3.5 stars overall
4 stars though for atmosphere, creepiness, cinematography, sound, score and performances (particularly one scene in which Nic Cages sings! - brilliantly weird) but unfortunately great elements do not quite coalesce into a great film. It’s well worth watching, but for me, it’s just not the film of the year I was expecting.
Hail Satan
Love Lies Bleeding is full of intimate glistening sweaty close-ups, expressionistic neon lighting, and surreal waking dream sequences. Where shots of cracked fissures in the nearby landscapes are framed to look like Cronenbergian flesh wounds à la Crash and star-filled skies are perfect for wishing upon.
The film is also a jukebox of greatest hits imagery from David Lynch’s back catalogue.
A fun visceral neo-noir crime caper with an interesting central love story that descends into the darker sides of addiction, obsession and body dysmorphia and finally ascends euphorically at its bonkers climax.
Has cult classic coursing through its jacked-up veins.
