Fade to Black

FADE TO BLACK

A 1980 film about a movie buff’s descent into homicidal mania, Fade to Black features a nuanced performance by Dennis Christopher as Eric Binford.  Eric lives with his overbearing aunt (later revealed to actually be his mother) and is constantly strapped for cash.  He escapes from reality by immersing himself in movies.  One day Eric crosses paths with an aspiring model who bears a resemblance to Marilyn Monroe.  Eric gives her a lift to her workplace, then manages to snag a date with her for eight o’clock that night.  She stands Eric up, and shortly thereafter Eric snaps and kills his “aunt” (whose death is ruled an accident).  Soon Eric starts dressing as movie characters and murdering people.  His crime spree comes to an end when he’s riddled with police bullets atop the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

Fade to Black’s story doesn’t quite hold together (I’m not sure how exactly the cops investigating the murders come to the conclusion that Eric Binford is their prime suspect, and at one point someone references “the Dracula murder” when there were no eyewitnesses to see who the killer was dressed as that time around).  Despite these flaws, it’s an entertaining and well-shot story about the revenge of an underdog who has snapped under pressure. 

Fade to Black has a fantastic soundtrack by Craig Safan (I’ve had the CD of the music longer than I’ve had the DVD of the film). 

Vernon Zimmerman wrote and directed the project.  Vernon was my UCLA Professional Program in Screenwriting workshop instructor in the spring quarter of 1999, but I only just now got around to checking out his cult classic movie.  I’m glad I finally did.