MovieChat Forums > Psycho (1960) Discussion > Not Quite OT: "Unhinged"....At the Movi...

Not Quite OT: "Unhinged"....At the Movie Theater

posted 4 years ago by ecarle (14979)
13 replies | jump to latest

One of the weird effects of this terrible 2020 to me is that the first two months(January and February) BEFORE the COVID crisis hit seem like a long, long, LONG time ago. Another era.

I'm one to go to the movie theater for my movies, still, as much as I can, and even at "my age"(an older demographic.)

But that all ended back in early March, when I saw a "March type movie"(studio medium budget) called "The Invisible Man."

It was the last movie that I saw in a theater and I'd come to wonder if I'd EVER return to a theater again. At least in the next two years.

Indeed, as I maintain a "personal list" of my "favorite movie of each year" -- I decided that if I never got back in a theater in 2020, "The Invisible Man" would win by default, with an asterisk. I mean, it was certainly a thrilling ENOUGH movie, with a truly great shocker scene in the middle of the movie that homaged one great Hitchcock murder(not in Psycho) and made the "invisible man" context terrifying.

Well, I've gone back to a movie theater since then -- this last week . The same theater at which I saw "The Invisble Man" and with a some of the same personnel there to greet me. It was "the same but different."

The cavernous main lobby was...near empty. There was popcorn...I took that risk. (As Sean Connery says before riding into battle in The Untouchables, "Aw, hell...we're all gonna die of SOMETHING") The theater itself was roped off social distancing(seats and rows) and I think there were maybe 8 of us in there.

The meager two trailers shown were for very "minor league" movies and I felt this about both of them: I literally couldn't tell what the plot was of either movie. I said to my companion, "so only incoherent low budget films will be shown for awhile?" Honestly, a trailer is supposed to "tell the story" so you come in.

Our "new release choices" seemed to be The New Mutants(no way), Nolan's "Tenet"(maybe later, sounds too long and complicated for "right now") and the one we picked -- Russell Crowe in "Unhinged." I'd read enough going into this that I knew "Unhinged" was a "little" movie , likely intended for fall or spring release, thrust into visibility as the first major movie(Crowe makes it major) put out in the time of pandemic. Its a thriller(what better item to put out there? Hitchcock made his zillions there.) Short, grim, tight, BASIC.

I'll keep the spoilers minor, but the premise(shown in its trailers) is fairly straightforward:

A newly divorced mother, driving late and in bumper to bumper traffic with her pre-teen son, honks her horn loudly at the truck ahead for her when the truck doesn't move forward on the green. Both vehicles drive forward, but get stuck in more traffic. Side by side.

Now, you don't want to be side by side with the driver who you just honked at(or flipped off), so there is identifiable discomfort when that happens.

The driver of the truck is Russell Crowe -- bearded, huge and menacing in this film. And what the female driver(our protagonist) doesn't know is that Crowe has just very brutally killed his ex-wife and her new man(lover? husband?) and is...a psycho.

Yep, there it is. A connection of sorts. Crowe isn't just a disgruntled man or an angry man or a suicidal man. He's a homicidal man, and not only is there no reasoning with them, he's one of those psychos who keeps killing people and blaming someone else for the murders("YOU killed this person!" Crowe snarls to our heroine on more than one occasion.)

The "Psycho" connection is also that "inverse connection" so famous these years. The violence in "Psycho" -- so historic and "gory" 60 years ago, is nothing compared to what we get nowadays. I was a bit shocked to see "Unhinged" head past "Psycho" violence and into "Friday the 13th" bladed gore. All the moreso given that Russell Crowe is a winner of the Best Actor Oscar (Gladiator), appeared in two Best Pictures back to back(Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind) and is also in HIS Best Picture(and Kevin Spacey's, and Guy Pearce's, and James Cromwell's...and Kim Basinger's...LA Confidential.)

Yes, Mr. Crowe was very hot, hot, hot in the late 90s and early 2000's. But 20 years is a long time in the movie biz.

So here is that Best Actor killing people ala Michael Myers or Jason or Freddy Krueger -- though not, alas, with the restrained stylization of Norman Bates circa 1960. (Circa Psycho II? Yes, its like that. But worse.)

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

And this needs to be said. Russell Crowe was surprisingly beefy a few years ago in the action comedy "The Nice Guys," but now a few years later, it can be said that he's moved all the way to very obese. One critic wondered if it was a fat suit, but there's no real reason for the character to be obese...I think Mr. Crowe just couldn't keep the pounds off.

