Friends, we all have skeletons in the closet. Today I'd like to share one of mine.
It was a student film and I was young...well, younger than I am today. Let's turn our clocks back to the mid-Nineteen nineties. A dear friend has asked me to play a leading role in her final film school project. What would you do, kind readers? Loyal to a fault, I agreed.
Many find the resulting film, The Great Manipulator, to be dark. This is in part due to inadequate lighting. I won't give away the film's shocking ending but rest assured things don't end well for our heroine, Esme. The Sound of Music this is not (though I do break into song).
Sluggish pacing, stilted dialogue, and flat-footed foreshadowing don't help matters. But don't let me influence your opinions. Despite it all, around our house The Great Manipulator is a cult film up there with Pink Flamingos and Plan 9 From Outer Space. Lines like "I'm sorry you didn't sleep well," "Do you really think I'm talented?" and "Everything today is so market-driven" have become part of our secret language.
With no further delay, may I present The Great Manipulator.
My conscience is clear.
If you care to unburden yourself of a skeleton or two, please feel free.
Posts
So, we finally see the true origin of "Cathy"!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant as usual, Peter.
ReplyDeletePriceless. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou steal the show, Peter!
ReplyDeleteI too was star of a friend's student film, once upon a time. (I discover a mysterious suitcase of vintage clothes and transform myself into some kind of retro-psycho.) I never did see the finished product, and cringe to think that it may be floating around somewhere....
Yes, well, I've been cringing for years!
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love. Stop cringing immediately.
ReplyDeleteWow, Peter, You are beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteYour scream is reminiscent of Al Pacino's in The Godfather Part 3.
Loved it - definitely a cool skeleton...
The skeletons are all yours. A cult classic and Cathy was just like a young Bette Davis. Four stars.
ReplyDeleteThat was awesome. Loved it. Five stars.
ReplyDeleteSurely that's Cathy and not Peter. ;-)
ReplyDeleteLove it.
ReplyDeleteI to have been in bad films. It's so fun!
ReplyDeleteFabulous!
ReplyDeletePriceless! And now Cathy's true origins are confirmed and the haters can focus on Obama's birth certificate...oh, wait...
ReplyDeleteI love Cathy's hairstyle in this-- very soft and pretty! And, yes, I *really* think you are talented!
ReplyDeletePeter,
ReplyDeleteHave you considerd a foray into public cable access??
I did, and it was riotously thrilling.
Testosterone
... Not only Cathy's origins, but the link to the lace over taffeta impulses.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun skeleton!!
ReplyDeleteHaha, brilliance! It totally surpasses Plan 9.
ReplyDeleteYes, the dialog is stilted, the dream sequence ponderous, and the pacing makes 8 minutes feel like an eon, BUT the singing, costumes and make-up are brilliant! As far as skeletons go, that seems to have fabulous entertainment possibilities. Thanks for giving us a peek.
ReplyDelete"The vessel with the pestle, has the pellet with the poison!"
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun! Too bad it doesn't play in Germany...
ReplyDeleteWell, well! I can't deny any of the critiques you gave of the film, but I can honestly say I think you were by far the best thing in it!
ReplyDeleteThat was HILARIOUS! Although I kept expecting vampires to come into the plot at some point (apparently, I associate luxe fabrics, lace cuffs and goblets with vampirism). Still, the final moment was a killer.
ReplyDeleteFull disclosure: My two BFFs and I once wrote, produced and starred in a school movie about a sorority that forced its pledges to play nasty pranks on people as the price of admission. We actually got many of our classmates to star in it as well. I've been told the ancient VHS tape is still floating around that department somewhere. The horror....
@ okaysofi: The flagon with the dragon has the brew that is true!!! ROFLMAO!
ReplyDeleteAh yes, gotta love those skeletons...the great equalizers of life.
ReplyDeleteI made it through 1:06. I wasn't sure if he was asking Cathy to keep picking her teeth, and I just didn't want to know.
ReplyDeleteHonestly? Was this an out take from "It Came From Kuchar"?
ReplyDeleteTOO funny! I just love the twist! What a fabulous skeleton!
ReplyDeleteI loved it, and I knew which was you right away! 'Twas the eyes that gave it away ...
ReplyDeletePeter, I loved it...I so was not expecting the creepy awesome ending!
ReplyDeleteThat may be the most awesome thing I've seen all day. The scream is priceless!
ReplyDeleteI live vicariously through Cathy!
ReplyDeleteReading the tea leaves, I see Cathy's Hollywood debut. No, correction that should be BOLLYWOOD debut. Preferably in a vampire sci.fi bodice-ripper. Can't wait.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter, you've made me feel better after a great laundry disaster. (Black pinstripe cotton that I swear I pre-washed bleeding all over the white cuffs and collar that took me days to get right!)
Well, the script and direction were...um...entertaining in their own way, but when you sang you were luminous! Like Doris Day meets Bella
ReplyDeleteLugosi.
Cathy looks "wunderschön"! It is just a pitty that I can not see the movie here in Germany.!
ReplyDeleteYep. I am listed on the IMDB for three completely awful films! Hahahah! I was set decorator for the worst movie I've never seen (I couldn't even watch it, it was so bad): Mr. Hell.
ReplyDeleteBWAHAHAHAHA!!!!
ReplyDeleteI nearly fell out of my chair when the camera zoomed on you as a roaring kitty!!!