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Monday, 24 September 2007
SHANKS
Last weekend, Marcel Marceau died. For thoze who didn't grow up in the 70's, he waz the Elvis of the mime world. He waz huge, a superstar that waz constantly on tv, alwayz trying to get out of that damned invisible box and walking against the wind. Mimez were nuthin' til he came along and made it mainstream. Plus he kicked Shields and Yarnell's asses.
Still, mime'z don't get no respect. They're kinda like the creepier cousin of clownz, and we all know clownz are pretty creepy themselvez, Mimez were doubly so cuz they used imaginary props, not the loudly colored onez that clownz used. Nope, thier balloonz waz only suggested by the mime'z gestures and exaggerated movements. The only thing creepier than a mime is a ventriloquist, cuz let'z face it-grown men having full on conversationz with old man looking dolls iz just plain wierd. Plus we've all seen that Twilight Zone
Anywayz, Marcel Marceau will alwayz be remembered for being the Uber-Mime. To most...
but I'll alwayz remember him from one of the strangest moviez ever. The 1974 film called "Shanks" episode... 
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want no dead person cuttin' out a slice of cake for me, especially when they lose a finger or two in the process.
Anywhoodle, thingz are all fun and cames when children and mimez play with dead thingz until, from out of nowhere a biker gang crashes into the home and get all wild n' crazy like biker gangs do. The biker gang, who look like the heavy metal band Judas Priest during thier "British Steel" era, get all frisky with the teenage girl, toss a classical record on the turntable and get thier mits on the remote control for dead people and make the dead landlord breakdance. Suddenly, I guess we're supposed to think of the bikers az the evil characters, tho, I'm having a hard time rooting for Shanks and his Jan Brady looking girlfriend. Everybody in this movie reeks of creepiness... 
Thingz eventually just get all out out of control. The bikerz kill the teenage girl, Shanks reanimates the old scientist,the landlord and his wife and attacks the bikers and beats them all, and then uses the remote control to raise his dead girlfriend up from the ground and she givez him a big ol' deathgrip like hug.
Then,we're left with Shanks putting on a puppetshow with puppets that look like the landlord,the scientist and the landlord's wife giving thier final curtain call bows as the 13 year old girl works behind the scenes on the puppetshow.
Was it all just a puppet play or has he used the reanimated dead girl to help entertain the kiddies? My guess it'z the former, but I like to think it waz the latter, cuz I'm twisted like that.
Regardless, "Shanks" iz a weird flick, not only cuz of the total disrespect for the dead by the main characters, but because it stars Marcel Marceau who doesn't speak a word in it. It playz like a fairy tale wrapped in a silent movie, like something Lon Chaney would've done.
It'z hard to get ahold of, I caught it on The Sci-Fi Channel late at night in the late 90'z.
If I waz Shields & Yarnell, I would get ahold of that remote control and reanimate Marceau and well...
use your imagination. I'm twisted like that.
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 12:01 AM PDT
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