Before
falling on hard times having directed the critical and commercial bomb Battlefield Earth, art/set decorator
Roger Christian copped an Oscar in 1978 for Star
Wars before being nominated once again for Alien. Having formed a
rapport with George Lucas, including eventually going on to do second unit
directing work on Return of the Jedi and
The Phantom Menace years later,
Christian got a shot at filmmaking with his short film Black Angel which was attached to the beginning of theatrical
prints for The Empire Strikes Back. Which brings us to what is largely known as director
Quentin Tarantino’s favorite horror film of 1982, The Sender.
Joining
the likes of such telekinetic psychological thrillers as Carrie, The Fury, Altered States, Scanners and The Dead Zone,
The Sender begins simply enough with
a young amnesiac man (Željko Ivanek) who is admitted
to a mental institution after attempting to drown himself in a public
beach. Assigned to the given-name John
Doe #83 is Dr. Gail Farmer (Kathryn Harrold) who not long after taking on the
task of treating the man begins experiencing increasingly bizarre and frightening
hallucinations which somehow seem to be emanating from the strange John Doe #83
patient. Meanwhile a skeptical Dr.
Denman (Paul Freeman of Raiders of the
Lost Ark) and Shirley Knight as a mysterious woman claiming to be the patient’s
mother formulate the central cast of characters who are drawn into (or may be a
figment of) the feverish subconscious imagination of The Sender.
Though steeped in the 1980s with a low-key cinematographic palette
by future Brazil and Batman director of photography Roger
Pratt, this British/American co-production is a subtle exercise in fear of the
unknown as seemingly everyday objects start to take on strange peculiarities
that feel lifted from the dark recesses of a deranged mind. Take for instance a standout horror sequence
where Dr. Farmer enters a bathroom and the mirrors crack and start bleeding
crimson red. Though other images such as
rats or cockroaches and other such creepy crawlies flood the soundstages and
manage to make one’s hair stand on end, it’s uncanny sequences like bloody
mirrors predating the horrors of Silent Hill
that imprint The Sender into the
horror moviegoer’s psyche.
In addition to sporting early work from a great cinematographer, The Sender also offers a memorable
original orchestral score by soon-to-be The
Last of the Mohicans composer Trevor Jones.
Having worked with Mr. Christian before on his short film Black Angel, Jones’ score creates a mood
of unease while also, like John Corigliano’s Oscar nominated score for Altered States, flirts with
experimentation into uncharted musical territories.
The
Sender, of course, in addition to it’s wild and innovative visual effects
outbursts which seem to explode onscreen with manic energy, would not be half
as effective without then-newcomer Željko Ivanek. With his distant gaze off into infinity as
doctors try to make sense of his inscrutable anguished face, Ivanek imbues the
film’s central protagonist (or antagonist, depending on your point of view)
with mystery and an implacable sense of danger like the man is a ticking time
bomb ready to go off at any second.
Sadly The Sender in
spite of all the hard work did not pay off.
Though critically revered, the film tested poorly and Paramount Pictures
did little to promote the picture outside of a limited theatrical run before
disappearing into obscurity. Over the
years, however, the film’s garnered a strong cult reputation for being a taut
and quieter foray into horror with a penchant for the uncanny rather than going
for shocks or throwing chum at the camera.
Coupled with Tarantino’s endorsement, The Sender seen now is an inspired slice of psychological horror
that takes the premise and its characters seriously, providing a clever minded
thriller which went under the radar for so long and is now deliciously ripe for
rediscovery!
--Andrew Kotwicki