Color of Night

[sophiesays 1]

Bruce Willis as a psychologist with PTSD induced color-blindness who takes over his murdered friend's group therapy session which includes Brad Dourif (OCD), Leslie Ann Warren (nympho), and Jane March as a boy named Ritchie who stutters. One of them is the killer, and he/she isn't finished!

[sophiesays 1]

Bruce Willis as a psychologist with PTSD induced color-blindness who takes over his murdered friend's group therapy session which includes Brad Dourif (OCD), Leslie Ann Warren (nympho), and Jane March as a boy named Ritchie who stutters. One of them is the killer, and he/she isn't finished!

[Anonymous37 22]

Oh God, this movie is so bad it's brilliant. In fact, it's so bad, I started wondering if it wasn't a stone-faced parody.

[cvferkix 0]

This is the worst movie ever and you MUST watch it. I think you will all realllllly enjoy it. PLUS you can see Bruce Willis' wiener!

[RyanSz 3140]

I used to watch that movie on HBO as a kid if I couldn't find porn because it had the longest sex scenes that I've ever seen in a movie, I think that's where Tommy Wiseau got his inspiration for The Room.

[CPiz 232]

I can't believe this one wasn't on here. Nominated for 9 Golden Raspberry Awards (including Worst Screen Couple ("Any combination of two people from the entire cast")), won one. Budget was $40 MIllion; only made $19 Million. 26% on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

Big names: Bruce Willis, Lance Hendrickson, Scott Bakula, plus Jane March, Brad Dourif, Lesley Ann Warren & Ruben Blades & Eric La Salle.

 

This movie is basically sex scenes cobbled together with a plot involving Bruce Willis as a psychoanalyst who is unable to see the color red and must find a killer among a therapy group. This one will definitely baffle the panel as other movies like Sleepaway Camp have.

[sillstaw 414]

Astonishingly, the director of this movie hadn't done a movie since 1980's "The Stunt Man," which was nominated for three Oscars. And since this movie, the only thing he's done was a documentary about that movie. Additionally, as pointed out in Nathan Rabin's My Year of Flops review of this, the screenwriter went on to direct "Shattered Glass" and "Breach."

 

Also, I loved how Rabin put it about the big "twist" ending (SPOILERS, if you care):

 

If you’re going to cast a neophyte actress/supermodel in what is essentially a triple-role as the femme fatale, a slightly sluttier alternate identity of the femme fatale, and an ostensibly convincing facsimile of a stuttering teenaged boy, you might want to hire someone who

A. Can act

B. Doesn’t have the most instantly identifiable mouth and teeth in the world.

[CPiz 232]

Astonishingly, the director of this movie hadn't done a movie since 1980's "The Stunt Man," which was nominated for three Oscars. And since this movie, the only thing he's done was a documentary about that movie.

 

Oh, man. He wrote the screenplay for Air America too.

[RyanSz 3140]

I remember seeing this when I was around 12 and it basically started puberty for me. I don't think I've seen a sex scene as long in any other movie. At least with movies like Showgirls they sex scenes were broken into smaller bits, this movie just put it all together in two huge lumps that were separated by a 20 second dinner scene. Maxim actually called it as the best sex scene of all time while the rest of the movie was utter crazy shit.

[seanotron 2307]

Oh god, this movie...

 

[CPiz 232]

Oh god, this movie...

 

You hit the nail on the had with that pic, Seanatron, as far as one of the many reasons this movie is next-level bonkers. Plus all the sexy sexiness that goes on, a murder attempt involving a poisonous snake, and selective color blindness. I tried to find the script to pull some choice quotes to post here, but to no avail. I really think the guys would have fun with this one, though.

[AdamLevenberg 3]

I wish the pics of Jane March would come down. The reality is that COLOR OF NIGHT is a fascinating film and while critics and more advanced audiences have an easy time spotting the "twist", it generally comes as a surprise to viewers. Why ruin it for those who don't know.

