Film Review: The Reflecting Skin (1990)

So, this is a film that has been on my radar for many years. I saw screen shots and the trailer for it a long time ago, and always thought it looked interesting. For whatever reason, I never ended up watching it, possibly because I had a ton of other films I wanted to watch at the time. I’ve finally gotten around to it, and, well, it was an interesting watch. I’m not quite sure how I’d rate this film exactly, though I guess that comes with the territory when you’re talking about artistic films, but it did strike some sort of chord with me, so that is certainly notable. Anyways, let’s get into this.

The film follows a young boy named Seth living in a small rural community in the plains of Idaho. After blowing up a frog and spraying its blood all over a new neighbor, he is sent by his uptight and exasperated mother to go apologize. In-between these events, his father tells him about vampires, gleaning information from a book he is currently reading (first major hint as to where this story is going). Also worth noting are a group of guys in a black Cadillac, who Seth meets when they come to his family’s gas station, and who act very creepy towards him. This new neighbor is a woman named Dolphin, who doesn’t begrudge Seth for what he did and even claims to have done just as much or worse in her day. Dolphin tells him that she’s been living alone ever since her husband killed himself, an event that she hasn’t been able to get over. She seems to be rather creepily obsessed with her late husband, talking about his skin in an almost erotic way and keeping a box with his hair, tooth, and “scent.” She claims that he “kept her young” and, without him, she keeps aging. Apparently, she’s 200 years old. After freaking Seth out by demanding that he smell her husband’s scent, he leaves for home. He notices that the woman pictured on the cover of his dad’s vampire book looks incredibly similar to Dolphin and starts to make the connection. Later, Seth’s friend Eben disappears and is found floating in a cistern. While he suspects Dolphin, the police actually suspect his father, who apparently had a homosexual relationship years ago (with a seventeen-year-old no less) and the police have been wary of him ever since. The father, thinking that there’s no way out, covers himself with gasoline and lights himself on fire. In the wake of the dad’s death, Seth’s older brother Cameron comes home from the army to help run the house and becomes interested in Dolphin. The two spark up a romance, which Seth is not happy about, especially after his brother’s physical health starts to decline, in the same ways as Dolphin’s husband did. So, is Dolphin really a vampire? Can Seth save Cameron? Who were those guys in the black Cadillac? I’ll let you watch and find out (admittedly, I went a bit overboard with the plot synopsis last time, I apologize for that). Overall, the story in this film is interesting. While the idea of a “vampire in the neighborhood” is nothing new (see: Fright Night, The Lost Boys, etc.), the movie does keep you wondering where the story is ultimately going, and the characters have a quirkiness to them that gives the film a more unique feel. But on that note, let’s get to the aspects that really help the film stand out: the style, vibe, and themes.

From the opening credits, I was intrigued by the film’s style. Though the intro is a typical black screen with credits, the music playing throughout had this dark angelic quality to it. It gave off the feeling of a heavy drama or possibly some sort of Omen-esque heaven and hell film. It definitely put me in a wary yet fascinated mood, which I think is very much what they were going for. The film seems to want to capture the lost and uncertain feelings of childhood, a time when we didn’t fully understand the world or other people. While it would often be easy to ignore the major issues going on in the world, since we weren’t the ones who had to deal with them, we could often still be wary or suspicious of folks in our vicinity that seemed off. You’re often taught to beware of strangers anyway, but kids can still be perceptive towards the bad vibes people give off, especially mid-to-older aged kids like Seth. Sadly, though, our suspicions aren’t always reliable, as, well, let’s just say that Seth’s assumption that Dolphin is a vampire is “challenged” and the result is devastating. In fact, his attention was never properly placed, and in trying to deal with one problem, he ends up facilitating another more destructive problem. Sometimes we think we’re doing right, but in the process only make things worse. Such is the folly of man, or something like that. I also want to commend the cinematography and production design, as they really aid this film’s feel. When I saw the expansive grain fields, solitary wooden houses, and Seth roaming through it all, it felt like a live-action painting, especially reminiscent of the works of Andrew Wyeth. Wyeth was an American painter known for his realist paintings of rural settings, many of which had rough, earthy tones and a sense of isolation in open space. Those elements are very much reflected here, the rural setting rolling on over the horizon into an unknown while our characters are stuck right in the middle of this terrestrial sea. In addition, the shot compositions are amazingly effective. When Seth is visiting Dolphin early in the film, there’s a shot that shows him sitting in a chair with a giant shark jaw mounted on the wall behind him. The way it’s framed, it looks as if the jaw is surrounding his head, about to bite it off. It’s a really cool way to show the potential danger that he’s in as well as giving off the sense that he’s facing something that he is powerless to fight against. In a later scene, Seth is roaming around Dolphin’s house and heads up the stairs at one point. The sunlight bounces off the walls in such a way as to leave Seth in shadow, and with the surrounding walls being a distinctive green, it looks beautiful. It might also be symbolic of Seth delving into an uncertain, shadowy danger, too. All of these elements help to aid the sense of uncertainty and fear that this film gives off, not in a horror way but more in a “sensing danger but being generally powerless to do much about it” way (as well as just dealing with heavy drama). I should also probably note the acting in this film. I think it works for what the film is going for, but it definitely has an odd, quirky tinge to it, and I could see it being a sticking point for some, taking them out of the experience and all. However, given the feel that the film creates, I think the acting works well as part of the whole experience. While it is a mostly down-to-earth film, it seems to be creating a sense of heightened reality on some level, most likely mirroring the perception of our main character. I suppose you could compare it to films like Blue Velvet or Wiseblood, films that deal with small scale settings and heavy themes, but with a certain eccentricity to the overall presentation. It does still set itself apart from those films, though, what with its previously mentioned dark dramatic uncertainty compared to Blue Velvet’s 50’s reality shattered feel and Wiseblood’s rawer and more direct feel. Overall, I’d say the film’s stylistic elements come together very well to enhance the story and ideas and create a unique experience all its own.

The Reflecting Skin is an interesting dark drama with a distinct style that greatly aids its story and overall experience. I think they accomplished what they were trying to do very well, but certain aspects such as the acting might turn some people off. Still, though, it crafts a remarkably interesting experience that’s worth watching at least once.