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Jean Bennett [I.] watches as Jessica Harper is sedated in
“Suspiria.”'
SUSPIRIA
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IN©
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with Steve Warren
We’re in one of those
periods between major films
now; so if you’re caught up
on the summer goodies, you
can either settle for less at
the movies or stay home and
check out the new TV season.
YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE
I don’t want- to keep you
from seeing Yon Light Up
My Life, because it’s a
pleasant picture you might
enjoy; but I’d be remiss in
my duty if I didn’t point out
that technically, it’s not very
good.
Didi Conn plays a Jewish
motherless child who grows
up overly attached to her
father (Joe Sliver). He’s
raised her in his. own
profession, stand-up
comedy, and is unaware that
she’s more into writing songs
and singing them.
Conn is a really good ac
tress (and has even sung, as
the voice of Raggedy Ann in
Raggedy Ann and Andy), but
she’s hot convincing doing
lip-syrichs to the voice that’s
dubbed in for her; and the
songs, by writer-producer-
director Joseph Brooks, are
just plain awful.
The film’s better aspect is
about Conn falling in love
with slick Michael Zaslow
just before she’s supposed to
marry vapid Stephen
Nathan. If the ending isn’t
thoroughly “happy,”at least
it’s upbeat from a feminist
perspective.
THUNDER
AND LIGHTNING
If you like comic books,
you’ll love Thunder and
Lightning; it saves you the
trouble of turning the pages,
David Carradine is the hero,
defending free-lance
moonshiners from the
powerful syndicate. The
problem is that the local
syndicate rep is the father of
Carradine’s fiancee, Kate
Jackson.
The best of the chase scenes
comes in the beginning, via
swamp boats. It’s mostly
action throughout, but
sufficiently tongue-in-cheek
that eggheads can get as
many laughs as rednecks.
Thunder and Lightning is
no Smokey and the Bandit
(and Carradine’s no Burt
Reynolds!), but it’s fun.
THE HAPPY HOOKER
GOES TO WASHINGTON
I realize that a reviewer is
only expressing one person’s
opinion—his own; but if you
think Joey Heatherton and
George Hamilton have any
talent, you’re wrong! That’s
a moot point, because the
most talented people
wouldn’t be able to do
anything with the material at
hand in The Happy Hooker
Goes to Washington.
Heatherton plays Mae West
playing Xaviera Hollander
appearing before a Senate
subcommittee to defend sei
against the “Puritan
backlash’’ her attorney
(Hamilton) warns her about.
All of it’s childish, none of
it’s funny; don’t waste your
time or money.
Didi Conn [c.] does a waffle commercial in “You Light Up
My Life.” You may recognize Melanie Mayron [L] from
“Car Wash.” '
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Scott Newman (who doesn’t
look or act like his father,
Paul) is the sadistic senior
who wants to put the pledges
through the same suffering
he endured.
The nostalgic setting is
virtually perfect, visually;
and the soundtrack gives up
plenty of old records and,
better yet, radio com
mercials, to complete the
portrait of the era.
Its story may be unfair, but
Fraternity Row makes good
dramatic sense.
NEXT ISSUErThe Kentucky
Fried Movie, and other fall
snacks.
Suspiria is more in
teresting for its style than its
story. If you’re into German
Expressionism (the original
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Fritz
Lang’s Metropolis, etc.),
you’ll appreciate the way it’s
inspired writer-director
Dario Argento (The Bird with
the Crystal Plumage) in this
horror film which could build
something of a cult. k
Jessica Harper (the ingenue
of Phantom of the Paradise)
goes to a dancing school in
Germany that’s run by Joan
Bennett (with Dark Shadows
under her eyes) in the
“absence” of the head
mistress. Witchcraft
eventually emerges as the
reason for several bizarre
and bloody deaths; but the
plot is secondary to the set
design, the lighting and the
use of sound (try to see a
stereo print, but
beware—it’s louder than
Sensurround).
FRATERNITY ROW
Fraternity Row deserves
better treatment than it’s
getting from its distributor,
Paramount, which slipped it
into Atlanta without fanfare
for one week during the
break between college
quarters, when it couldn’t
hope to reach its primary
audience.
Maybe that’s poetic justice,
because Fraternity Row goes
somewhat overboard in
attacking the fraternity
system (a system this writer
has no love for). It’s about
the hazing which has tapered
off somewhat today but was
when the story takes place.
Rodger (Peter Fox), the
pledgemaster of the Gamma
Nu house, is a senior. Zac
(Gregory Harrison) is an easy
choice for president of the
incoming pledge class. The
two form an instant rapport
based on mutual idealism
and a common interest in
“The Great Gatsby,” which
is too-heavily quoted
throughout.
Who wouldn’t be a slave to a pledgemaster like Peter Fox,
in “Fraternity Row”?
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