CPF Recommends: Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- First in a series of videos promoting films that have been unfairly overlooked in recent years, this video presents Peter Jackson's 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, and why you should see it.
"underrated" is an overrated term
Thoroughly. I don't know which word I'm more sick of, "underrated" or "gaslighting," which people seem to think is a synonym for lying, as opposed to a very specific KIND of lying.
Yes. Thank you. We need more videos on movies that deserve a spotlight.
I do see them occasionally, but not nearly often enough. People seem to talk about the same films over and over.
@1:34 For me this movie showed that Jackson would understand LoTR, but "The Frighteners" sold me because that proved he could handle a large budget movie.
I watched this when it was released in the 90s. It definitely stayed with me. Beautifully terrifying.
I live in Christchurch and, for a few years, rented a flat in a house a few doors down from the real life Parker home on Gloucester St. (which had also been developed into rental accomodation - while my old address was demolished following the 2011 earthquake, the old Parker house still stands today). I had the privilege of seeing a premiere screening of the film as part of a film festival at the Regent Cinema in Cathedral Square, attended by Jackson, (who gave a short introduction before the screening), which left me giddily comparing it to the likes of Scorsese. At the time people doubted Jackson could pull off such a serious dramatic story but I trusted that he had demonstrated a brilliance for inventive visual storytelling and I think ultimately that determines how good a film is, whatever genre.
A few months later the film went on general release in a slightly edited version and I went to a poorly attended screening and had a completely different reaction to it; second time around it seemed heavy-handed and almost tastelessly over the top, milking the comedic moments and indulging in the lurid fantasy sequences. I left that screening shaking my head at how differently the film affected me; I have always taken pride in my indepence of thought and never felt that the reactions of an audience or critical reputation ever infuenced my opinions of a film but, how else could I explain this?
A few weeks later, the film had found its audience and was doing well, accumulating positive word of mouth. Out of curiosity, I decided to try it again and was amazed to (re)discover the tragic wonder of the film; the tasteless excesses and mocking tone now seemed entirely consistant with the teenage girls' melodramatic view of their world, the "indulgent" flights of fantasy revealed and revelled in the essential escapism of their collective psychosis (a folie a deux). The film made dramatic sense again and this time I left amazed at how my perceptions had been changed once again. There have been other films whose appreciation of which have either grown or diminished for me with successive viewings but never like this, and never so dramatically!
I think it's still Jackson's best film.
I've never had a reaction like that to a film as far as I can recall, but I did have that kind of reaction to an album once. The first couple of times I listened to it, it struck me as really creative and interesting, with lots of different parts in each song. And then, about the fourth listen in, it struck me right out of the blue how insufferably angsty and melodramatic the whole thing was, and that was the last time I ever listened to it. It's like I was so taken with the technical proficiency that I missed how goddamned whiny it all was.
I'm always happy to see when you upload new videos. And I'm so glad you covered Heavenly Creatures!
Matt, were you in Killer Klowns from Outer Space? There is an extra there that looks just like you. Honest question. Love your videos BTW
Definitely not...I've never been in anything I didn't make myself.
Matt, I cannot believe I've never seen this movie. The clips evoke genuine dread, horror, and towering despair. Thank you! Hope you're doing well.
Great overview. I'm also shocked that there isn't a bluray rerelease.
I wonder if the fact that stores like Best Buy aren't even carrying them anymore is making the studios slack about bothering.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks There is likely some truth to that. Many companies have spent the last five or ten years telling us we don't need physical media any more so they can rent us all the things we used to own.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks The Barnes & Noble location nearest to my place still has a multimedia section upstairs that serves as a painful reminder of how far physical media has fallen. The entire is section is mostly empty with various sale clearance items like unpopular books and candles and small stuffed animals on the shelves that once held CDs, DVDs, and Blu Rays with only the back wall having any DVDs or Blu Rays but it's 90% empty.
I went up to the comically small selection of movies at the end of a very long empty shelf thinking that they would just be old stock that hadn't sold yet but I was surprised to see most of them were newer films with a few popular classics. This tiny selection wasn't some forgotten leftover display, it was just the small amount that they chose to keep in stock on that huge empty shelf upstairs at the back of the store.
If they think people like me are just going to subscribe to all of their streaming platforms so I can keep paying to re-watch things, they've got a surprise ahead of them. Pirate Bay still exists, and I don't have the least problem with stealing something they refuse to legitimately sell.
