Review of The Reflecting Skin (1990) by Scott S — 11 Jun 2013

The Reflecting Skin (1991) -- [8.0] -- Imagine "Twin Peaks" from a child's perspective, paired with the visual austerity of "Days of Heaven", and that might give you an idea of what to expect from this odd but utterly compelling little movie.

Jeremy Cooper stars as young Seth Dove, a boy whose friends die one by one while the sheriff searches for their killer. The sheriff thinks the killer is Seth's own father, while Seth thinks it might be a vampire woman who lives nearby.

When Seth's older brother (Viggo Mortensen) returns home from nuclear testing in the Pacific and falls in love with the vampire, Seth starts to feel helpless, with nowhere to turn -- and starts praying to a dead baby he finds in an abandoned barn.

For most of the film, you're never sure whether what you're seeing is actually happening, or if it's Seth's imagination. But as bizarre as it all sounds, writer/director Philip Ridley keeps the characters deeply rooted in emotional truths, and the "400 Blows"-like ending might be one of the most raw and devastating depictions of the loss of innocence ever put to film.