.....Slade wasn't actually the killer and the film been more a commentary on our own paranoia and how we assume the worse of people who behave differently.
shareI saw it for the first time the other day and I tend to agree.
All along it looks like the movie is leading to Slade being the killer but it would of been great if, in fact, it wasn't him at all.
[deleted]
I thought it would turn out to be his brother, and that he was out prowling every night in search of him to try to stop him without exposing him. I think you could have ended it a variety of ways and still been satisfying. I have no complaints about this ending because it allows an elaboration on his theory about beauty containing an element of evil. So we got a better insight into the killer than any alternative would have allowed.
"I'll book you. I'll book you on something. I'll find something in the book to book you on."
I thought the film would have been stronger if it had stuck more closely to the book. Slade in the book was much more of a religious fanatic, and I sure could have done without those silly song & dance numbers.
share[deleted]
I fully agree. I'm aware this was a remake, but it's kind of disappointing when you already know since the very beginning who's the killer and that it's just a matter of time till he's discovered by everyone else.
Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop
"Just a matter of time till he's discovered by everyone else".
Yeah, well, that's called suspense. Which is almost always preferrable to the element surprise or some random "twists".
"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan
That's what Hitchcock did with his version of the story, so it was an idea already used.
The original novel takes it a step further; you never know if he was really the murderer or not, and the ending is ambiguous.
"Value your education. It's something nobody can ever take away from you." My mom.
I prefer the Hitchcock version and Ivor Novello's reimagining "The Phantom Fiend" (although I'm not crazy about that title).
I think linking Jack the Ripper was unnecessary here. It could still have been an interesting movie about Slade and his brother, the actress, etc.
Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese. - Billie Burke