Frisk (film)

Frisk is a 1995 American drama film directed by Todd Verow, based on the 1991 novel of the same name by author Dennis Cooper. It is a first-person narrative about a serial killer. Dennis (Michael Gunther) describes a series of ritual murders in letters to his sometime lover and best friend Julian (Jaie Laplante) and Julian's younger brother Kevin (Raoul O'Connell), an object of desire to Dennis.

Frisk
Directed byTodd Verow
Written byDennis Cooper (novel)
James Derek Dwyer
George LaVoo
Todd Verow
Produced byJon Gerrans
Marcus Hu
Starring
CinematographyGreg Watkins
Edited byTodd Verow
Music byCoil, Lee Ranaldo
Distributed byStrand Releasing
Release date
  • 1995 (1995)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Verow once explained in an interview "we really need to concentrate on what makes us unique, what makes us interesting and what makes us dangerous".[1]

It is banned in the UK due to its content. It was rejected by the BBFC in 1998, and although still banned in UK, it has been shown without a certificate at London's ICA cinema.[2] It was the closing night attraction at the 1996 San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.[3] When screened in Manhattan, several cinema viewers left during the violent scenes.[4]

Bob Mould mooted scoring the film in 1993. Dennis Cooper's work, he said, "deals with a lot of fetishes and fantasies and free-floating imagery, which I like a lot. I've read the book. It's pretty harsh. It's pretty gay."[5]

Cast
  • Michael Gunther as Dennis
  • Craig Chester as Henry
  • Michael Stock as Uhrs
  • Raoul O'Connell as Kevin
  • Jaie Laplante as Julian
  • Parker Posey as Ferguson
  • James Lyons as Gypsy Pete
  • Alexis Arquette as Punk (victim #3)
  • Michael Waite as Gary
  • Alyssa Wendt as Susan
  • Mark Ewert as Young Dennis / Jan (victim #1) / Young Boy in park (victim #4)
  • Dustin Schell as Snuff Photographer
  • Michael Wilson as Party Goer
  • Paul B. Riley as Party Goer
  • Donald Mosner as Party Goer

Reviews

In 1996, Stephen Holden of the New York Times called the film "harshly repellent" and "realistic but messy style that might be called cold porn for its utter lack of erotic warmth". It is "meandering and narratively diffuse, but it is also disturbingly well acted".[4]

References
  1. Carl Stychin and Didi Herman (Editors) Sexuality in the Legal Arena, p. 82, at Google Books
  2. "Banned in the UK". letterboxd.com. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  3. "Frisk (1996)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  4. Holden, Stephen (22 March 1996). "FILM REVIEW;Where Gory Ends Wait For Drugged-Out Punks". New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  5. Cavanagh, David (July 1993). "Sidewalking". Select. p. 72.


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