Another gem from Ulli Lommel. Taking the name (but nothing else) from the real life killings, the film opens with the beautiful Jacquelyn Aurora tied up and being killed by a couple of weirdos. (I'd love to see more of Jacquelyn, but other than the Lommel films, there doesn't seem to be much of her around and she's ignoring my MySpace friend request...)
Anyway, we then get a narration and text about the "Baseline Killings." We then go to some sort of gathering, there about 8 or so women have gotten together for some sort of reunion. And one of them is Jacquelyn Aurora, but this time wearing a really bad blonde wig! And the girls talk, and talk, and talk some more. Finally, it all starts! The lights go out and some guy starts saying (over a loudspeaker, maybe?), "Hello, bitches and Ho's! The baseline man is back! Are you scared?" while they scream. Then the lights come on, there is one less girl there. The remaining girls then all walk together around where they stumble on the murdered body of the missing girl. Then they all go back and sit down and talk (and talk some more) about how they should get out or they'll be killed. Then the lights go out again, and the cycle is repeated again and again.
The actors are all trying hard here, and the killers are suitably creepy and the women attractive. All the Lommel trademarks are here long scenes with improvised dialog, repeating set pieces, weird effects, and incomprehensible editing decisions. But it's the editing that makes "Baseline Killer" stand out. Because Lommel and his editor have decided to pioneer a new type of editing the "mirror edit." You'll be watching a scene and in the middle it will switch to a mirror image of the scene. Then back. So half-way through the scene, someone on the right will now be on the left, and vice versa. Like they took the section of film and flipped it over. Very, very weird. Happens many times, and in the middle of normal scenes, you'll be watching two people talk and then POW! They're flipped. Really, really bizarre.
Look, it's a Ulli Lommel film. You probably know what you're getting. But you should check it out just for editing to see if anybody can figure out what Ulli was thinking
Anyway, we then get a narration and text about the "Baseline Killings." We then go to some sort of gathering, there about 8 or so women have gotten together for some sort of reunion. And one of them is Jacquelyn Aurora, but this time wearing a really bad blonde wig! And the girls talk, and talk, and talk some more. Finally, it all starts! The lights go out and some guy starts saying (over a loudspeaker, maybe?), "Hello, bitches and Ho's! The baseline man is back! Are you scared?" while they scream. Then the lights come on, there is one less girl there. The remaining girls then all walk together around where they stumble on the murdered body of the missing girl. Then they all go back and sit down and talk (and talk some more) about how they should get out or they'll be killed. Then the lights go out again, and the cycle is repeated again and again.
The actors are all trying hard here, and the killers are suitably creepy and the women attractive. All the Lommel trademarks are here long scenes with improvised dialog, repeating set pieces, weird effects, and incomprehensible editing decisions. But it's the editing that makes "Baseline Killer" stand out. Because Lommel and his editor have decided to pioneer a new type of editing the "mirror edit." You'll be watching a scene and in the middle it will switch to a mirror image of the scene. Then back. So half-way through the scene, someone on the right will now be on the left, and vice versa. Like they took the section of film and flipped it over. Very, very weird. Happens many times, and in the middle of normal scenes, you'll be watching two people talk and then POW! They're flipped. Really, really bizarre.
Look, it's a Ulli Lommel film. You probably know what you're getting. But you should check it out just for editing to see if anybody can figure out what Ulli was thinking