Resurrection (1999)
Christophe Lambert, Leland Orser, Peter MacNeill, Robert Joy, Rick Fox, Philip Williams, Barbara Tyson, Jonathan Whittaker, James Kidnie, David Cronenberg
Directed by: Russell Mulcahy

Though it came out in ’99, this movie just recently came on my radar from a YouTuber that I like, in a video of “hidden gems of the 90’s”. And while I’m not sure it’s a gem, it was entertaining.

Chicago homicide detectives Prudhomme and Hollingsworth are assigned to investigate a murder. Both become entangled in the plot of a serial killer whose goal is to recreate the body of Christ.

The first thing I noticed about this film is that it desperately wants to be Seven. The detective with a gruff exterior, the pouring rain, the religious angle of the murders. Unfortunately, this movie is no Seven. That’s not to say it isn’t good, it’s just not quite that good.

The acting is all over the place, especially from Lambert, who’s usually very good. And for most of the film he was, just sometimes… I guess the emotion got away from him and he became melodramatic. The story was very good. Despite leaning heavily on the Seven angle, it had enough of its own stuff that it was still interesting enough to not feel like a total rip-off. The cinematography was mostly good except for two parts. One where a snap turn was used twice in a row for seemingly no reason, and once where the video went wobbly, as if to say the character is struggling to stay conscious, but that wasn’t happening. So I’m not sure what the director was trying to accomplish with these scenes, but it did nothing but make me slightly dizzy.

The characters were mostly good, if a little stereotypical. But I enjoyed the friendship of the two lead detectives, who, by all accounts, should not get along. The actor who played the killer (who I won’t name in case anyone was interested in seeing the film after reading my review) did a suitably creepy job, even if his plan was so convoluted and required a lot of people to fall down on the job. Also, finding those specific people with all these traits in common, exactly what he needed for his “ritual”, would probably be impossible, even in a city the size of Chicago. Speaking of Chicago, not a single Chicagoan accent was heard. Pity. Lambert’s accent was cute, though, as usual.

So, do I recommend it? Sure, if for nothing else than that pure 90’s nostalgic vibe. It’s not an amazing movie, but is still worth a watch. I give it a solid 7/10.

M.

This film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.