Fade to Black

1980 "Eric Binford lives for the movies... Sometimes he kills for them, too!"
6.1| 1h42m| R| en| More Info
Released: 14 October 1980 Released
Producted By: Leisure Investment Company
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A shy, lonely film buff embarks on a killing spree against those who browbeat and betray him, all the while stalking his idol, a Marilyn Monroe lookalike.

Genre

Drama, Horror, Comedy

Watch Online

Fade to Black (1980) is now streaming with subscription on AMC+

Director

Vernon Zimmerman

Production Companies

Leisure Investment Company

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Fade to Black Audience Reviews

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.
acidburn-10 The plot = A young man named whose obsessed with classic movies, is driven to madness and decides to make his fantasies real, by murdering those who've wronged him."Fade To Black" is a reasonably entertaining movie, it's not brilliant but it's not terrible either, many movies from this era justified they're maniac's actions with a brief back story, here we get to see the main character slowly descending into madness, an angle which was interesting and I did like for part of the time, but there were times where it just seemed too far-fetched and unbelievable.This movie could have been one of those defining moments of the slasher genre, but sadly it doesn't quite build enough steam. The supporting cast aren't given enough screen time to be fleshed out or to be cared about, and none of the murders build any real tension or decent gore effects. Although there some interesting set pieces but all that falls flat, although the main character's obsession between fantasy and reality was fun and interesting showing clips from different movies but its abruptness and simplicity leaves you unfulfilled and doesn't deliver as much as it could have.Dennis Christopher gives a pretty good performance as the lead Eric his descend into madness was memorable, but he doesn't always comes across as very menacing, but he is the only cast member that's even fleshed out. Linda Kerridge (Marilyn) gives an OK performance as the centre of Eric's obsession but she kind of falls apart at the end, but she was beautiful. and it's also worth pointing out is that we get a young Mickey Rourke here in a minor role and does alright in his small amount of screen time, another big star making they're mark in a slasher before going on to bigger success.All in all "Fade To Black" is not as brilliant or memorable as it could of been and this could have been up there with some of the other 80's slasher greats (Friday The 13th, My Bloody Valentine, House On Sorority Row, Happy Birthday To Me) but sadly due to the many faults this just becomes average.
alistairc_2000 Remember the movies you watched as a kid? Sometimes the movies you seen in the past return as classics as the silver screen other times they return to haunt you. This movie is more of the latter. Plot A poor hard done by kid takes on the persona of his screen idols and starts to bump off people one by one who have done him wrong. He is Dracula one day and the makeup is very good in a shlock way. Then some sort of a cowboy then the mummy. He replays the psycho scene where we get a bird with really nice chest parts. Then the climax of the movie is a bit of the top of the world ma syndrome. Summation. This is an average slasher from back in the days of yore. The MM clone is cute, there are some nice ideas but it is just killed by the dated and clichéd ending. I recommend buying it if you can see it for £2 in play like I did. 5/10 (mostly for nostalgia stakes)
sanechaos i love this flick....i got this movie out of a bargain bin in a mall movie store. i love those exotic no one knows about flicks. loved it. it has it's way cheesy bits but hey it's a product of the eighties. what did you honestly expect. but examine the not so obvious. that is a great script. awesome story. almost eerie foretelling our present state with the youth of today. the characters are great and well thought out. direction was good. effects were outstanding. i can not say enough good things about this movie. hey money men out there. i want to re-do this movie so bad. it would be a box office smash.... definitely see the flick over look the cheesy parts appreciate those who were awesome...love the script.... sanechaos
you_make_me_nervous This movie bills itself as a "nerve-wracking, suspense filled film [that will] leave you clinging to the edge of your seat until the screen turns black". Although it fails entirely to do this, when I watched it recently I became more interested in young Eric himself. He's a lovely character, and I think Dennis Christopher plays him very well. (I love his camp Cody Jarret). Don't go looking for horror here, the real interest in this film is seeing Eric slowly and tragically break down. In the end I found myself just wanting to give him a hug. If I had a friend who knew loads of trivia about films, I'd love it! I'd talk to him all the time about really obscure, cool films. one for the B-movie lovers. Also, does anyone know if there's any significance in the words that stand out of nearly every scene? e.g. in the first scene two workmen walk past holding a sign which says "HEAVEN". Another obvious one is in a low angled shot of the hooker, when her head and the crop obscure certain letters of a sign in the background to make the words "NEVER LOSE". Just wondering if I'm going crazy, or there really is a hidden message, it is a film about someone who knows every tiny detail from films, maybe its an inside joke or something?