No I saw it when I was a kid and then repeatedly in this or that context. I can only take it as an OTT send up. Actually it has a moderate cinephile following as does DePalms in general. For the record, I think his 1981 film ‘Blow Out’ is one of the best American films of the early 1980s. Ever see that?
By “taking it” as a send up you’re basically rewriting the movie to your liking. Scarface has a pretty strong following outside of the normal cinephile group, just like the article points out, you can walk into any poster store in this country and find half a dozen posters for it on prominent display. It’s got all that larger than life stuff that brings normal people to the movies.
Haven’t seen Blow Out, looks interesting though, popped it into the Netflix queue.
“For the record, I think his 1981 film ‘Blow Out’ is one of the best American films of the early 1980s.”
I tend to think of DePalma as hackneyed, especially compared to the comany he’s usually included in, namely the Coppola/Lucas/Scorcese/Spielberg 70s Rebel (in the sense that they were an alternative to Old Hollywood, not that they were actually rebellious) Film School Gang. Which makes it odd that “Blow Out,” an actual remake, is my favorite movie of his, although I enjoy “The Untouchables.”
One caveat, however, is that it’s a little rough grafting the slasher thing onto an assassination thriller. It’s one thing for Lithgow to be a rogue nut; quite another for him to ritualistically murder women with a sexual overtone just to provide an alibi. I suppose the point is he’s crazy enough to want to do it anyway, but still, there’s a little too much madness going on in that scenario. Poltical thrillers and horror movies are close enough tonally to make it work, but it’s still somewhat unerving.
Other than that, I love damsel character, love the chase and climax, love the foreshadowing, and for once don’t want to punch Travolta in his giant face.