Black Rainbow (1989)

(In French, On Cable TV, September 2022) While Black Rainbow doesn’t work all that well at whatever it tries to be, there’s more to see here than the average 1980s supernatural horror film. Some of this added depth could be anticipated considering that the film is written and directed by noteworthy British director Mike Hodges, whose filmography is pleasantly eclectic and seldom dull. Here, he takes us to the Southern United States, where a medium (Rosanna Arquette) is the centrepiece of public shows in which she communicates with the dead and, perhaps more disturbingly, can anticipate violent deaths. Black Rainbow meddles with perceptions of time with a dual-timeline plot, examines the relation between violence and entertainment, and the predation of local industries on workers. This is all interesting to discuss—alas, the film itself isn’t quite as solid in its execution. It meanders during its opening hour, and can’t quite wrap up all of its plot thread into something that gives justice to its ambitions. Black Rainbow is certainly more intriguing than the standard slasher or monster stuff from the same era, but there’s a leap from that to enjoyment of the result that the film doesn’t take.