The Attic/Crawlspace (Midnite Movies Double Feature)
A double dose of delirium awaits you on this demented DVD! Taking herDiary of a Mad Housewifeacclaim to effective extremes, Carrie Snodgress is disturbingly convincing inThe Attic(1980), a morbid slice of gothic pie in which she plays a dowdy librarian, obsessively grieving 19 years after the disappearance of her picture-perfect boyfriend. This prolonged sadness is aggravated by her apparently disabled father (Ray Milland), who dominates her life with such abusive bitterness that she descends even deeper into tortured desperation. What does she discover in the attic? We're not telling, but suffice it to say Daddy's evil goes beyond expectations! Directed with earnest compassion for its damaged wallflower,The Atticis wretched psychodrama at its most bizarre.On the flipside,Crawlspace(1986) is grade-Z pulp for those who take perverse delight in the derangement of Klaus Kinski, here playing a suicidal heir to the Third Reich, continuing his Nazi reign of terror as the voyeuristic landlord in a building full of unsuspecting young females. Drawing on his alleged hatred for Kinski (by all accounts it was mutual), director David Schmoeller puts Kinski through the paces (and claustrophobic spaces), turning this nudity-spiced schlockfest into a lecherous tour of depravity. With a score by Italian composer Pino Donaggio,Crawlspaceis surelysomeone'sguilty pleasure.--Jeff Shannon