Review for Heavenly Creatures

Heavenly Creatures
(1994) Dir: Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson's 1994 fantasy-drama, Heavenly Creatures, is something of a huge oddity on the director's CV. Prior to this excursion, he was beloved among hard-core horror fans, for his triumvirate of gory comedy genre pictures; Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, and Brain-dead. The latter particularly, was a sensation. A virtuoso post-modern zombie flick, this splatter-fest astounded audiences with both it's invention, and technical skill- which was far beyond the standard of similarly budgeted fright flicks. It appeared that horror cinema had a new hero, very much in the mould of Sam Raimi. Hailing from New Zealand, Jackson had struggled for years to put together Bad Taste, a smorgasbord of hideous but hilarious gore effects, and inspired camerawork, and the results had attracted enough interest from investors to enable his subsequent efforts financial boosts and an opportunity for wider distribution. By the time he was done with Brain-dead, with several awards from genre festivals under his belt, his reputation was very much established. Hence the surprise in many quarters when it was announced what his next project would be.

By contrast to the slapstick, claret-filled early films, Heavenly Creatures is a serious-minded drama, based on a notorious true-life murder case that transpired in Christchurch, New Zealand in the Fifties. It was Peter Jackson's wife, Fran Walsh who convinced him that they should put together this project. I can clearly recall the title appearing in the listing for upcoming releases and being largely unimpressed. A New Zealand-shot true-life drama about a pair of girls who conspire to murder one of their parents in the Fifties, hardly seemed the sort of material to appease a cinema enthusiast becoming accustomed to the lurid fare of Brian Yuzna, and the otherworldly excesses of Lucio Fulci. In short, one of the most promising directors in the field I was most interested in throughout my juvenile excitement, was jumping ship in my young eyes. He was "selling out", abandoning the genre that made his name, for the sanitised, vacuous world of true-life drama, and "legitimate" award nominations. I would be proved wrong however.

As a teenager, I found Jackson's film both fascinating and entertaining. At the same time it was a horrendous, disturbing experience that left me feeling sucker-punched. Who knew that true crime could be so inspiring and unique? A friend and I were huge fans of the film despite the genuine horror on display, taking great delight in the many quotable moments we felt we privately unearthed.

"I got meself a pair of socks!"

"That's so impressive, can I touch it?"

"I've got something here you might like to have a look at."

"I'm the matron's favourite patient, and she showed me her special stitch!"

"There's nothing wrong with having a close friend, but sometimes things can get. Too friendly."

"I will not stand for any.Hanky Panky!"

Obviously though, there is much more to Heavenly Creatures than adolescent amusement- though a key point of the film is indeed, it's adolescent perspective.

The film essays the troubled teenage years of Pauline (Melanie Lynskey), growing up in the mid-Fifties in New Zealand. Something of a social outcast, Pauline awkwardly bumbles about her days obsessed with Mario Lanza, until meeting English transfer student, Juliet (Kate Winslet). Finding they've a common history of medical ailments and similar tastes in literature and music, they swiftly become close friends, with an intense bond. Escaping reality, they fabricate a fantastical land called Borovnia which they depict in books they plan to have published. While Pauline becomes more detached from her mother, Juliet falls ill with Tuberculosis. Physically apart, the two girls become focused on written correspondence, and their fantasy realm begins to dominate their lives. Vivid sequences depict them placed in the same landscape as their clay-model creations. Back in the real world, their parents grow increasingly concerned for the stability of the girls, particularly after Pauline is caught in bed with a lodger. Following her release from hospital, Juliet discovers that her globe-trotting parents are to divorce and send her off to South Africa. Too much to cope with, the spiralling violence witnessed in their fantasy land spills over into real-life, as they plot to murder Pauline's mother.



Those familiar with the ending of the film will be well aware of it's power, but despite some of the earlier scenes implicating that the disturbance of the girls is somewhat trivial, silly even, the result packs a punch. Perhaps because their problems seem so adolescent and temporary, the tragic climax has even more raw power, and truly is one of modern cinema's most frightening moments. There is indeed a menacing glee to many of the more disturbing aspects of the fantasy that Pauline and Juliette conjure up. Heads are lopped off in joyful stories, and the desire to evade real life and the issues that it throws up is palpable.



Of course, while the underlying theme, and the result of the isolation and social dysfunction of the girls leads to a murderous climax, it's easy to miss the sadness at the core of the film. Pauline grows to despise her mother, in a situation that could have been avoided. It's easy to sympathise with her plight, as she's offered little or no encouragement, and when a lodger takes advantage of her, her mother reacts with shame. It's a shame that she herself bears, and projects on her daughter. Amusingly, the least harmful aspect of their friendship, the suggestion of a gay relationship is the aspect that terrifies their parents most. When Juliette's father visits the Parkers, as he advises them that their friendship is "unwholesome", his face is framed by a flash of lightning. "Homo-sexuality" is muttered with an extreme close-up of a doctor's face to illustrate the disdain for such a "disorder", while her mum muses that she used to be "normal".



The new release of Heavenly Creatures is available on both Blu-Ray and DVD. The Dolby Digital soundtrack is just fine, making good use of the scenes in Borovnia particularly. Although I must admit, I found the picture quality to be a little disappointing considering it's sold as "remastered". It's certainly sharp looking, but less so than one would expect for something so relatively recent. Otherwise, press materials boast a nice set of extras comprising two trailers, a Looking Back documentary, and a picture gallery. These were not available on the review copy. Peccadillo Pictures had attempted to include further features including a Director's Commentary, but ran into problems with Wingnut pictures, taking the situation out of their hands. The retail version also contains a nice slipcase, and some postcards that are supposedly very swish indeed, a touch that should be applauded, and certainly helps re-releases such as this stand out. Given the circumstances, they've done exceedingly well in putting this release out there in such an attractive package.

Bleak, occasionally frightening, and ultimately devastating, Heavenly Creatures remains in many ways, Peter Jackson's most accomplished film. And while it's a draining experience, dealing with a very sensitive subject matter, I'm glad to note that the playful menace is still as thrilling now, as it was when I first experienced it during the late Nineties. There's no reason that this cracking film cannot do the same for the grubby fifteen year-old film enthusiasts of today.