Matinee

Gene's dad is in the Marines and is drafted when the Cuba crisis breaks out in October 1962. The world is holding its bl-eath. Gene is shy and insecure and finds it difficult to make friends. Instead he prefers to spend his time at the movie theater watching B horror pictures. Now his favourite director's latest movie Mant has its world premiere at the local movie theater in Key West. A hairraiser about a creature that is half man,
half ant.

COMMENTARY
In Matinee Joe Dante pays tribute to the black-and-white horror movies of the 50's and 60's, but not to the films which made cinema history but to those which were seen and then forgotten. His way of doing this is by turning the fuss surrounding the films into parody. Not an easy feat considering the films were travesties in the first place.
John Goodman plays the director Lawrence Woolsey, who malles horror movies on a micro budget. His latest movie is called Mant and is about a man who turns into a giant ant. ''Half Man ... Half Ant ... All Terror'' as the blazing trailer says. The character- of Woolsey is based on William ''The Tingler'' Castle, a movie maker whose mediocre films were overshadowed by their spectacular publicity campaigns. The methods used were as brilliant as they were unorthodox. This is why the marketing campaign starts off with a preview in Key West, Florida, a place where the residents are getting ready for war. This is 1962, the year of the Cuba crisis. The panicky atmosphere in a town 150 Idlometres from Cuba is perfect for the opening night of a horror movie, Woolsey claims.
Matinee is a movie with aspects of metalanguage. Largely it takes place behind and in front of the big screen at the local movie house. There, in a packed theater, we see Mant as a movie within the movie. Despite the fact that the audience already lives in a frightening environment they pay to get scared out of their minds through fiction. The cathartic effect of hOITor movies is a central thesis of the film.
Joe Dante is known for his films about the little fantasy creatures Gremlins. His film form follows an almost childish pattern, in the positive sense of the word. It is charming, imaginative and almost illustrated, preferably with lavish special effects and advanced make-up. It hasn't always been that way, though. In the seventies he made a series of lOW-bUdget movies together with the King of B pictures, Roger Corman.
Matinee is Dante's ultimate metaphor. A colorful nostalgia trip back to the 60's. In many respects this film is the American Dream visualized, but since it is described in the spirit of David Lynch the dream appears to be crumbling from within. On the surface this is a straightforward comedy, but deep down it is a quiet protest against human self-effacement through nuclear weapons, pollution and racism. The present generation of film workers in Hollywood are renowned for their liberal views. Dante's contribution is not conspicuous. His views are wrapped up in an entertaining family movie in order to appeal to a target audience which is usually not easily influenced. The result is a bizarre comedy where the contents of the film and the newsbills correspond in a terrifying way. ':'
Tomas Skagerlind

Medverkande
John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, John Sayles: Producent
Michael Finnell: Manus
Charlie Haas: Foto
John Hora: Musik
Jerry Goldsmith: Talat språk
English