For those of us who struggle with the pounds, its perhaps hypocritical to take notice when our movie stars become overweight. But the thing of it is, our leading men generally -- as part of their high-paying "movie star deal" -- are usually supposed to be more fit than the average male. Think about John Gavin with his shirt off at the beginning of Psycho -- or how razor-thin Anthony Perkins is in the film. Even a 40-year old Martin Balsam(fairly young in his career) in Psycho was fairly trim in his suit and tie. Meanwhile, stars from James Stewart to Cary Grant to Paul Newman to Clint Eastwood to Al Pacino to Brad Pitt have generally stayed trim.

Russell Crowe in "Unhinged" joins Marlon Brando, late-era Jack Nicholson, and John Travolta among our once-svelte leading men who got heavy. Its a small club...these men kept their stardom by relying on their voices, an emphasis on close-ups, and their remaining star charisma to carry them through.

Crowe does something extra in "Unhinged": he uses his new heaviness to convey both his madness and his psychopathic power. This character has come undone mentally and physically and is now on a mission to kill everybody who "done him wrong" or is connected to those who have. Its a legitimately terrifying and out of control performance by a man whose star past is still conveyed in how terrifying he is here(and never pathetic...we never feel sympathy for this guy.)

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

All movies, it seems , have their forbears these days, and for "Unhinged" it is a mix of Spielberg's TV movie "Duel" (where the psychotic truck driver stalking Dennis Weaver was never really seen) and "Falling Down"(where Michael Douglas' middle-aged white engineer loses his marriage and his job and slowly goes vengefully mad -- though not as a psychopath and not lethally til the very end and against a 'killable victim." Here, Crowe kills innocents.)

I was also reminded of a similarly "basic" grim thriller of a few years back with Halle Berry called "Kidnap," where her boy is kidnapped and the rest of the movie(as short as "Unhinged") is one big long car chase with people getting killed along the way.

Berry's mother in "Kidnap" is roughly the non-star mother in "Unhinged" and both mothers get Arnold-like zingers before getting revenge(Berry's was "You took the wrong kid," this new mom in "Unhinged" gets one more plot specific.)

BTW, Russell Crowe has a name and a star career behind him, but I had no idea who anyone in the rest of the "Unhinged" cast was, starting with the important role of the "stalked mother." Crowe here is a perversely "the star attached to the project." Its all his.

Thought in passing: if going to a movie theater is still "risking one's life"...why risk it on "Unhinged," a movie that was meant to come and go and leave(though the producers swear it was never intended to go straight to video.) I could see risking life for last year's QT and Scorsese offerings. Or for LA Confidential. Or for Psycho(which is playing in theaters in October, too -- but sold out where I live.)

But "Unhinged?" Well, someone else wanted to get out of the house. I couldn't be a coward. I think I'll be fine.

But if something DOES go wrong...I think I'll have a big laugh that "Unhinged" was the movie that did it. A good ironic laugh.

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

PS. Another reason that "Unhinged" reminded me of "Kidnap" is that both turn out to have been filmed, for tax reasons, in Louisiana, near New Orleans. The difference: "Kidnap" TELLS us that, and moves the action to the Bayou country with the Cajun accents, etc. "Unhinged" never tells us where we are. I had to look it up...even as I felt the movie FELT like "Kidnap."

PPS. "The Invisble Man" holds as my favorite movie of 2020(I've seen three in theaters, including The Gentlemen, The Invisible Man, and Unhinged.) But I must admit that "Unhinged" has a scene that rather matches up with that stunning shocker in the middle of "The Invisible Man." Its like somebody got the same idea at the same time. The scene in "Unhinged" is telegraphed ahead and more "sick." But...same concept.

[–] jay440 (107) 4 years ago

[–] swanstep (2715) 4 years ago

The cavernous main lobby was...near empty....The theater itself was roped off social distancing(seats and rows) and I think there were maybe 8 of us in there.

Gawd. There's no conceivable business model for cinemas under these conditions. :( There are so many sectors of the economy that are supposedly open now but there's still no business case for them in the conceivable future. Scary.

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

Indeed it is.

I had a couple of thoughts about that.

One is that "Unhinged" could POSSIBLY turn a profit(regardless of value; its a gory potboiler with the bizarre use of a once-fine star) because it only cost $33 million to make...and IF it plays for MONTHS.

This USED to BE a business model in the 60's, as I recall. In the Los Angeles area, a movie might start on one or two "reserved seat" screens in Hollywood (like Graumann's Chinese or the Cinerama Dome), then move out to 20 flagship theaters, then branch out to "a theater or drive-in near you" and -- if people were patient enough to wait MONTHS for the movie to reach them, within about a year, money was made.

But truly , that was only for flagship movies. Movies like The Birds, Marnie and Torn Curtain(Hitchcock's "mid-decade stuff") played out in a few weeks "at a theater or drive-in near you."

