A killer lurks in the dark corners of an odd little European town--a mysterious stranger who brutally strangles his victims. When the circus comes to visit, the madman steps up his pace, commencing a ghastly murder spree. Meanwhile, a nondescript local man named Kleinman finds himself accused of the crimes by an angry mob. And .. Read more
| Starring | Woody Allen, Kathy Bates, John Cusack, Mia Farrow |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Genres | Drama |
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A killer lurks in the dark corners of an odd little European town--a mysterious stranger who brutally strangles his victims. When the circus comes to visit, the madman steps up his pace, commencing a ghastly murder spree. Meanwhile, a nondescript local man named Kleinman finds himself accused of the crimes by an angry mob. And every effort Kleinman makes to clear himself ends up making him look more and more guilty. Woody Allen's black-and-white mood piece is dark and eerie and very funny, with new twists and turns lurking behind each shadow. Once again he has amassed a stellar, eclectic cast, including John Cusack, Kathy Bates, Jodie Foster, Donald Pleasence, John Malkovich, Fred Gwynne, Lily Tomlin, and Madonna, among others.
| Starring | Woody Allen, Kathy Bates, John Cusack, Mia Farrow, Jodie Foster, Fred Gwynne, Julie Kavner, Madonna, John Malkovich, Kenneth Mars, Kate Nelligan, Donald Pleasence, Lily Tomlin |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 22 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | English |
| Dubbed | French, German, Spanish |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | Danish, Dutch, English, French, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish |
| Released | DVD: 15 Apr 2002 Production year: 1992 |
| Format | DVD |
Reworking his 1972 one-act play Death, Woody Allen originally intended this esoteric drama to be a homage to German Expressionism. However, he dropped the oblique-angled sets in favour of a look owing more to Universal's pre-war horror movies and, thus, deprived an already slight premise of some visual power. As the nobody who is co-opted into the search for a strangler in an eastern European town, Allen is typically twitchy amid a galaxy of guest stars, including John Malkovich, Madonna and Jodie Foster. Short on humour, perhaps, but this curio is laced with ideas that took on a new relevance when news broke of his split with co-star Mia Farrow.
An inconclusive charade for celebrity guests, Allen's film - made before Husbands and Wives - will add to the general... read more on Time Out
I like Woody Allen, and I like Ingmar Bergman, but Woody trying to spoof Ingmar??? Didn't work for me - felt sorry for John Malkovitch having to deliver lines as bad as that. Mia Farrow is a pill as usual and I have no idea what John Cusack was thinking of! 2 good things in it - the famous actresses as tarts and the well poisoning joke - otherwise (as its against my principles to bail out in the middle) I just couldn't help wishing it would end so I could go and do something more interesting.
I like Woody Allen, and I like Ingmar Bergman, but Woody trying to spoof Ingmar??? Didn't work for me - felt sorry for John Malkovitch having to deliver lines as bad as that. Mia Farrow is a pill as usual and I have no idea what John Cusack was thinking of! 2 good things in it - the famous actresses as tarts and the well poisoning joke - otherwise (as its against my principles to bail out in the middle) I just couldn't help wishing it would end so I could go and do something more interesting.
He's made (at least!) a film a year since 1970, a record that's all the more remarkable when you realise that he's written and directed all of them, and starred in most. They include some of the best-loved and most quoted comedies in cinema history: Annie Hall, Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters take some beating, and that's to ignore "the early, funny ones" (Sleeper, Love and Death, Bananas); the lovely miniatures from what I consider his finest period (the early 80s gave us Broadway Danny... Read more