Black Rainbow (1989)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Mike Hodges

Writer:

Mike Hodges (writer)

Release Date:

3 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

She can see the killer's face. She knows the victim's name. The only thing she doesn't know ... is when the murder will take place.

Plot:

Martha Travis is a medium who makes contact with spirits "on the other side" and connects them with their loved ones still alive...

Plot Keywords:

Alcoholic | Train | Female Nudity | Psychic | Mayor

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Rosanna Arquette	...	Martha Travis
Jason Robards	...	Walter Travis
Tom Hulce	...	Gary Wallace
Mark Joy	...	Lloyd Harley
Ron Rosenthal	...	Lieutenant Irving Weinberg
John Bennes	...	Ted Silas
Linda Pierce	...	Mary Kuron
Olek Krupa	...	Tom Kuron
Marty Terry	...	Mrs. Adams
Ed Grady	...	Editor, Geoff McBain (as Ed L. Grady)
Jon Thompson	...	Jack Callow
Helen Baldwin	...	Eva Callow
Darla N. Warner	...	Shirley Harley
Christopher L. Gray	...	Choirmaster
Lucy Williams	...	Choirlady

Runtime:

103 min | Argentina:95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-15 (new rating: 2001) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

North Carolina, USA

Company:

Goldcrest Films International

Quotes:

Martha Travis: Men lie with me, not to me!

Movie Connections:

Features White Heat (1949)

Soundtrack:

HE'S SO WONDERFUL

"We steal when we touch tomorrow..."

Saying that Black Rainbow is one of its director's best films doesn't sound much of a compliment when you're talking about a man whose résumé includes Morons From Outer Space and not one but two Clive Owen stinkers even if it is true. Mike Hodges' reputation these days rests solely on a gangster movie he made 35 years ago, and the fact that his subsequent efforts have either been too clinical to work (The Terminal Man), too flawed to completely satisfy (Pulp]), outright awful (A Prayer for the Dying) or saw him fired early in production (Damien: Omen II) has done little to deter labelling him as a one-hit wonder. True to his run of luck, this neat little supernatural thriller was barely released, going straight to cable in the US and getting caught up in a distribution scandal in the UK, where Palace tried to get copies into video stores (selling it as virtual soft porn, believe it or not!) before the film even opened theatrically.

It's that old chestnut, the medium who sees too much – in this case getting messages from dead people who haven't died yet - and puts her life in danger, but it's rarely been done this well. Starting off as a sort of Emily Gantry as written by Eugene O'Neill (with Jason Robards playing another of his drunken pater familiases), it offers Rosanna Arquette her best role, and she certainly rises to the challenge. The premonition scenes carry a real frisson, there are neat humanising touches (the hit-man for once has a family life and can't get a decent seat on an airplane) and Hodges' dialogue is surprisingly good. But what really caries it is the characterisation: these are all believably damaged people clinging onto any tenuous hope they can find, be it religion or the bottle, to prevent taking a good look at themselves – as one bereaved character puts it, "Maybe if we weren't so bothered about the hereafter we'd pay more attention to the here and now." There has to be a catch, and there is: the Curse of Hodges has struck again with Anchor Bay's R2 DVD, which has a good collection of extras but a poor transfer with lots of ghosting and poor detail in long shots (the previous video and laserdisc issues from Tartan and Encore were much better).