Wonder Woman II moved from June...to August...to October...and now to Christmas. The idea of trying to play a "big one" like that under the limited conditions I encountered with "Unhinged" is...still negligible. And I'm afraid that government is suggesting that the winter is no time to "open up." I'm honestly not sure why Hollywood doesn't "throw in the towel, get some loans and just move their entire slate to 2021 . I do realize that movie theaters can only stay dormant for so long, and that $100 million movies cost money to "leave in the vault," but...what other real choice do they have?

Meanwhile, I see that some fall film festivals are trying to launch and give some movies some awards. "Nomadland" with
Frances McDormand, for one. But honestly, what kind of REAL Oscar season awaits in 2020?

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

About my theater experience: I should clarify that "8 of us" were in the theater for our one movie(Unhinged.) I saw about 30 people in the lobby and I figure that SOME of the theaters screen rooms(not all were open) had other people in them. Still..not a lot. 60 in the whole complex, maybe?

Movie theaters...like restaurants...are going for the "1/3 income has got to be enough" model for now. I don't know if they will make it.

All that said, I felt good to be at my local theater. I don't much see "full house at night" movies anymore(let alone with everybody screaming ala "Psycho")...I go to matinees...so honestly this wasn't much different than it used to be, and it was nice to see a movie on a really big screen("Unhinged" has some car chase/car crash action that plays well on the big screen.) The issue, I suppose, was the movie itself. I dunno, maybe I would have seen "Unhinged" had it been among the general movie releases of a regular year(I'm a sucker for thrillers and action, if not horror), but I felt I was it was something less than the movies should be.

Its a double whammy: the theaters aren't as full as they can be, and the movies they are playing right now aren't the best they can be.

"We shall endeavor to overcome."

[–] swanstep (2715) 4 years ago

I guess that now might be a good time for me to give my report on recent releases that I've streamed:

Bill & Ted 3 (forget which streamer): Did little for me I'm afraid. Felt particularly terrible that Bill and Ted's daughters repeated the 'collect figures from the past' post point from 1st movie only for the figures so collected to play no role in the climax of the film - it was 'everybody in the world playing together' that was key. Beyond this, a lot of the rest of the film also felt padded out to me. No major laughs.

Greyhound (on Apple+, a poor service to which I got a free subscription after buying a new iPad) - simple but decent WW2, Battle of the Atlantic/Uboats ahoy film starring & written by Tom Hanks. Amazingly seamless sfx work probably would have been great on the big screen... could have been one of those out-of-the-blue, vaguely patriotic big hits like American Sniper. Oh well.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix): Charlie Kaufman gives us another installment of his ongoing essays in depression and disappointment. It's a bit of a mess at least on first viewing, but I liked it & was never bored (I guess I share a lot of Kaufman's deep fears, but if you don't then everything since Synecdoche NY from Kaufman is going to feel indulgent & even hysterical - your mileage *will* vary) . At any rate, a lot of people have been driven round the bend by ITOET, but not me. Would be a flawed but still top 20-ish movie for me in a normal year.

Eurovision the story of Fire Saga (Netflix): very silly Will Ferrell film that nonetheless has 4 or 5 big laughs and a killer musical climax that sends you away happy (and forgetting that you groaned through a lot of it). Good mixed company, social film I'd say.

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

I guess that now might be a good time for me to give my report on recent releases that I've streamed:

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You're keeping up better on the "new streaming product" than I am, swanstep. Good report. For me, I'm still not sure I'm willing to pay for these movies on my TV separate of what I'm already paying. And with the Tom Hanks movie, I'd have to subscribe to Apple to get it. I don't want to yet. (But someday, Apple will play the next Scorsese flim -- Killers of the Osage Moon -- so maybe I will.)

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Bill & Ted 3 (forget which streamer): Did little for me I'm afraid. Felt particularly terrible that Bill and Ted's daughters repeated the 'collect figures from the past' post point from 1st movie only for the figures so collected to play no role in the climax of the film - it was 'everybody in the world playing together' that was key. Beyond this, a lot of the rest of the film also felt padded out to me. No major laughs.

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Of the originals, I recall them starting the unfortunate "whoa!" take on Keanu Reeves -- he had to make everything from The Matrix to John Wick to live that down. And yet, the "Bill and Ted" movies, were extremely "nice," and Reeves was nice in them.

As I mentioned elsewhere, to me the demoralizing aspect is that Keanu without his beard looks a bit old and haggard.

Meanwhile: Bill and Ted. Keanu and Alex Winter. Keanu rose to near superstardom; Winter did not. Nice to see them back together , though. (Similar: Tom Hanks and that other guy who was on "Bosom Buddies" with him. That's gotta HURT.

