Fade to Black (1980)

**_When reality imitates cinema_**

This comes in the tradition of prior films like “Psycho,” “Willard” and “Don’t Go in the House,” all of which involve a troubled loner who lashes out at society. The twist here is that the misfit (Dennis Christopher) is a fanatical film buff who ends up impersonating classic film characters to enact revenge.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the writer was inspired by the Marvel Comics villain The Hangman, who debuted 6.5 years earlier in Werewolf By Night 11-12. I’m sure both of these influenced Tarantino and his script “True Romance” a dozen years later.

Dennis Christopher won acclaim the previous year in “Breaking Away.” His role here is very different in which he comes across as a Roddy McDowall type.

Blonde Linda Kerridge appears as a Marilyn Monroe lookalike; unfortunately, her career never took off. Meanwhile brunette Gwynne Gilford plays a cop intrigued by a criminal psychologist (Tim Thomerson). Interestingly, Gilford was pregnant during shooting and so the production team had to hide her stomach; the baby grew up to be none other than actor Chris Pine.

Mickey Rourke has a peripheral role as a bullying coworker. He was 27 during shooting. After turning 28 later in the year, he’d perform a notable role in “Body Heat” before his breakout in “Diner” the following year.

While “Fade to Black” was successful at the box office, it subsequently went into obscurity and is only appreciated as a minor cult film these days. There’s enough good in it to make it worth checking out, but it’s somehow disappointing. I trace this to two things: The curious underuse of the female cast and the fact that the protagonist (or antagonist?) is never really convincing. He comes across too hammy. I’m not blaming Christopher as I’m sure he did the best he could with the character as written. Eric Binford should have been written a bit more sympathetically, not to mention tweaked to make him believable.

It runs 1 hour, 42 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles and areas nearby, like Venice, Burbank and the Santa Monica Pier.

GRADE: B-/C+