For A Good Time

stmichaeldet

Ah, the late eighties, when every time you turned around, someone was releasing a new supernatural slasher flick on a no-longer-very-unsuspecting audience. If only they could all have been at least as good as 976-EVIL, how much happier those times would have been.

The plot is far and away better than I've come to expect, with several good twists, and characters capable of surprising decisions and shifting between sympathetic and unsympathetic roles. The set design and cinematography are amazing, with a unique retro-punk, exaggerated style and many visual echos and interconnections to the movie's themes. For instance, check out the local businesses - Dante's Diner (I'd like to suggest the motto, "Home of the Zombie Waitress!"), the El Diablo Theater with its non-stop horror marathon, and Virgil's garage. The costumes are amazing, from the Happy-Days-meets-Clockwork-Orange look of the various punks and low-lives, to Aunt Lucy's proper Christian outfits and astounding wigs.

All in all, 976 turned out to be much more than I bargained for. A pleasant surprise.

score 7/10

stmichaeldet 4 February 2006

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1282996/