The Manipulator

Weird doesn't being to describe this one. Even if you're a fan of bizarre films you're going to have trouble with The Manipulator. Mickey Rooney plays B. J. Lang, a psychopath who is making a film in his own head in an abandoned theatre. He talks to people who aren't there, sees people who aren't there but has a very real woman held captive, whom he forces to play Roxanne in his imaginary film of Cyrano De Bergerac. At some point Keenan Wynn turns up as a tramp. That's the plot.

So, how do you stretch that out to feature length? Well, Rooney basically babbles, screams, dances, sings, rolls about the floor, stares into space, drools, wears a fake nose, wears make up, whispers, talks to dummies, sweeps the floor and plays forward for Manchester Unitied while the film passes by in slow motion, speeded up, flashes subliminal images, changes perspective and even location several times.

There's a ten minute stretch that takes place entirely under a strobe light, which caused me to put off the film for a while to have a break, and another ten minute stretch of people laughing in slow motion while Rooney walks around saying 'love' and holding a baby. Or how about the bit where Rooney rolls about the floor saying 'pills' over and over again? Or the jungle noises? Or the bit where someone goes mental with a moog while Rooney chases that woman about. For about ten minutes. In slow motion.

This film is an endurance test for the viewer and although I'm not sure what the point of it all was, I'd pretty much reserve this film for folks who think they've seen it all, just to see their jaws drop. It's by no means a good film, but it's too weird to hate either. I wonder what Rooney thinks of it (yep, he's still alive…189 years young).

Everyone who has commented on this film to date has been right. It is a terrible, nearly unwatchable movie, directed by someone who has seen too many avant-garde short films by Stan Brakhage and Maya Derren and who mistakenly believed that a 90-minute commercial movie could be made using their techniques.

But it is also a filmed actors exercise, an extended acting class in which someone said to Mickey Rooney, "Let's test your chops, and explore the limits of your acting range." Viewing the movie that way, it is a triumph for Rooney. His acting talent is incredible, and in two- or three-minute bites his performance can be mesmerizing. He takes a mess of a script, an insane and unsympathetic character, and crazy lines, and comes off not just as believable but as affecting. You really don't want to see this movie, but if someone showed you a few short clips from it you would gain a new appreciation for Rooney's abilities.

Luana Anders holds her own as Rooney's captive, but it is Rooney's show.

WOW a blast from the past - and a pleasant surprise. I got this gem in the Drive-in 50-pack collection. I remember this one from quite a few years ago. I am glad to have this one in the 50-pack. It's definitely one of the better films in the Drive-in 50-pack.

This is a very bizarre film where Mickey Rooney plays B.J. Lang a psycho that is holding Carlotta hostage in his basement. He is creating a movie in his mind and forces Carlotta to participate. Mr. Lang gives us quite a show while "teaching" Carlotta all about the theater. To add to the weirdness, we have Old Charlie in the basement who is dead.

It's not the greatest horror film but it is one of the better one's from the 1970s and in the Drive-in collection.

6/10

I would simply state that this movie was less than horrible, but I feel that would be too nice. Basically, I would rather consume rancid lobster than endure this cinematic travesty again. I respect Mickey Rooney as a great American actor and I have enjoyed many of his films but he should definitely abstain himself from any experimentations with abstract art and hallucinogens. I wouldn't recommend this film to the devil himself.

Essentially a two-person stage play with the fatally unhinged former make-up man Rooney recreating his favourite motion pictures on an old, abandoned sound stage using abducted actress Anders as his muse. The film conveys her attempts to escape, and Rooney's lunacy as he flits between vague coherency and outright mania. Larry Cohen's impressive set design is eye-catching, although the music tempo is at times so frantic as to become irritating.

I've read a lot of reviews concerning this movie, and the majority seem to charge it with a contempt normally reserved for those films so pathetic, they even fail on cult status. Sure, it's probably a little too avant garde for the average punter (myself included), and yet, it's strangely compelling with a truly maniacal performance by Rooney. If you'd been accustomed to the Mickey Rooney of the 1940's, then you're in for a shock; his turn is quite raw, maybe somewhat self-indulgent (in showcasing his range), but certainly remarkable.

Anders certainly isn't the acting dwarf some have painted, though her dialogue is scarce by comparison, while the once-ubiquitous Keenan Wynn has a brief but memorable cameo, and there are a host of extras that form Rooney's heyday hallucinations (and who look like a theatrical company) - many of them sans costumes in full-frontal glory just to underline the point that Rooney has totally flipped his switch. I almost fell asleep after just ten or so minutes, but persevered and while not a masterpiece, found the overall result intense if at times uneven and probably unfairly maligned as a turkey.