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Natural Born Killers (1994)
In Oliver Stone's visually-riveting (MTV-style and
color-switching), controversial and brutal film about two serial
killer-lovers, obsession and media sensationalism (from a Quentin
Tarantino original script) - it was portrayed with an eclectic style
mix of film styles (of 35mm, Super-8, animation, and back projection),
including a fast MTV-style with color-switching, skewed camera angles,
quick-cut editing, a loud rock soundtrack, some animation, and various
special effects:
- the film's introductory pre-title credits sequence
set in a New Mexico diner that introduced two white-trash, serial
killers-outlaws-lovers: Mallory Knox (Juliette Lewis), who was
dancing sexily to jukebox music, while Mickey (Woody Harrelson)
was eating pie at the counter and reading an Albuquerque newspaper
about their recent murders: (MICKEY AND MALLORY KILL SIX TEENS
DURING SLUMBER PARTY); when Mallory was sexually-harrassed by one
of the redneck customers, and she taunted him: "Are you flirting
with me?...You want a piece of me?" - she punched him until
he was senseless and then danced on his body ("You made my
s--t list") before breaking his neck; at the counter,
the man's buddy was also sliced up by Mickey with a large bowie knife;
even the female cook (with a meat cleaver), Mabel the waitress
and other patrons were murdered as well as a third man outside (with
the knife thrown into his back), but the killers let one obese cowboy
survive to tell their story: "When the people come here and
they ask you who done this, you tell them 'Mickey and Mallory Knox
did it', alright, say it!"
- The married couple fled - - it was the start of their
violent, cross-country Southwestern states random killing spree
The New Mexico Diner Massacre
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- the disturbing flashback of the abusive family life
of Mallory Knox - portrayed as a situation-comedy (with a canned
laughter track), and fantasy parody called "I Love Mallory" about
a dysfunctional family, similar to All in the Family or Married
With Children; it featured comic
Rodney Dangerfield as Mallory's perverted, sexually-abusive, beer-drinking
dad Ed Wilson, her mother (Edie McClurg), and her 10 year-old brother
Kevin (Sean Stone)
- Mallory's
dad
often threatened molestation, called her a "stupid bitch," and
grabbed her butt ("If your ass is in this house, it's my ass,
so you move it upstairs and take a shower. Make sure it's a good
shower because l'm comin' up after to see how clean ya are");
her neglectful "old bag" mother was also
constantly threatened and intimidated by Ed, who called her "a
f--kin' idiot"
- Mallory instantly fell
in love at first sight with meat delivery-man Mickey after he came
to the Knox family door, hauling in his arms a bloody 50-lb package
("It's beef, lady. 50 pounds of beef") - he complimented Mallory: "You ought
to change your name to Beautiful"; they went on a joy-ride
after stealing Ed's car and leaving a note for Ed: "Out with
the meat man. Back before dawn. Love, Mallory"
- after being charged with auto-theft and escaping prison,
Mickey returned to rescue Mallory, and there was a dual death scene
of them both murdering Mallory's parents; Mickey struck Ed in the
face with a crowbar, dunked his head into a fish-tank to drown him,
and struck him with a meat cleaver; then they gagged and bound Mallory's
mother in her bed, and burned her alive after dousing her with charcoal
lighter fluid and setting her on fire with a flame starter
- during their flight from authorities, they 'married'
atop the Rio Grande Gorge bridge by exchanging snake wedding bands
and clasping their bloodied hands together as blood dripped down
into the river: (Mickey: "Put them together." Mallory: "lt's
very romantic, baby. We'll be livin' in all the oceans now." Mickey: "God
- before you and this river and this mountain and everything we don't
know about, Mickey, do you take Mallory to be your lawful wedded
wife to have and hold and treat right until you die?...")
