The Barber (2002)

I've saw this movie once and now Im trying to get it to have a copy of it. I found this movie very slow but at times good. Im from the town where this movies was shot but missed watching the shooting of it by a few months.Its based in the fictional town of Revelstoke Alaska but in fact Revelstoke is in Eastern British Columbia Canada.Almost in between Vancouver BC and Calgary Alberta. Every place where the scenes were filmed I knew exactly where it was. Also a lot of the extras that shown I knew them. After watching the movie I was talking to the "locals" who were in the movie only to realize their scenes were edited out. More info on the town and the movie like probably guess most of the scenes were filmed at night. Yes it does snow a lot in fact this past winter we received over 14 feet of snow for the whole winter. Where "the barber" had his shop is located in an antique store that is on Mckenzie Ave. As Revelstoke is what is called a old railway town so we tend old buildings. Never less I want to movie more for where its filmed than for the actual storyline like i had said before the storyline is slow.

I watched this film having purchased it for the princely sum of £1.99 from my local Blockbuster. I picked it up purely because it looked like it might be a decent horror to pass the evening with. I couldn't have been more wrong.The film is shocking. Badly acted, terrible script, dated visually, especially for such a recent film; overall, a pretty poor effort.The film centres around the discovery of the body of a girl who had been missing for several days. At first it's unclear whether the girl is the daughter or wife of a local redneck. It emerges she is both his wife and a local prostitute. It took me about 15 minutes to work out this was the case as it wasn't clear at all. One by one various other people in the small town get killed and all along you know it's the local barber 'Dex' who's doing it. That removes all possible elements of mystery and suspense. A bizarrely wooden McDowell plays the lead and the supporting cast do little to get the viewer interested in the film. In fact I can honestly say that I didn't care a single bit about any of the characters who were killed by Dex. What is interesting though, is how much McDowell seems to borrow from Anthony Hopkins' Dr. Lecter; his intonation, eerie stares and stiff bearing are all borrowed. Unfortunately, he does a terrible job and just comes across as a little bit unhinged, but in no way lives up to the great performance he mimics.What also mystifies me is the certificate. An 18? Why? There was one scene of a half naked corpse, there was one little bit of blood and some relatively bad language, though nothing I've not heard in a 15. From what the back of the DVD cover promised I was expecting a riot of blood, violence and overall a visceral experience.What I go instead was a camp, poorly realised attempt to rekindle some of the embers of past great serial killer films.I suppose one element of the film I liked was that it was always dark. If the blurb of the film was to be believed, it was going to lead into some pretty good madness scenes or people not being able to take it. A sort of inverse version of 'Insomnia' if you will. Alas, this was not the case and the only indication we got of the darkness having any kind of effect was an FBI agent who made a couple of passing comments about it.The best advice I can give to anyone who fancies watching this is to avoid it and get Silence of the Lambs instead.

Everyone looks for the perfect film and thinks if they do not find it there is nothing worth while. That is why I really enjoy...if not love this film! I need not say anything about Malcolm since his acting and career speaks for itself, but also consider that the films he chooses are not necessarily main stream, but possess some merit(considering his 147 IMDb acting entries).This film made me think of an Insomnia (foreign or domestic) meets David Lynch (Twin Peaks of course), or the other way around depending on which influenced you first. I can't but wonder if all those things criticized about this film were intentional. The quirky nature of each character, for example, due to effects of S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder - http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/27.cfm), provide the canvas for the film to unfold onto.This is the one of few reviews I have written, even though I personally own over 1500 films (not that it really means anything or that I have seen them all)! I just felt that someone needed to speak up for the misunderstood. If you spent the time to actually read my comments I thank you for your time, whether you enjoy this film or not. If you have not seen the film, I would like to say it would be worth your while, but this is the kind of film you have to experience for yourself and see how it suits you.

I bought the DVD of this movie for five bucks at Fred Meyer. Honestly, I thought it was going to suck. I only bought it because it stars Malcolm McDowell, and I'd watch that man read the phone book.Big surprise! The Barber is delightful! It's filled with dark humor, wit, and some really terrific visual jokes. Oh yeah, and grisly murders, too.Malcolm McDowell is fantastic, as usual. He alternately downplays the character and chews the scenery. The rest of the cast is good as well. The chief of police is excellent as he slowly comes unhinged. The dim but sweet Jules was another of my favorites.Sure, there are technical problems. It's a low-budget flick, and they could have used a continuity editor. But so what? The movie is great fun. Watch it on a dark, cold night. And I'm not just saying this because Malcolm McDowell makes my horns pointy.