Leben am Abgrund

This is sort of a blue-collar version of "Afraid of the Dark" set in a trailer park in Niagara Falls (the trailer park of America). Teenager Mark Burnz is supposed to be the crazy person in this movie, but it's actually *everyone else* who's crazy. So deep.

What I liked about this movie: The casting was great. Nicholas Shields is like an unformed Tom Cruise. David Keith is so hateable in this movie as is his brother. And Kathleen Robertson from 90210... Who could be more 80's than that? Shannon Tweed lives up to her potential as a great actress, for once not playing the wife of a wealthy mean-spirited aristocrat. In fact, this is sort of a role-reversal for her since she ends up fleeing the arms of the blue-collar guy. The plot is workable enough to keep you interested in all the characters. And the panty-sniffing.

What I didn't like about this movie: I couldn't tell if this movie really had multiple layers or just looked like it was trying to. For example, Mark's father was supposedly beheaded when he went over the falls. Later in the movie, Mark is standing in front of a wax dummy of his father, which is regaled in the stuntman outfit. A pick-axe is swung at Mark, who ducks, and the dummy's head is lopped off. Is this supposed to be symbolism or parallelism? Or is it a ham-fisted attempt to look like there's more depth to the movie than there really is?

What else didn't I like: Christopher Plummer. And the scene where brother Dave is going to rape Shannon with the duck puppet made me laugh. Lastly, the director makes a pretty big deal out of the fact that Mark doesn't know how to drive. In fact he almost gets killed twice because of that. But then, at the end of the movie when Mark and his mom are moving away from the Falls, Mark is driving. What's up with that?

Rent "Afraid of the dark" instead. But if you've already seen that watch this for a good contrast.