Murder a la Mod is Brian De Palma’s first movie. It’s alternately frustrating and fascinating. The most impressive thing about it is that he
arrived fully formed with plenty of the cinematic fetishes that would later
become his hallmarks already on display. There are Hitchcockian murder set pieces, a
shopping scene that plays with time similarly to Carrie, William Findlay acting
creepy, and characters using film to uncover a crime. All of this is maddingly uneven, but when it hits
the sweet spot, Murder a la Mod is a lot of fun.
Artist models are instructed to disrobe by an unseen
photographer during screen tests. Some
are timid and/or complain and others are brutally murdered on camera. One such victim is Tracy (Andra Ankers). Is the creepy cameraman Otto (Findlay, who even
sings the awesome theme song!) to blame?
Or is someone else the culprit?
Most of the fun comes from seeing De Palma already
exploring thematic material he’d later use in his other movies. Like Body Double, it involves the seedy side
of moviemaking. There’s also a definite Psycho
element at work here, which would later influence De Palma’s Dressed to
Kill. We even get a body-hiding scene that’s
similar to Sisters.
After the shocking opening scene, things get awfully
uneven. One scene plays out like a silent
comedy while the next turns into full-on gory horror. These shifts in tone are often jarring,
although it adds to the film’s anything-goes charm. The meandering script and the amateurish
performances (especially by the bank manager) are the main debits, but it still
remains a fascinating curio for De Palma’s fans. Like the title pun, it’s amusing even if it
doesn’t quite work.
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