 

At USC, I did a full filmography study of Richard Rush and spent a lot of time talking to him about this film. Apparently, about 30% of the audience figured out the twist and didn't care--they were still entertained by the movie. Also, there's no definitive version of the film. The producer fired the director and did his own 1hr 50 minute cut...Rush sued and they settled with Rush having only two weeks to put together his own cut (and this is a guy who'd spend a year in the editing room for each film)...he put back EVERYTHING resulting in a 2hr 20 minute cut that became what went to international theaters and cable tv. Another casualty of this situation is the overblown score--it was never tested in front of an audience. The melody is beautiful, the bombastic orchestra approach is kinda silly. What does still come across is the wildly creative and playful cinematography--anyone, especially film students, should watch it for that.

 

Watching the film years later (and having written a book on screenwriting) I now recognize the first hour is genius, the rest kinda runs in circles until the finale, unlike BASIC INSTINCT which keeps raising the stakes for the hero....But it's definitely worth a spoiler free look!

 

I just did an article on the types of film categories found on HOW DID THIS GET MADE. COLOR OF NIGHT fits into the "Auteur Jumps the Shark" slot. Check em out here: http://officialscreenwriting.com/how-did-this-get-made-the-categories/

[seanotron 2307]

I wish the pics of Jane March would come down. The reality is that COLOR OF NIGHT is a fascinating film and while critics and more advanced audiences have an easy time spotting the "twist", it generally comes as a surprise to viewers. Why ruin it for those who don't know.

 

Stilstaw had already pointed this out in his post, so I figured the pic was fair game. Honestly, I don't think the HDTGM forums are considered a spoiler-free zone, as we are expected to explain why a particular film deserves to be discussed. Kinda hard to do that without spoiling the plot. Plus, the film is nearly 20 years old and widely reviled.

[VampiresVampiresVampires 303]

And we get to see Bruce-dick.

[seanotron 2307]

And we get to see Bruce-dick.

 

i'm not sure there's any part of Bruce's body we don't see in this movie. The bottom of his feet, maybe?

[GregJ.Hansen 316]

And we get to see Bruce-dick.

 

I think you mean Bruce's willis.

[RyanSz 3140]

 

I think you mean Bruce's willis.

 

No, it's clearly The Bruno.

[BagguhMcGuirk 104]

I remember seeing this when I was around 12 and it basically started puberty for me. I don't think I've seen a sex scene as long in any other movie. At least with movies like Showgirls they sex scenes were broken into smaller bits, this movie just put it all together in two huge lumps that were separated by a 20 second dinner scene. Maxim actually called it as the best sex scene of all time while the rest of the movie was utter crazy shit.

 

Yeah when I came across this movie on premium cable around the same age it was a life changing few minutes. A few minutes I relived many times after recording it on my vcr.

[CPiz 232]

"`Color of Night' approaches badness from so many directions that one really must admire its imagination. ... By the end ... I was, frankly, stupefied. To call it absurd would be missing the point, since any shred of credibility was obviously the first thing thrown overboard. ... It's so lurid in its melodrama and so goofy in its plotting that with just a bit more trouble it could have been a comedy." --Roger Ebert

[CPiz 232]

Did we ever get to figure out what the color of night is? Is it black? It's black, right?

[AdamLevenberg 3]

Heads up CPiz, the Roger Ebert review you're referring to was on the 1hr50 minute producer's cut of the film, Ebert never went back and reviewed the 2hr20 min version that is the only available version on VHS, DVD, and pay cable tv...Based on admiration for the director and knowledge of the editing battle, many critics re-reviewed the director's cut when it came out on VHS and about half of em had nice things to say about the movie, which while still insane, made more sense and had more artistic integrity (example--such as how the director cleverly transitions from scene to scene) than the producer's cut.

[CPiz 232]

Because Paul mentioned in the last minisode that he saw this as a teenager, wanted to bring this movie back up again for everyone' consideration because it is certifiably next-level bonkers.

[seanotron 2307]

Yeah, I would still like to see this happen. This movie was a top rental back in 1995, because it was basically a porn but didn't have the stigma of being labelled as porn.

[SlidePocket 707]

It's finally happening in two weeks!

[Missy Chrissy 40]

It's finally happening in two weeks!

 

haha High five!!