daddy said, Patty, he said, he said, he said, "Well, sixty days
ago she was such a lovely child, now here she is with a gun in her
hand."
The film features zombies, and death by dodgeball (that classic hell of outcast boys):
Most notably of all, this film's strange sequences of homoerotic homophobia has earned a place in LGTB horror cinema. I will let imdb reviewer "ThrownMuse" do my work for me:
Another
interesting feature of "Fear no Evil" is its treatment of gender and
sexuality. The archangels are both played by women who claim to have
been "bonded" together. Andrew is an effeminate boy and this does not go
unnoticed by his jockier classmates. There is a shower sequence where
Andrew gets sexually harassed by the school bully, who forces a kiss as a
joke. Andrew turns the kiss into a violent makeout session! The two
characters share a "kiss" again later in the movie in a more
frightening/disturbing/hilarious scene. Also significant is the all-male
nudity in the shower scene. While none of these men are particularly
attractive, this sequence is rather cutting edge and controversial at a
time when only female nudity was frequent in horror movies.
The "fightening/disturbing/hilarious"
scene is indeed that, and makes one think this film is about someone
trying to work out their LGTB panic issues.
(Warning: NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!!)
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Comments
The Death by dodgeball scene alone should hav e gotten this movie an Oscar. R
Given the soundtrack and gay subtext, I am amazed I've never heard of this one. That coach was beyond psycho.
And I'm calling it now: this will be the only thing I read all day that will mention The Rezillos.
And I'm calling it now: this will be the only thing I read all day that will mention The Rezillos.
Another intriguing off-the-beaten-path recommendation. You sure know your movies.
Chiller, I am loving the way your mind works! Whatta dip into the Horror pool...
Trudge, I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees it that way! It's good to find spiritual brethren.
VA - do you know I hadn't heard much from the Rezillos 'till "Top of the Pops" appeared on my iPod (from a punk sampler I bought in the late '90s). This was over 2 years ago, but that song made me take notice of the Rezillos.
Margaret - I know my bizarre, awful weirdo movies well - not the normal stuff, which is why civilized cocktail parties are a struggle for me. Hey, by the way, hope all is good - I see your blog is down. I hope you're still writing somewhere in some way.
KC - I wish I loved how my mind works, some days.... :-(
VA - do you know I hadn't heard much from the Rezillos 'till "Top of the Pops" appeared on my iPod (from a punk sampler I bought in the late '90s). This was over 2 years ago, but that song made me take notice of the Rezillos.
Margaret - I know my bizarre, awful weirdo movies well - not the normal stuff, which is why civilized cocktail parties are a struggle for me. Hey, by the way, hope all is good - I see your blog is down. I hope you're still writing somewhere in some way.
KC - I wish I loved how my mind works, some days.... :-(
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