Awesome. If it's a rec from you I know it will be LIT. Imma check it out before I watch the vid tho.
just finished it, great film. now to watch the video! thanks CPF i dont know why, but this film made me think if Donnie Darko and Picnic at Hanging Rock got merged into one movie.
Prior to the initial release of Heavenly Creatures, both women were living new lives under assumed names. But the film stirred up interest in the case which led to both of their identities being discovered. Jackson probably didn't intend for this to happen and regretted it. I've often wondered if this is why he's allowed the film to remain out of print-to give them as much privacy as possible in their remaining years. Anne Perry (Juliet) passed away last year, but I believe Pauline is still alive.
I really love this movie. So dynamic and personal. I was fortunate that a friend who worked in theater wrote a play in 2006 that serves as a sort of "fictional sequel" to Parker and Hulme's story, called "Where Are They Now?" by Cindy Williams. I saw a preview performance seated on the floor in a library, very close to the actresses and it was fantastic
Great film I was hoping The Lovely Bones would have this tone but it didn't, I wish Jackson would make a few more films like this.
I remember stumbling upon this film on tv as a teenager, got completely sucked in and then the murder scene chilling me to the bone.
Great to see new post. Film now on my list. I agree with your view about making murder as awful as it is. My take is violence in films isn't violent enough: shoot someone and they seem to be napping, not twitching and rolling about taking half hour to horribly die... Thanks again
I too love this film, and other early Jackson films, and similarly had hope when I heard he was doing LOTR largely based on what I'd seen in Heavenly Creatures. When trying to talk to people about it, it seems they either haven't seen it, or think they've heard of it, but the person who has actually seen it seems rare.
Great video. Would absolutely love if you covered Primer & Forbidden Planet in detail, they're incredible films.
great to have a new video from you, and hopefully more soon! thanks so much for starting out by calling out the distinction of "underrated" and "overlooked" - that too has driven me crazy for years and it's thrown around so easily, often just to get cheap "likes" for whatever reason.
Thank you for this. I like to think of myself as fairly well versed in film history, and I’m a fan of Jackson’s work - despite all that, Heavenly Creatures completely flew under my radar. Time to rectify that.
Should have replied to this earlier, but have you seen Forgotten Silver? That's a really obscure one he did in the late 90s, but it's well worth checking out, though more than any other film I can think of, it's better if you go in completely blind.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks No I haven’t - that’s another one I’ve never even heard of. I’m gonna track down a copy, and per your recommendation I won’t do any research on it beforehand
Just across the sea in Adelaide, South Australia we have a home production of a visceral film based on a series of murders in the 90s called Snowtown, you may or may not know of it but I would say it's a worthy mention
I started watching your video and stopped right away to watch the movie first, as I’ve never heard of it. So thanks for discovery!
You're incredible. Please don't stop doing these vids!
Peter Jackson really needs to make his earlier works more easily accessible
I'm not sure how much control directors have over physical media. Obviously, the lack of extras was something he could have addressed, but I don't know how much he can do about availability and pricing for existing discs.
Yeah, I couldn't say I know the extent directors have to do with physical media. It just seems like he would have a bit more pull than other directors. Also, I guess hearing him mention that he wanted to do more with re-releasing his old films in interviews makes me wonder what the hold-up is.
And out of print prices are totally out of his contol I would bet.
Everything seems to take forever. Look how long it took The Abyss and True Lies to come out on blu-ray/4k. Hell, it's been two years since it was announced in the film press that Panic Room would be getting a hi-def release, and it's still not happened. The very idea of a David Fincher film not being available in hi-def is ridiculous.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Regarding Panic Room, there's an unofficial blu-ray release available on Spanish Amazon (same with True Lies). I have it and it looks fine. There's an official German blu-ray release of Heavenly Creatures available on German Amazon, but it's unclear whether it is region B only or region free. Fully agree with your argument; these films should be widely available and deserve to be watched. One of the imo best films of all time, The Shawshank Redemption, didn't make much fuzz when released theatrically. It was only when it was re-discovered on home media that it was rightfully elevated, gaining millions of new viewers - and fans.
Watched it for the first time a couple months ago, it was really good! Still have to finish watching Peter Jackson's filmography
One important one to look up is the aptly-titled Forgotten Silver. The less I say about it the better, but it's definitely worth a look.
