Fade to Black (1980 film)
| Fade to Black | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Vernon Zimmerman |
| Produced by | George G. Braunstein Ron Hamady Irwin Yablans Joseph Wolf |
| Written by | Vernon Zimmerman |
| Starring |
Dennis Christopher Tim Thomerson Gwynne Gilford Norman Burton Linda Kerridge Morgan Paull Eve Brent Mickey Rourke |
| Music by | Craig Safan |
| Cinematography | Álex Phillips Jr. |
| Edited by | James Mitchell Barbara Pokras |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Compass International American Cinema Releasing |
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Release date
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Running time
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102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Fade to Black is a 1980 American psychological horror film written and directed by Vernon Zimmerman, and starring Dennis Christopher, Eve Brent, and Linda Kerridge. It also features Mickey Rourke and Peter Horton in minor roles. The plot follows a shy and lonely cinephile who embarks on a killing spree against his oppressors while impersonating classic horror film characters, all the while stalking his idol: a Marilyn Monroe lookalike.
The film was nominated for multiple Saturn Awards, with Eve Brent winning for Best Supporting Actress. Released in October 1980, Fade to Black was commercially unsuccessful, but later garnered a cult following. It was released on VHS home video in the mid-1980s by Media Home Entertainment. It was first released on DVD on August 24, 1999 by Anchor Bay Entertainment.
Eric Binford is a hollow, chain smoking, ill-tempered young man who is also an obsessed film addict whose love of old films extends far beyond his job at a Los Angeles film distributor's warehouse and endless late-night film screenings in his bedroom. For his vast knowledge, he's been bullied by his friends and family. His singular obsession eventually rounds the bend into psychosis after he crosses paths with Marilyn O'Connor (Linda Kerridge), an Australian model and a Marilyn Monroe lookalike who becomes the physical embodiment of his cinematic desires.
When unintentionally stood up by Marilyn on their first date, Eric becomes homicidally unbalanced, transforming himself into a gallery of classic film characters—including Dracula, The Mummy, and Hopalong Cassidy—and sets out to destroy his oppressors, starting with his crotchety, wheelchair-using, ex-dancer Aunt Stella (who is actually his mother), pushing her wheelchair down a staircase to her death (reenacting a scene from Kiss of Death) and making it look like an accident. Eric attends her funeral dressed as Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark's role from the aforementioned film).
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