Murder Rock – Double Disc Special Edition

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: B     Film: C+

 

 

It is always funny when in analyzing thrillers, there is the psychotic committing the acts and the psychological reasons for it.  Set in and from 1984 at the height of Jazzercise, exercise, sexercize, neo-Disco and the influence of Flashdance, you have to wonder why Lucio Fulci’s Murder Rock is a rare such thriller set at this time.  It gives Michael Sembello’s Maniac a new context, but also makes us ask, did the killer go on the spree because of the music and dancing or just the leg warmers and day-glo clothing?  Is it that those who dancercise and act too sexy must die?  Well, the film is not great, but not bad, yet cannot help but come across as dated like the “energy crisis” basis for the James Bond film The Man With The Golden Gun.

 

It is a product of its time, but unlike something like the awful James Bridges disaster Perfect (1985) with then-in-the-rut John Travolta and in-transition Jamie Lee Curtis, it is not a merely bad time capsule.  Instead it is a strange thriller that is always out of its element whose giallo elements never quite cohere with the happy 1980s aesthetic.  Fulci comes up with some good moments, but basically uses the backdrop as casually as any other, which is one of the reasons why it never gels.  It even takes place in New York, but never totally captures the city at that or any other time.  The result is an isolated feel that may have prevented the film from dating in some respects, though failing at others.  This is one you’ll have to see for yourself.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image has color that is slightly off and detail that is inconsistent.  However, cinematographer Giuseppe Pinori’s camerawork is a plus and makes this watchable though the flaws.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no major surrounds, whether in English or Italian, though the Italian is weaker overall.  Keith Emerson’s score is the total opposite of his great work as part of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (or Powell, when the late, great Cozy Powell was once their drummer).  Extras are especially noteworthy, including trailers for several Shriek Show releases including this film and a feature length Italian audio commentary with Pinori and journalist Federico Caddeo on DVD 1.  The second disc has a set of Fulci trailers for some of his other films, lead actor Ray Lovelock in two interview featurettes, Pinori in another interview featurette that is exceptional and a long look at Fulci with multiple interviewees entitled Tempus Fugit.  Even if the film falls short, the set does not and is worth a look.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo