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(Mary, on the phone) 'Hello officer, is this the police? Who do I speak to to report a murder?' (Paul, from the bathroom) 'Not a murder, an accidental death!' This is a delicious off-beat black comedy with some great dialog from writer-director Paul Bartel about Paul and Mary Bland (played by Paul Bartel and Mary Woronow), a super-square couple who want to get out of their building, because of the sex-crazed swingers that seem to live in just about every other apartment in the building. They both dream of opening their own little gourmet restaurant some day in the country, but since Mary is a nurse and Paul has just been fired from his job at a liquor store (he is a wine fanatic), they realize their dream will be almost impossible to realize. But things turn to their advantage, when they accidentally kill a drunken intruder who stumbled into their apartment, they get inspired and come up with an outrageous plan. They start to lure wealthy swingers to their apartment and kill them for their money, something the straight laced couple feel they deserve anyway.I never even heard of Paul Bartel, but recently tumbled across this movie and I thought it was great, original to say the least. The late Bartel has accomplished a cult status for quite a while now, and deservedly so. The writing in particular is great but the execution is somewhat flawed. Paul Bartel obviously is a better writer than he is an actor and most of the cast deliver deadpan-performances. However, Robert Beltran as Raoul, is a standout. Directors Joe Dante and John Landis also appear in the film (unbilled) but I haven't spotted them (yet).It's difficult to categorize this VERY weird film. The story goes that Bartel - as so many others of his generation - started his career as a Corman-protégée. Apparently he couldn't convince Roger Corman to finance the project, so he shot it on weekends for $500.000. It doesn't really show. Where did he spend the money on?. There are no special effects, practically no gore and no spectacular set pieces, it seems a lot of money for a film like this.Nevertheless, great fun! Watch out for those opening credits with beautiful music to match as well!
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