Stream it now Heavenly Creatures 1994

 

Peter Jackson does a fatastic job here. A story about 2 young girls who create a alternate world of make believe. Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey pull you in with their child like charm but scary you with the hatred that grows within them. These girls think they need to create this alternate world to get away from the unhappy lifes they live. And in the end they think it is worth killing for. It kind of makes you fear children!

This is one of my top 5 favourite movies. It captures what its like to be mutually inspired in a relationship. The 'Fargo' like characters and the intensity of the movie bring it all together. The music's great too. I still get spine tingles watching the school assembly scene with the school singing 'Just a Closer Walk With Thee'. I don't think Peter Jackson's even come close to matching it.

These are very good reasons I fear having children.

Fascinating film. Beautifully shot and generally well realised. I found it little hard to connect with any of the irritating protagonists. Also suffers a little from some overacting.

creative, sweet, disturbing but still fun, this tale of lesbian puppy love strikes to the bone as well shakes the interior. Peter Jackson perfectly blends fantasy, drama and suspense. Kate Winslet gives an incredibly fine performance at a very young age.

what a great and creative film peter jackson was able to create. heavenly creatures is a based on a true story in new zealand about these two disturbing teen girls Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey (this is actually kate winslet's film debut)who warped idea of reality leads them to a path of MURDER. is you had to describe this movie with only one word it would have to be INTENSE. i never thought i would be afraid of a character just by they're intense relationship with a other person not knowing how far the person will go to keep that bond ( kate and Melanie friendship in the film).

The Lord of the Rings may be Jackson's masterpiece (and with reason), but this is his most complex film to date. This film (based on a true story) explores the relationship between two girls, one shy and angry and the other manic depressive, whose idiosyncrasies complement each other in the perfectly wrong way. The two girls create a fantasy world which becomes more real to them than reality, and in the end, will do whatever it takes to protect that. The two leads are fantastic, particularly Winslet (although that should be no surprise). What makes their relationship so unique is the homosexuality that is involved. Their relationship is less based in atypical attraction and more in creating a more fully developed realism to the imaginery world they have created together. This is the part of the relationship that ultimately tears them apart, as their parents and psychologists are unable to fully understand how real their world is. Also, the final 10 minutes or so are as intense as anything that Jackson filmed in The Lord of the Rings, and although the film is not for everyone, it is difficult for me to give it anything but a top rating. Another tidbit that makes this film even more disturbing: the narration from the one girl's diary is actually taken from the real life person. Knowing this information going in (as I did) makes this film that much more heartbreaking. The crime they commit is not made in cold blood, it is made in the protection of a world which they find more real then the one in which they inhabit. I have a feeling Jackson (whose films always lie in the realm of the fantastical) understood that urge. This does not absolve them of their crimes, but Jackson neither absolves nor places blame. He simply illustrates how strong their fantasy had become, as well as the inherent danger in forgetting yourself in your dreams.

Honestly, I didn't know what to think of this movie. The acting was superb, and Peter Jackson did a good job with directing it--but I just thought the story itself wasn't that compelling. It was a little strange, and at times a bit uncomfortable to watch (perhaps that was the intention). This is one of those movies that is worth watching once, but it is forgetable and not something I personally would want to see again.

After the brilliant, disgusting Dead Alive, Peter Jackson tried his hand at something totally different - a true-life drama based on two very close friends who murder one of their mothers in 1950's New Zealand. The story is fascinating on its own, but Jackson doesn't merely show the events as they happened, he tries to get inside the heads of the two girls. As you watch Heavenly Creatures, you see life mostly through the eyes of these very creative, very disturbed girls - resulting in an audacious, breathtakingly free film that's an emotional rollercoaster. It wildly swings between humor and beauty, sadness and horror, and is all captured by Peter Jackson's hyperactive camera, which just makes the film seem all the more out-of-control.

All this ambitious chaos might've gone completely out of control if the two central actresses weren't up to the challenge, but Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet are both astoundingly good. Lynskey is the more outwardly disturbed of the two, and perfectly brings her complex, frightening character to life, making her an absolute monster who is also extremely sympathetic. Kate Winslet is equally amazing, although at first she actually came across as irritating and amateurish. However, this is just a part of her character, who hides her pain with an overly cheery shell - when her dark side shows through, it's truly chilling. What Winslet does with her character is incredible, especially for a first performance. Also worth mentioning is Sarah Pierse as the doomed mother, who has less screentime than the girls but makes just as much of an impact. She portrays the mother as a flawed but goodhearted person, who ends up being by far the most sympathetic character in the whole film.

Overall, Heavenly Creatures in one of the most intriguing, unique movies I've seen in a long time. It tackles difficult, real subject matter head-on in a bold, unusual matter, and lets the viewer make up their own minds on what they just saw. A jaw-dropping work and an absolute must-see, although keep in mind - you will be very, very disturbed.

My ratings of Peter Jackson films:
1. Lord of the Rings Trilogy - 10
2. King Kong - 9
3. Heavenly Creatures / Dead Alive - 9's (like them equally for very different reasons)

VERDICT:
7/10 Experimental Periods

With The Lovely Bones coming out soon, figured I'd give this a look being that it's the only other movie by Peter Jackson that doesn't feature wizards, zombies, or giant apes.

- Read the rest of my review at ctcmr.com -