Another Decent Into...
Dark City(1998)
I have looked forward to seeing this movie for the past 12 years. Saw the trailer for this during a viewing of I Know What You Did Last Summer, and thought awesome! Well, once again, the disillusionment set in. The plot isn't too bad...
John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens in a hotel bathtub, suffering from what seems to be amnesia. As he stumbles into his hotel room, he receives a telephone call from Dr. Daniel Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland), who urges him to flee the hotel from a group of men who are after him. During the telephone conversation, John discovers the corpse of a brutalised, ritualistically murdered woman, along with a bloody knife. Murdoch flees the scene, just as the figures, known as the Strangers, arrive at the room. Eventually he learns his real name, and finds his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly). He is also sought by police inspector Frank Bumstead (William Hurt) for a series of murders, which he cannot remember. While being pursued by The Strangers, Murdoch discovers that he has psychokinetic powers like them and uses it to escape from them. Murdoch moves about the city, which experiences perpetual night. He sees people become comatose at midnight, with the cityscape being altered along with people's identities being changed at that time. Murdoch questions the dark urban environment and discovers through clues and interviews with his family that he was originally from a coastal town called Shell Beach. Attempts at finding a way out of the city to Shell Beach are hindered by lack of reliable information from everyone he meets. Meanwhile, the Strangers, disturbed by the presence of a human who also possesses psychokinetic powers, inject one of their men, Mr. Hand (Richard O'Brien) with Murdoch's memories in an attempt to find him.
Murdoch eventually finds Bumstead, who recognizes Murdoch's innocence and has his own questions about the nature of the dark city. They find and confront Dr. Schreber, who explains that the Strangers are endangered extraterrestrial parasites who use corpses as their hosts. Having a collective consciousness, the Strangers have been experimenting with humans to analyze the human soul in the hopes that some insight might be revealed that would help their race survive. Schreber reveals Murdoch as an anomaly who inadvertently awoke during the midnight process when Schreber was in the middle of fashioning his identity as a murderer. The three men embark to find Shell Beach, which ultimately exists only as a billboard at the edge of the city. Frustrated, Murdoch tears through the wall, revealing a hole into outer space. The men are confronted by the Strangers, including Mr. Hand, who holds Emma hostage. In the ensuing fight, Bumstead, along with one of the Strangers, falls through the hole into space, revealing the city as an enormous space habitat surrounded by a force field.
The Strangers bring Murdoch to their home beneath the city and force Dr. Schreber to imprint Murdoch with their collective memory, believing Murdoch to be the final answer to their experiments. Schreber betrays them by inserting false memories in Murdoch which artificially reestablish his childhood as years spent training his tuning abilities & learning about the Strangers and their machines. Murdoch awakens, fully realizing his abilities, frees himself and battles with the Strangers, defeating their leader Mr. Book (Ian Richardson) in a battle high above the city. After learning that "Emma" is gone and can't be restored, Murdoch utilizes his newfound powers through the Strangers' machine to create an actual Shell Beach by flooding the area within the force field with water and forming mountains and beaches. On his way to Shell Beach, Murdoch encounters Mr. Hand and informs him that the Strangers have been searching in the wrong place, the head, to understand humanity. Murdoch opens the door leading out of the city, and steps out to view a sunrise that he created. Beyond him is a dock, where he finds Emma, now with new memories and a new identity as Anna. Murdoch reintroduces himself as they walk to Shell Beach, beginning their relationship anew.
The atmosphere of the film is top notch. Very noir, a future city set in the past. Hmmm..kinda sounds like Beta City to me...(Rhapsody In Black reference). The storyline is trippy in the beginning and you really have to watch to keep up. Sadly, the twist pulls this movie down and for the last 15 mins, it sinks into laughable territory.
The Strangers looked to be a cross between Uncle Fester and the Cynobites from the Hellraiser series. Not very convincing though I do like the fact they fly. So yet another anticipated movie ends in tragedy for me. Worth a look though....7/10
Karma-
It came back hard this week. A visitor came to me this past Monday. That visitor was my ex-fiancee. Readers may remember her as the object of some rants on my previous posts. Well, the pain has subsided and we talked for two days straight airing our grievances. She's back in my life now in a positive way. Let's not pop open champagne yet. It will be a long road before I see us gettin back into a relationship. For now, I'm going to enjoy the moment.
The Cinema Snob-
I'm two reviews behind on Mr. Snob so rather than go back to review I'll just post 'em and start fresh with his new vid whenever he posts it.
I know I'm being lazy but oh well, lol.
Reading Ed McBain's Mischief. Look for a review of that soon. And look for me sooner.
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