There is no easy way to explain what WOUNDED FAWN is. It's a film that seems like it should have barely escaped into theaters in the mid 1980's. This is the sort of film that I would have traveled all over Long Island to see in the one theater it was playing in, then wonder why I bothered and then twenty years later find the film still haunting me and I have to spend ages trying to find a copy.
Its a film that had a number of us at the screening, including Liz Whittemore and director William Lustig arguing about it's pros or cons until the festival people threw us out.
The film is nominally the story of a young woman who goes off with the new guy in life, a guy who happens to be a serial killer and art thief. He feels he is in the sway of a giant red owl. After he makes an attempt on her life things get freaking weird.
This is a creepy film that is a descent into someone's personal hell. Its weird spacey images as the dead return and demons wander with glorious practical effects. There are some really cool moments in this film that will rock your world.
The trouble is the film never puts it all together. The film doesn't end, but it stops. The discussion after the film was a long discussion about whether the film worked because it doesn't end. My thought was that we would have liked it more if the film had an ending and not a witty remark and what happens. A remark is not an ending... Don't get me wrong, I kind of like the film. Its a shot of nostalgia for me. At the same time there is enough here that I wanted to love the film.
This is like half a really good film that loses it's way. There are moments but it needed to have a conclusion because the stopping place just leaves us going WTF.
Worth a look for those who like misfires.
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