In a 1950s midwestern town surrounded by wheat fields, young Seth Dove (Cooper) and his friends pass the time by playing nasty tricks on their widowed neighbor, Dolphin (Duncan), like puffing up a frog and exploding it all over her when she's walking home. One by one Seth's buddies are being snatched up by what appears to be a child murderer, and the police point the finger at the boy's father (Fraser) who responds by setting himself ablaze. Seth concludes through Dolphin's erratic behavior that she's actually a vampire, and when his older brother Cameron (Mortensen) returns home and begins sleeping with her, Seth's childhood perceptions become even more twisted. Meanwhile a trio of teens cruise the area in their ominous black Cadillac, and no one who hops inside ever seems to emerge alive...
Arguably the definitive art film/horror hybrid from the 1990s, The Reflecting Skin was the directorial debut of English writer Philip Ridley, who had previously scriped The Krays and turned out a string of successful children's books. (Since then he's directed only two films, The Passion of Darkly Noon and Heartless, both of which are worth tracking down.) Because this film is "weird" and has a gorgeous visual style, most critics lumped it in with David Lynch; however, that's pretty much where the resemblance ends. If anything it's more like a hybrid between The Company of Wolves and The Night of the Hunter (even quoting a scene from the former when Seth and company discover an ossified fetus in their barn), mixing the naive and the terrifying into a stew of symbolism that will either leave viewers entraced or laughing hysterically. Either reaction is probably valid, but the combination of those two films sounds tasty, chances are you'll enjoy this one, too. What's indisputable is the fact that this is one amazing film to watch and hear; the cinematography by Dick Pope (Dark 
City) delivers one amazing painterly image after another, while the soaring, unforgettable orchestral score by the underrated Nick Bicāt (Wetherby) should have been a calling card to bigger and better things. The one big stumbling block here is the central performance by Cooper, who isn't exactly the greatest child actor of all time; while one is usually inclined to give kids a pass when it comes to stylized films like this, the simple fact is that he can't come close to carrying the psychological and emotional weight demanded by his role, rendering his big howl to the heavens comes in the final scene a lot less effective than it should have been. That issue aside, the film comes very close to classic status and richly deserves its small but dedicated cult following.
Unfortunately fans of the film have had to put up with a lot of mistreatment over the years. The Reflecting Skin was released by Miramax during its pre-Disney period in the same year they unleashed The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. Their piecemeal video deals resulted in titles scattering all over the place, with Live Home Video (remember them?) issuing it on VHS and laserdisc in a really poor, fuzzy transfer, with Virgin following suit on VHS only in the UK. Since then it's been nearly impossible for most English-speaking viewers until a much-needed anamorphic DVD finally surfaced in Japan a few years ago from Wint. Unfortunately it's interlaced (which wreaks havoc with the many dolly shots in the film) but otherwise this version looks and sounds great. Meanwhile in Germany, Intergroove released it with a German dub only on DVD but wisely reinstated the original English track (with optional German subs) for their Blu-Ray, which sounds fine (if a little confined to the front and center for a supposed 5.1 mix). Unfortunately the transfer proves more problematic. It's definitely the most colorful and vivid of all the versions out there, but the source is obviously a very grainy 35mm print that's been slathered in artificial noise reduction, resulting in a visual texture awash in softened grain that can charitably be described as "splotchy." It's similar to the digital-looking veneer found in some other German HD titles like Silver Saddle, so be prepared for some disappointment here. The only extra is an unrelated German short film, "Echos," which has no English options but appears to be about two female roommates in a very sinister situation. Unfortunately there's no better option around right now for The Reflecting Skin, and the film is definitely worth discovering under any circumstances; here's hoping someone like Criterion is smart enough to revive it from video limbo with a more respectful presentation sometime in the near future.