- self-serving TV tabloid show
host/reporter Wayne Gale (Robert Downey, Jr.), an Australian and
a 'yellow journalist', made the pair famous crime celebrities for
his sensationalist "American
Maniacs" show featuring mass murderers (Charles Manson, Charles
Whitman, Richard Ramirez), and elevating their status to admired
heroes around the world; he conducted a live interview along Route
666 in the Southwest, calling it their "candylane of murder
and mayhem" rather than a "beautiful stretch of the American
landscape"
- the two killers were pursued through New Mexico,
Colorado, and Utah by slimy, fame-seeking author and sleazy sociopathic
Detective Jack Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore), where they ultimately
claimed 52 victims. Scagnetti's real personality was revealed
during an encounter with Pinky (Lorraine Farris), a young prostitute
that he strangled to death during sex in his hotel room
- the
fugitive couple accidentally murdered kindly Navajo Indian Warren
Red Cloud (Russell Means) in his New Mexico hut, who perceived
that there was a demon in Mickey and attempted to expel it through
chanting. The crazed and raging Mickey awoke from nightmares
of his abusive childhood and shot and killed the Navajo in the
chest (as he died, he spoke: "Twenty years
ago, I saw the demon in my dreams. I was waiting for you")
- the accidental murder of kindly Navajo Indian Warren
Red Cloud (Russell Means) in his New Mexico hut, who perceived
that there was a demon in Mickey and attempted to expel it through
chanting; the crazed and raging Mickey awoke from nightmares of
his abusive childhood and shot and killed the Navajo in the chest
(as he died, he spoke: "Twenty years ago, I saw the demon
in my dreams. I was waiting for you")
- after
both receiving rattlesnake bites, Mickey and Mallory entered a Drug
Zone store (a scene shot almost entirely in flourescent green), where
Mickey assaulted (and killed) the obese druggist (Glen Chin) to acquire
snake-bit antidote; a silent alarm was activated and the police arrived
(led by Scagnetti) and he seized Mallory; a stand-off and gunfight,
a knife threat against Mallory by Scagnetti (threatening to cut
her "tits off"), and a taser attack ultimately led to their arrest; an excited Japanese
reporter commented with sexual innuendo: "He has a very large
gun... He's now rendered impotent"
- during at least a year in prison for the homicidal
couple, the two were responsible for many violent incidents against
other inmates and guards, and Mallory even killed her psychiatrist;
both were declared criminally insane; in cahoots with the cruel,
paranoid and venal prison warden Dwight McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones),
Scagnetti's plan was to move the two imprisoned killers from jail
to a mental hospital (so they could be murdered during an alleged
escape attempt)
- Wayne Gale, who had made them famous crime celebrities
for his sensationalist "American Maniacs" show, held
a post-Super Bowl Batonga Penitentiary interview between Mickey and
Gale, when Mickey admitted to his one true calling in life:
"S--t man, I'm a natural born killer"; his words incited
a prison riot (in the Rec Room and B-wing) among the other inmates
who were watching the live interview
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Wayne Gale During Prison Interviews with Mickey
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"S--t, man, I'm a natural born killer"
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- In the shocking ending, an incredibly violent riot
occurred (all the mayhem was filmed by Gale), and in the midst of
a chaotic and full-scale bloody massacre and Mexican stand-off with
Mickey, Scagnetti's throat was slashed
and he was shot dead point-blank in Mallory's cell by Mallory, using
Scagnetti's own gun - as she asked him: "Do you still like me
now, Jack?"; there was a controversial see-through view of the
bullet hole piercing Gale's right hand, and a quick view
of the Warden's decapitated head on a spike (only in the Director's
Cut)
Bloody Violence During Prison Riot: Mexican Stand-Off
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Scagnetti's Stabbed Throat and Murder
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Gale's Right Hand with Bullet Hole
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- the twosome made a getaway-escape with Gale to a
rural setting; there, Mallory filmed him for an interview - as
he narrated (subtitled): "This is Wayne Gale, unfortunately
no longer live. l am wounded. All my crew is dead. l have left
my wife, and my girlfriend has left me"; although Gale was
able to interview them for a few minutes with his own camera, Mickey
confiscated the camera and threatened what they were planning to
do: "You'll be starin' down the barrels of our shotguns, and
we're gonna be blowin' your brains all over that tree back there" -
and soon after, they brutally executed him as promised, with the
camera on the ground (still recording the scene as the sole witness);
Gale died as he extended his arms in a crucifix posture
The Ending: Demise of Gale
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- the ending revealed that the broadcast had been
transmitted via Gale's in-ear microphone to a news-show, where
the horrified Channel 6 female news anchor Antonia Chavez (Melinda
Renna) cried out: "Oh, my God!"; the next WGN news story
was about a wedding day massacre
- the film's conclusion
consisted of rapidly-spliced together excerpts of recent real-life
crime media circuses:
- the Menendez Brothers' trial for murdering
their parents
- the Los Angeles Rodney King beating trial
- the Tonya Harding ice-skating scandal
- the
Waco, Texas conflagration
- O.J. Simpson's trial for the murder
of his ex-wife Nicole
- and rapid-fire images of bloody, demonic
faces
- the last excerpt before the ending credits was
a quick shot of a pregnant Mallory in an RV watching their
two children play, as Mickey was driving
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"I Love Mallory"
Mallory's Abusive Family
Mallory: "Who are you?"
"Mickey. Who are you?"
Love at First Sight
The Murders of Mallory's Parents
'Marriage' Vows Atop Bridge
American Maniacs TV Show Hosted by Wayne Gale (Robert
Downey, Jr.)
Detective Jack Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore)
Prostitute (Lorraine Farris) - Strangled by Scagnetti
Death of Navajo Indian
Scagnetti with Prison Warden Dwight McClusky (Tommy Lee
Jones)
Chaos and Riot in Prison During Interview
Warden's Head on a Spike
Horrified On-Air Channel 6 News Anchor Antonia Chavez
During Prison Riot and Gale's Death: "Oh, my God!"
Before Ending Credits: Mickey and Pregnant Mallory in
RV with Two Children
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