Are the streets to blame?  Paranoia’s coming your way….

Ah, Murder Rock.

This 1984 film is often dismissed as being one of director Lucio Fulci’s lesser efforts, an attempt to combine the trappings of the giallo genre with the sexy, choreographed dance routines of Flashdance.  And certainly, the film does lack the visceral, dream-like horror of The Beyond trilogy and Zombi 2.  The film’s killer isn’t even as interesting as The New York Ripper‘s killer who talked like a duck.  That said, I think some critics have been a bit too hard on Murder Rock over the years.  Taken on its own terms, it’s a well-made slasher with a healthy does of 80s style.  Of course, I should admit that, as someone who grew up attending dance classes and dancing through the pain, I could relate to the film’s milieu.  I’ve never had to deal with a zombie in real life but I did meet my share of dancers who would do anything to move up.

The film takes place at the Arts For The Living Center in New York City, where young dancers are hoping to land a spot on a televisions show and also hoping to avoid getting killed by the murderer who is haunting the locker rooms and using a long hairpin needle to stop the hearts of his victims.  (The sound of a previously healthy victim’s heart beating on the soundtrack and then abruptly stopping is far more powerful than one might expect.)

Previously seen losing an eye in Fulci’s Zombi 2, Olga Karalatos plays Candice Norman, the owner of the dance studio.  When one of her dancers is murdered while taking a shower, Candice is just one of many suspects.  Candice, however, is haunted by a dream in which she sees herself being stalked by a handsome man (Ray Lovelock) carrying a hairpin.  Later, Candice realizes that she’s seen the handsome man before.  He’s George Webb, a male model whose face adorns a billboard.  Candice starts to investigate George on her own, discovering that he’s apparently an alcoholic who lives in a run-down apartment.  When evidence starts to show up suggesting that George could be the murderer, he claims that he’s being framed.

Of course, George isn’t the only suspect.  There’s also Willy Stark (played by Christian Borromeo), a dancer whose girlfriend ends up as a victim of the murder spree.  With his blonde hair and aristocratic bearing, Christian Borromeo was one of the most handsome actors to appear in Italian films in the early 80s.  He didn’t do many films before retiring but he still managed to appear in films directed by Dario Argento, Federico Fellini, Ruggero Deodato, and Lucio Fulci.  He played very different characters in all of his films and gave a good performance each time.  One reason why I specifically want to single out Christian Borromeo here is because there’s still a lot of people online who are under the impression that Borromeo died a heroin overdose in the 80s.  This is largely due to a comment that was made during an interview with David Hess, who co-starred with Borromeo in The House At The Edge of the Park.  Hess was confusing Borromeo with their co-star, Garbiele Di Giulio.  Di Giulio did indeed die of a heroin overdose.  Christian Borromeo is still alive, though retired from acting.

As for Murder Rock, the killings are nowhere near as gory as in Fulci’s other films but that actually adds to the film’s creepy atmosphere.  The killer is frightening because the killer is coolly efficient and can kill without resorting to the out-of-control, manic violence of quacking sociopath at the center of The New York Ripper.  As is usual with Fulci, the film’s visuals are Murder Rock‘s greatest strength.  The first murder occurs while the locker room’s light blink on and off, creating a truly frightening sequence as the camera seamlessly assumes the killer’s point of view.  When the police investigate the crime, the flashes of the police cameras are almost blinding as they record the stark crime scene.  Candice’s nightmares play out like a particularly macabre perfume commercial (and yes, that it meant as a compliment).  Fulci’s camera roams from location to location, keeping the audience off-balance throughout the film.  As he did in so many of his other films, Fulci makes New York look like the grimiest, most claustrophobic city in the world.

As for the dance sequences, they’re so over-the-top that you can’t help but love them.  The film was obviously envisioned as a way to cash in on the popularity of Flashdance but Fulci’s dispenses of the romanticism that made Flashdance a hit and instead just focuses on bodies moving in a explosion of choreographed carnality.  There’s nothing subtle about the way the film lingers on the spandex-clad dancers but then again, that’s why we love Fulci.  He was not one to make apologies.

Fulci once said that Murder Rock was meant to be the first part of a projected trilogy of musical gialli.  Who knows whether or not that’s true.  (As an interview subject, Fulci was always quick to boat of the grand projects he had planned for the future.  As the diabetic Fulci was in precarious health at the same time that he made his most popular horror films, there was always something rather poignant to Fulci’s constant boasting about all of the great films he planned to make.)  As I said at the start of this review, Murder Rock is one of Fulci’s less-appreciated films but, as someone who loves both dancing and watching horror movies, I’ve always liked it.  Even the fact that the killer is exposed in a way that doesn’t really stand up to close scrutiny just adds to the film’s charm.  (Seriously, a good giallo rarely makes that much sense.)

In closing — SING IT!

Are the streets to blame?

Paranoia’s coming your way!