Remains my favorite Jackson movie. The movie isn't accessible because the movie is disturbing, and one wonders if Jackson (and Kate Winslet, perhaps) are a little embarrassed by it, and would be fine if it sank into oblivion - after all, Jackson works with Sir Paul McCartney now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anyway, looking forward to more in your series!
I don't know why anyone would be embarrassed by such a brilliant film. I'd be happy if anything I ever made was this good.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks No clue, myself. Maybe Criterion will get ahold of it someday and then Jackson will take an interest in keeping it alive.
hypothetically wouldn't it be great if you could find this whole film by putting its title into the search bar of a major video server website hypothetically?
It would indeed...hypothetically, one might have even done just that for the copy used in this review, hypothetically, as one might have forked over too much money for a blu-ray that turned out to be damaged.
Added to my list. Thank you!
I saw your recommendation thumbnail and watched the movie before watching the video here. (Will most likely do that same with any other you suggest.) This was an utterly fantastic film. It kind of changed my impression of Peter Jackson as someone who knows how to properly focus his various passions very well as I thought the closest he got to doing something serious before Lord of the Rings was The Frighteners.
I can't help but wonder about The Lovely Bones after watching this. This movie is perfect evidence that he was the right director for such a dark and touchy subject yet I don't think that movie fairs nearly as well. I wonder if it has to do with so many studios and big names attaching themselves to his work post LOTR but not wanting to back something that risky to their reputations. As depressing as it would be to see an indie movie director getting devoured by the hollywood machine, I suppose it's a better alternative to believing he just lost the ability to navigate these kinds of stories.
Where were you able to see it? Numerous commenters have expressed frustration at not being able to stream it.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Definitely not in a way that's widely accessible. My sister had the DVD.
This movie sounds great but it being out of print is a bummer since I want a blu-ray version.
There's always Pirate Bay.
Happy to see a new upload from you ❤️
Finally. Hometown represent. Christchurch, NZ. I walked through that park where they "moidered Mother" so many times.
I'd say that that's wild, but I live in America, where no matter where you are, you're probably in a former murder site.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Yeah, see *that's* wild. Although, I suppose that every part of the globe where humans have an established, permanent, long-term presence is just chock full of weird history.
The worst part about being from Christchurch is, nowadays, it's associated with that insane racist who shot the place up. I guess we're not so different from the US after all. Not anymore!
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Up until the day of the massace, Christchurch still felt pretty innocent. Ofc it wasn't, not by any stretch of the imagination. There's a brutal legacy of violence, domination, and exploitation in New Zealand (thank you, British Empire) - but nobody had ever walked into a Church, Mosque, Temple, or Town Hall and opened up with a firearm. Alas, I worry that now we've had one, we'll have more.
TV news in the US must be kinda depressing?
For some reason I imagine you as an editor. Or producer? I don't know job titles in TV news.
I'm confused...your reply disappeared, so I deleted my response to yours so it wouldn't look like I was a crazy person talking to himself, but now yours is back, and now you look like the crazy guy talking to himself.
I'm an editor. Producers are the people whose job it is to make editors' jobs nearly impossible by communicating nothing about what they want and expecting us to us our ESP to figure it all out. I'm surprised more dogs don't go into producing.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks The AI is starting to wake up and clearly it doesn't like us.
Editing always sounded legit to me. I never understood what a TV Producer actually did. Thx for clarifying
Weird. You can’t find this to stream on Netflix or Amazon.
Yeah, it's sadly ridiculous how tricky it can be to find certain films these days.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks I checked other places like Tubi and so on. No luck.
Now I have a Descendents song stuck in my head. This happens to me. Milo goes to my head.
"But little do they know that one day I'll explode." It does kind of fit.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks It does. Except for the boy/toy part. Close enough, though. I never sing it right anyway. I always scream "air raid!" when he yells "Parents", for reasons that I cannot justify.
My mother, when she was younger, thought that the "no more, no more" part of "Hit the Road, Jack" was "watermelon, watermelon," which is twice as many syllables as needed and has none of the correct vowel sounds, so yours sounds quite sensible by comparison.
I love this movie ❤
It is pretty awesome, if very unsettling.
I think accessibility is an issue with this movie being overlooked. It isn't easy to find.