Review of Rubber (1936) by Heather B — 11 Jan 2014

I try to save the word "deranged" only for movies that really fit the bill. That said, I think it's safe to say that a movie in which a car tire comes to life and blows people's heads up qualifies as a comfortable part of that category. Rubber is wholly original, in ways both good and bad, and is the first movie I've seen that has an inanimate object as its main character. Pretty inventive, yes. But it's not like it's great cinema. The movie's central premise pretends to be somewhat pretentious, but it always undercuts itself with a good sense of humor about the ridiculousness of its premise.

Final Score for Rubber? 6/10 stars. It's so weird it's hard not to like it, but sometimes the strangeness feels oddly smothering. It throws a lot at the audience in terms of visuals and themes, but virtually nothing in terms of plot. Still, I don't think that it's a movie I'll soon forget, and a scene in which a police officer tells his subordinates that the killer they're looking for is a car tire isn't something to be shaken off. At the end of the day, why did I like Rubber? Well, in the immortal words of said policeman; no reason.