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• The Reflecting Skin (1990)
  Starring: Viggo Mortensen,  Lindsay Duncan,  Jeremy Cooper
  Director: Philip Ridley
  Certificate:
  With the ongoing popularity of Viggo Mortensen it is surprising that there is still no DVD release for Philip Ridley's beautiful The Reflecting Skin. I saw this film in a near deserted London cinema back in the early 90s and was blown away by Ridley's portentous vision of childhood in the American mid-west. The film was not well received on release as it came at a time when the phrase 'Lynchian' was becoming damning praise (just as Tarantino-esque covered a multitude a sins and poorly conceived films in the mid-90s) and director Ridley (now best known for his childrens books) only made one more film, The Passion of Darkly Noon.
  
  I make no excuses - I LOVE this film. Its one of my favourite films of all time and really does deserve reviving. The film follows Seth Dove (yes, Ridley likes his symbols) a child with a strict, domineering mother and 'weak' father who harbours a secret in his past. When a new woman moves into town Seth becomes convinced that she is a vampire and is horrified when his brother returns from war only to strike up a friendship with the woman.
  
  Against, a backdrop of the American prairies Ridley creates a film that drifts somewhere in the hinterland of the imagaination; a childs eye view of a cruel world stalked by vampires, heartbreak, death and a growing realisation of the horrors that underpin our very existence. The final scene where the child screamingly understands the reality of mortality is terrible and raw and I recall hearing the only other person in that near empty cinema 15 years ago crying uncontrollably at this closing scene. It seems that not many people saw this film and even fewer liked it, but, I think that those who did like it cherish it as a personal, little-known, favourite   5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
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