Loner kid in Los Angeles, living in a movie dream-world in a house with his wheelchair-bound aunt (who has a lascivious tone in her voice when she's not harping on him), eliminates his enemies in classic movie fashion. I'm willing to cut "Fade to Black" some slack: a lot of film-buffs seem to admire the picture--and the movie posters and theater marquees are fun to see--but it's a rancid little thriller that loses steam as it continues (it does its own "Fade"). Dennis Christopher was probably well-cast, yet he's made to be so nutty that he's even more remote from us than, say, Michael J. Pollard or Bud Cort. The role requires a lot of hamming, but Christopher doesn't have the innate style needed to connect with the black-and-white world his character lives in (at one point, his aunt deliberately knocks over his movie projector, but he cares more about getting rid of her than saving that machine!). Writer-director Vernon Zimmerman had the germ of a good idea; he's helped by colorfully seedy locations, but there's little modulation between scenes--nearly everyone in the film is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Peter Horton and Mickey Rourke turn up in small parts, and newcomer Linda Kerridge does an OK imitation of Marilyn Monroe, but much of the rest is wretched. * from ****
Review of Fade to Black
