Rhapsodies

This week, on a friend suggestion (that I have some regrets about) I decided to watch films about cannibals.

The first film on my list, Paul Bartel’s Eating Raoul, tells the story of Paul and Mary Bland  (Bartel and Mary Woronov) a nice,  straight-laced couple, living in 80s Hollywood at its worst. They dream of moving out of their apartment full of degenerate swingers and start their own restaurant. The problem is they’re broke and Paul has a hard time holding any job whatsoever due to his high standards, (which includes refusing to sell  some cheap plonk his boss needs to move six boxes of.) 

Fortunately, an accidental murder leads them to a new source of revenue. Masquerading as sex workers to trap and kill rich swingers for their money. They are soon joined by a charming thief named Raoul (Robert Beltran) who helps them earn more of a profit and get rid of the bodies. What could possibly go wrong?

This is another one of those films I knew by name for years, though it was definitely not the film I thought it was. At the time I did not realize that the title was literal. I always assumed it was something on the line of my Dinner with Andre. 

The humor is dry in the dark, and good solid performances from all the cast members, along with some very witty cameos. Of which the funniest being the character Doris the Dominitrix, (Susan Saiger) who’s a total sweetheart when she’s off the clock and a porn store owner who takes his work way too seriously. 

The next on my list, Parents takes us back to the kinder gentler time of the mid-50s. Ten-year-old Michael Laemle and his parents Randy Quaid and Mary Beth Hurt are moving to a brand new neighborhood.  He’s nervous of course and because of the hardships of a new home, a new school and catching his parents having sex he’s started to have nightmares.   Also, he ’s beginning to have some suspicions about where all the good food his mom is cooking is coming from.  

I’m not sure what to make of this film. It works best when it is from Micheal’s point of view and when we are not sure of what of what is real and what is childhood neuroses. However, it does a very good job of showing 50s mindset and Randy Quaid is terrifying as what is essentially the darker side of Ward Cleaver