MovieChat Forums > Tenebre (1984) Discussion > the whole movie confused me!

the whole movie confused me!

posted 16 years ago by krazyhippie
9 replies | jump to latest

Maybe because it felt so slow and I began paying less attention...but by the time the ending came and all was revealed, I didn't understand what was happening. What I got from it is that there WAS a killer killing based on scenes in the book, but then the writer himself used that to hide him killing his fiance and her lover? But then after that I'm lost. It seems like extra people started coming out and killing people and I didn't know why or who they were. (I'm not clear on everyone's names so that's not so helpful either.)

[–] chrisasiama 16 years ago

The original killer would murder someone and then stuff pages from the book in their mouth. He only killed people he considered to be sexually deviant or perverted in some way, he was obviously bonkers! Peter Neal killed a girl when he was a young man but he got away with it and the crime was never solved. The brutal slayings that take place in the film reawaken Peter Neal's appetite for murder, he then kills Bertie (the original killer) and takes over where he left off. This confounds the police inspector who famously states that "someone who should be dead is alive, and someone who should be alive is dead" or something like that.

So Tenebre actually has two killers not one. Bertie was the first and then Peter Neal took over.

[–] Steamcarrot 16 years ago

Neal also uses the previous murders to cover up his planned murder of his wife and agent who he knows are having an affair.

[–] chrisasiama 16 years ago

^ True, I'd forgotten about that.

[–] lenlarga 15 years ago

But that doesn't make any sense since he does not kill his agent and wife until after he kills the original killer.

[–] Steamcarrot 14 years ago

And therefore the original killer wouldn't be able to say that he didn't kill Peter's wife and agent.

[–] The_Coma-Man 14 years ago

But didn't he... NOT care about what his wife did?

And what was this... laboratory(?) scene? And who was the girl he killed?
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[–] Alfabeta 13 years ago

Obviously he lied that he didn't and when he found out who the lover was, he felt betrayed.

The laboratory scene? You mean the original killer's basement? He developed his "trophy" photos and made death notes to the writer there.

Which girl? The one from the flashbacks was a girlfriend from his past who also betrayed him and humiliated him and drove him insane (or "unsane").

[–] Alfabeta 13 years ago

You're right. Either he just wanted to buy more time so he can despose of his ex and her lover, or he got into the cat and mouse game with the killer so much that it turned him into his own character (all obstacles should be annihilated). Or both.

[–] 13 years ago

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