If any of you out there followed the Marathon, you might remember me dedicated a spot on the list for a film called Lost Soul. Rather than your typical horror/sci-fi/fantasy fare that usually populates this list, this was a documentary, detailing the brief rise and precipitous fall of director Richard Stanley. A rising star of the early 90s in the horror movie world, Stanley had the money, the names (Marlon ‘Double Quarter Pounder’ Brando just for starters) and the crew when he started his third major motion picture: A then-modern day adaptation of the H.G. Wells’ classic ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’, featuring some incredibly impressive and incredibly ambitious art design and costuming. Unfortunately, the project was plagued with issues from the very start; money problems, location problems, Val Kilmer, and what was originally Richard Stanley’s epic sci-fi vision eventually became the infamous flop where Marlon Brando palled around with the prototype Mini Me. Much like Jodorowsky’s Dune, Lost Soul revels in the concept of ‘what could have been’ and pointing a finger at the oppressive studio heads who crush the artist’s creative vision, while managing to actually provide some interesting insight on the filmmaking process and the problems that arise when it comes to big studio productions. I recommended it back then, I’d still recommend it now.
Even since I finished the piece on Lost Soul way back when, I’ve had this desire to check out the films that had allowed Stanley to pursue Moreau with such confidence, that is to say Hardware and Dust Devil. In fact I had even considered putting it in the Marathon along with Lost Soul, ultimately deciding against it for the purposes of variety. Which means that it’s totally fine to do it now, it being a new year and new Marathon and all. Starting from the beginning seemed the best place to start, so that means 1990’s Hardware.
Sometime in the far future, at a point in time where technology only looks marginally more advanced than it was in the 90s, the United States has officially gone to shit. Nuclear attacks have left most of the major cities in ruins, leaving to radiation poisoned survivors to try and rebuild their lives from the scrap left behind. We are at war with an unknown enemy, which apparently isn't going all that well. The government is enacting what they are calling ‘population control’ laws, where citizens are being forced to choose between being sterilized or going hungry. Iggy Pop is a radio DJ, which is pretty cool, but other than that it’s pretty bad.
It is in this harsh world that Moses, our protagonist and all-around bland dude, gets a great deal on some parts that once belonged to a maintenance droid before it wandered into a local minefield. The plan is to give them to his estranged girlfriend Jill, who splits her time between moping about how shitty life is and making very pointy, very industrial sculptures about how shitty life is, in the hopes of making them less estranged. The thing is, and this is the silly part, those robot parts aren’t from a maintenance droid. They’re from a device called the M.A.R.K.-13, an intelligent and adaptive war machine developed by the U.S. Military, built to destroy any and all human life within its zone of operations. Which can be anywhere it damn well pleases as it turns out, because it’s not long before its discovery that it manages to reactivate itself and start carrying out that whole ‘merciless slaughter’ thing. If plain old life was a struggle in this bombed-out shit heap, Moses and Jill are about to find out just how much harder it is when you throw killer robots in the mix.
Looking at Hardware, you can recognize immediately why people were hyping up Stanley from the get-go. The man knows how to construct a unique and interesting looking world. The majority of the film takes place in Jill’s spacious studio apartment (how overpopulation is such a big deal yet an artist on welfare can afford a place like that in the city is beyond me), yet there are so many touches throughout the film that help to define Stanley’s vision of his universe. Jill’s N.I.N. chic, the constant updates by Angry Bob/Iggy Pop, their bizarre TV shows, the strobe lighting that comes and goes at a moment’s notice, it’s like a peek at the music video that ran through every grunge kid’s head back in the day. Considering Richard Stanley directed music videos before his move to theatrical films, maybe this isn’t all that surprising. But it is still hip.
Also worth noting, the M.A.R.K.-13 itself, which was an actual machine constructed for the film. I don’t know how easy it was for Stanley to even get that shit to work halfway decently, but it pays off when it actually comes into play in the film. An actor in a suit probably wouldn’t be able to convey the same sense of ‘other’ that the MARK-13 does at its best. Keep it in low lighting, don’t show it wheeling around under its own power that much, and it makes for a suitably impressive movie monster in spite of its Johnny 5 type design.
The problem that plagues Hardware though is the same problem that plague the films of another well-known music video alum, Zack Snyder: Under the impressive visuals, it’s just not good. Up its own ass even, packed in with a bunch of symbolism that I’m sure would look pretty good in the more visually focused world of music videos, but comes off as a bit pretentious here. Especially when you consider the fact that Hardware is really just the standard slasher formula gussied up to make it seem more ‘alternative’. The hot actress still survives, the perverts and the minorities are still killed off, all leading up to a climactic showdown between the hot chick and the monster at the end, it’s all by the books kind of stuff but presented with this aloof attitude. Like yeah, we know that Moses is an underdeveloped, rather blandly performed character, yeah Moses and Jill the entirety of their time as a ‘couple’ moping and arguing with each other, yeah barely any of the characters feel fleshed out and we try to push the message of hope and nihilism at the same time, but that’s real life! Sorry that you don’t get it, so why don’t you go back to watching Saved by the Bell reruns in your unripped jeans, you fucking square?! Stop being so mainstream, you’re embarrassing yourself.
Horror movies are a genre that pride themselves on visual design and special effects, and in that regard Hardware deserves a watch, because Richard Stanley shows a level of creativity and inventiveness not often seen in the industry today. However, I literally could not keep my eyes on the screen for the first 40 or so minutes of the film, and gorehounds out there might be underwhelmed by the relatively low body count, so be sure to keep that in mind. In the end, Hardware shows a lot of promise, but due to some glaring issues ultimately fails to capitalize on its enormous potential. Much like Richard Stanley himself, if Lost Soul is anything to go by.
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