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

Greyhound (on Apple+, a poor service to which I got a free subscription after buying a new iPad) - simple but decent WW2, Battle of the Atlantic/Uboats ahoy film starring & written by Tom Hanks. Amazingly seamless sfx work probably would have been great on the big screen... could have been one of those out-of-the-blue, vaguely patriotic big hits like American Sniper. Oh well.

--

I saw trailers for Greyhound back in early 2020 before COVID hit(it was to be a summer release) and I recall thinking: "It doesn't really look like a summer blockbuster." Hanks remains a "secure star"(those back-to-back Oscars did it), but not necessarily a high-grossing one, in his 60's. I expect that "the powers that be" (including Hanks) figured: "This wasn't necessarily going to be a big summer hit-- lets sell it to streaming and make some money now." I think Hanks is in the ironic position of making HUGE money personally to OK selling this movie to a streaming service where it won't much be seen.

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix): Charlie Kaufman gives us another installment of his ongoing essays in depression and disappointment.

--

"Holiday fun for the entire family!".

Heh.

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It's a bit of a mess at least on first viewing, but I liked it & was never bored (I guess I share a lot of Kaufman's deep fears, but if you don't then everything since Synecdoche NY from Kaufman is going to feel indulgent & even hysterical - your mileage *will* vary) . At any rate, a lot of people have been driven round the bend by ITOET, but not me. Would be a flawed but still top 20-ish movie for me in a normal year.

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Hmm. With Kaufman, I saw "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation" first run. I had a more "adventuresome" movie companion back then and I saw a lot of indie/experimental stuff. I liked both films, but realized what an acquired taste he was. I finally saw "Eternal Sunshine" on streaming this year and "got the vibe." Do I LOVE the vibe? No. Do I ADMIRE Kaufman? YES. He certainly is managing to get a very unique vision out there. I'll likely see the Hoffman film eventually. Maybe soon. And then...Synecdoche. And maybe this new one. (Honestly, is this a "good time" for such depressing material.)

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

Eurovision the story of Fire Saga (Netflix): very silly Will Ferrell film that nonetheless has 4 or 5 big laughs and a killer musical climax that sends you away happy (and forgetting that you groaned through a lot of it). Good mixed company, social film I'd say.

--

Hmm. The fascinating wonder that is the career of Will Ferrell. Way back in the beginning, "at the movies," I pegged Ferrell as another Jim Carrey -- "a comedy star for children and pre-teens" who would fade as his audience grew up. And that happened to some extent. Ferrell isn't really the big draw he once was. But...he'll likely forever now that streaming pays "names" to do their movies. He also does "notable" indies.

Surfing TV the other night, I came upon a very weird Ferrell vehicle -- "Casa de mi Padre" (or some such)...s Spanish language spoof of "Telenova" melodrama in which Ferrell speaks Spanish for the entire film(along with the rest of the cast.) Does Ferrell know Spanish? Did he have cue cards? I dunno. Weird experiment, though. Maybe it was "Netflix only."

--

It is a difficult time for movie going. Take the risk and go to the theater -- there's not much out there("Unhinged is no classic.) Stay home and watch the TV, well...its TV.

I have found this compromise: watch older movies on TV that i can REMEMBER seeing in theaters. That way they feel like "the real deal" in movies.

[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

Your description of Unhinged reminds me of the 80s Rutger Hauer road thriller The Hitcher, where the pretty blonde lead, Jennifer Jason Leigh, is, like in Psycho, SPOILER brutally killed before the end of the film. She is tied between two trucks and then pulled apart when Rutger, in one of the trucks, releases the clutch.

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I've never seen "The Hitcher," but I've read of it -- and of the gruesome detail you offer above, plus the plot points below:

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He plays a homicidal maniac who is also suicidal, willing to take any risks, including entering a police station and killing the officers to unlock the cell holding lead actor C. Thomas Howell, who, in a Wrong Man situation, framed by Rutger, is thought by the police to be the killer-on-the-loose.

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With a "wrong man" plot(thanks Hitch), there is suspense as other folks don't know who the REAL killer is. "Unhinged" is one of those movies where Crowe keeps revealing himself as evil and murderous everywhere he goes, so there is not that kind of suspense. The suspense lies in stopping him before he can kill more innocent victims.

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Bonus Psycho connection to Unhinged for one word title that means insane. Drink!

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Cheers.

As I like to say "Psycho" could have been called "Frenzy" and "Frenzy" could have been called "Psycho."

I suppose it would be fun to make up a list of all the "psycho" titles out there in movie history. Homicidal comes to mind. As does Deranged. I think there is one called Maniac. Strait-Jacket conjures up a vision of psycho madness. As does "Berserk." (Both Strait-Jacket and Berserk were Joan Crawford films.)

Any others?