Unhinged (1982, dir:
Don Gronquist; cast:
Laurel Munson, Janet Penner, Sara Ansley, Virginia Settle,
John Morrison, Barbara Lusch, Bill Simmonds)
Don't
believe the hype. This is an obscure film, and rightfully so. Few
deaths, with very little gore, most of it offscreen. The kind of
low-budget horror film where we see the knife or ax come down,
then cut to bedsheets or a face splattered with blood. But no
actual cutting is seen.
Hey, that's okay. I don't need gore. But there's very little of
anything else worth seeing.
Unhinged is the sort of film that's been called "Southern
Gothic," expect that it's set in California and filmed in Oregon.
So I suppose it's an example of "California Gothic." By which I
mean, a once rich and prominent family, scandalized by a dark
secret, is now decaying away in a dark, brooding mansion.
In the story, three young women, on their way to a rock concert,
experience car trouble. They end up at this mansion. And of
course, the body count mounts. (Not a very large body count.)
Much of this film is endless talking, and talking, and talking.
Long speeches by a senile matriarch, about how grand the family
was at one time. Oh how they entertained! All the interesting
writers and artists that would stay with them, in the good old
days. The conversations they'd have out on the veranda ... blah,
blah, blah.
The matriarch, Mrs. Penrose (Virginia Settle), constantly bullies
her dried-up spinster of a daughter, Marion (Janet Penner). Marion
later contributes her own speeches -- about the family's dark
secrets, her father's scandal, and why her mother hates all men
... blah, blah, blah.
Understand, there are multiple speeches in this film, not
just two.
Terry (Laurel Munson), the lead young woman stranded at the
mansion, is mind-bogglingly stupid, even by slasher film
standards. She suspects nothing, even when her friend goes missing
for an entire day. The friend had gone through the woods into
town, to find a phone, because the mansion has no phone. Says
Terry of her missing friend, "Oh, she knows how to take care
of herself. I'm sure she's all right." Dum-dee-dum.
Dum-dee-dee.
There's a brief shot of two young women having a conversation in
the shower. One is showering while the other woman is drying
herself. Evidently, they had to have their conversation in the
shower, together, with both of them nude. They couldn't wait until
they'd finished their showers, though their conversation is not
especially urgent. Of course, it's just a way for the filmmaker to
insert a brief nudie shot into the film. And there's another brief
nudie shot of Terry showering all by herself at the film's start.
That's it for the nudies.
I mention this, because the film's promo material suggests there's
much graphic nudity and violence. There's not much of either. Just
a lot of speeches given by the two older women, to the
two stupid women.
Although
Unhinged is just under 80 minutes, it felt much longer. Yes,
there was atmosphere. But the story was so slight, the speeches so
long and boring, the victims so Barbie doll mindless, and any
violence or horror so brief, I was bored.
Unhinged is no classic of the slasher subgenre. Not
historically important, not envelop-pushing, and not very
entertaining. Slasher completists may want to take a look, and
American Gothic fans might even like it, but don't overpay or
expect too much.
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