Get Your Rat Out

Friday’s Midnight Movie | ‘Of Unknown Origin’ (1983)

Weller’s patented ‘death-bat’ is available at all good hardware stores

Prior to having all of his limbs and most of his organs replaced by robo parts, Peter Weller tackled an ever so slightly mutated rat. Weller’s Bart has it all, a swanky Manhattan Brown Stone, a tall bit of blonde crumpet, a high powered 80s yuppie job, banter with the news stand lady, and his own corner office, oh yes Bart is going places. Talking of going places, Bart’s wifey is off to some kind of health spa retreat for the week and taking the kid with her. Cue beer, pizza, and getting the boys ’round right? Wrong. Bart knuckles down to some work, he has some 80s Gordon Gekko style bosses to impress.

It’s not just Mrs Bates being kept alive by Norman

Deadly Movies Cameos | Alfred Hitchcock in Psycho 2 (1983)

Can it be true? A Hitch cameo in the 1983 sequel to his 1960 seminal classic Psycho? Granted the great man passed away back in 1980, three years prior to the release of Psycho 2. Love it, or hate it (I’m quite fond of it), you have to give props to director Richard Franklin for a loving homage to Hitchcock that works on so many levels. Take a closer look at the picture above. On the right-hand-side wall you can clearly make out the famous Hitchcock profile silhouette. The Hitchcock silhouette was made famous by the intro to his TV show ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents‘ and his subsequent silhouette signature. Within the context of the Psycho legacy, what better place to feature Hitch than in the mysterious bedroom of Mrs Bates, the room that held viewers in such suspense and intrigue back in 1960. As Norman and Mary enter mother’s room for the first time in the film (and the first time for viewers in 23 years) the ambient evening twilight casts Hitchcock’s infamous silhouette against the worn-out old wallpaper for a fleeting moment before disappearing when the lights come on. I think Hitch would have enjoyed the morbid humor of keeping mother company ‘up there’ in that evilest of movie bedrooms.

Cameo timed at 22mins and 35secs

Letdown of the Week

The Last Starfighter (1984)

What it has going for it: Undisputable 80s charm, that comforting sense of adventure that only 80s films seemed to have without the need for 90s cynical scientific over explanation. A great lead in Lance Guest who has that Luke Skywalker boy next-door quality. A premise that should work wonders for a family adventure, a teenager chosen to be a starfighter to go on a space mission, all based on the criteria of arcade game skills…, It’s a narrative device that brings together the dreams and aspirations of little boys everywhere, with a hobby they can all relate to, video games. 

Why it’s a letdown: Two major problems with this film. Firstly it opted for CGI just a little too early in the processes development, it really does look awful. Other films of the same time who were using models and stop motion hold up much better today. The model work in other 80s films like The Never Ending Story (also 1984), for example, really add to the sense of fantasy and mystique. This is all the more disappointing given that the practical sets and makeup effects are, in places, fantastic (check out Dan O’Herlihy’s awesome lizard-like makeup). A bigger letdown however is the lack of a real exhilarating finale, a massive epic battle to compete with the likes of Return of the Jedi (1983). Meaning that, in the end, the all-conquering heroism of Luke or Indy is a little lost on Alex.