Subject: REVIEW: THE LAWNMOWER MAN

From: [email-masked] (Brian L. Johnson)
Date: 31 Mar 92 15:16:01 GMT

[Followups directed to rec.arts.sf.movies.  -Moderator]

                        THE LAWNMOWER MAN
                  A film review by Ken Johnson
                   Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson

144 min., R, Science Fiction/Horror, 1992
Director: Brett Leonard
Cast: Jeff Fahey, Pierce Bronsnan, Jenny Wright, Geoffrey Lewis

     Pierce Bronsnan is a scientist who is working on Virtual Reality,
which is a simulator that opens you up to a computerized dimension.  He
has been using monkeys for these experiments, but now he wants to use a
human to see what the effect would be.  Mentally retarded Jeff Fahey is
Bronsnan's lawnmower man.  Fahey loves to play with Bronsnan's computer
simulators.  Bronsnan starts using Fahey for his experiments, without
telling him what he is doing, and with disastrous results.

     THE LAWNMOWER MAN is a combination of science fiction and horror,
mostly the science fiction though.  It uses the new technology of
Virtual Reality, which I don't know too much about.  It has some
wonderful computer animation (I'll get back to this later), good special
effects, and a good plot.  On a scale of zero to five, I give THE
LAWNMOWER MAN a four.  THE LAWNMOWER MAN is rated R for explicit
language, violence, adult situations, and brief female nudity.

     THE LAWNMOWER MAN is one of two Stephen King films coming to the
theaters in the next few months.  The other film of his is called
SLEEPWALKERS (Columbia Pictures) and is scheduled to be released on
April 10.  THE LAWNMOWER MAN has been released by New Line Cinema and is
"based" on a short story by Stephen King.  A small hint of Stephen
King's short story shows up towards the end of the film, but other than
that, THE LAWNMOWER MAN has nothing to do with Stephen King's short
story.  In fact, Stephen King's short story has nothing to do with
Virtual Reality at all.

     The Virtual Reality segments are done with computer graphics and
are very well done.  The way that the colors and the shapes all blend
together makes THE LAWNMOWER MAN seem different than most other horror
movies.  The Virtual Reality segments make the film almost an art film,
for the Virtual Reality takes up most of the film.  If all that you are
interested in is the Virtual Reality segments, it might make it more
worth your money to go see a matinee.  This film definitely won't hold
up very well on video.

     The one thing that really upsets me about THE LAWNMOWER MAN is that
both the advertisements for the film, and the film itself, state right
on the title "Stephen King's The Lawnmower Man."  Yet barely any of the
film is actually "Stephen King's The Lawnmower Man"; most of it is just
"The Lawnmower Man."  I get upset when a film states that it is taken
from a certain person's work and isn't, like "Edgar Allan Poe's THE PIT
AND THE PENDULUM."  Some Stephen King films have been direct
translations of the novel, like IT and CARRIE.  Others like THE
LAWNMOWER MAN and THE RUNNING MAN have very little to do with the novel.
I feel such movies should say "Inspired by the Stephen King short story
THE LAWNMOWER MAN" or something like that.

Ken J.
[email-masked]