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Dennis Spider Clegg (Ralph Fiennes), a highly disoriented man
who has just been released from an asylum (which the audience doesn't
learn until much later) takes a room at a pension in the Eastend, just
round the corner where he spent his childhood. And once there, he finally
manages to remember his childhood.
He remembers about his father, Billie the plumber (Gabriel Byrne), who
wasn't only drunk most of the time but also had his violent streaks, and
of course he mistreated Spider's mom (Miranda Richardson), who was of
course an angel, and even cheated on her, most prominently with the
prostitute Yvonne (also Miranda Richardson).
Eventually, mommy cought daddy cheating, so daddy and Yvonne killed
mommy and buried her - and only Spider knows wehre. Then Yvonne moves in
with daddy and Spider right away, only Spider won't accept her, and
eventually he accuses daddy and Yvonne of murdering his mom ...
Thing is though, Spider does remember a whole lot of things he wasn't
present at, so all of this might be just his fantasy, to block out what
has really happened: Spider built a trap for Yvonne - who actually was his
real mom who ust failed to be the angel whom he wanted her to be - which
eventually would gas her once she turned on the oven ...
Spider realizes that just in time, as he has taken up his old habits
again and projected the picture of Yvonne the prostitute into Mrs
Wilkinson (Lynn Redgrave), the owner of the pension he's staying at, and
whom he already made preparations to kill as well.
The end sees Spider go back to the asylum, all but cured ...
A deliberately slow-moving yet chilling, quiet but disquieting little
spooker that tells its story from the mind of its - mad - protagonist and
turns what could have been a dull psychothriller into an interesting and
unusual murder mystery. That direction, sets and all performances are
flawless of course doesn't hurt either. It might be a far cry from the body
horror David Cronenberg got famous with in the 1970's, but that
actually might be a good thing.
Recommendation.
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