Acted with conviction, and directed and written with febrile vibrancy.
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:41
Fresh:39
Rotten:2
Average Rating:8.2/10
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: HEAVENLY CREATURES represented a departure of sorts for horror director Peter Jackson and was the first film to earn him widespread critical acclaim. Jackson both co-wrote and co-produced the... HEAVENLY CREATURES represented a departure of sorts for horror director Peter Jackson and was the first film to earn him widespread critical acclaim. Jackson both co-wrote and co-produced the picture, which is based on an actual 1954 murder case. The two protagonists, New Zealand schoolgirls Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme, first meet when Juliet (Kate Winslet in her silver-screen debut) is introduced to Pauline's class as a new student. Pauline (Melanie Lynskey), an introvert who feels misunderstood by her family and peers, is instantly smitten with the sophisticated and self-confident newcomer, and the girls become best friends. Eventually, Pauline and Juliet begin spending more and more time together, withdrawing into a magical land of their own invention--Borovnia, a fairy-tale kingdom populated by lifesize clay figures. The girls' distraught families fear that the friendship is becoming unhealthy, and Juliet's parents decide to end things by sending their daughter away. Faced with their impending separation, the girls decide nothing will tear them apart, leading to an unexpectedly grisly denouement made even more unnerving by the ignorance of their own delusion. A harrowing story of misdirected adolescent creativity, Jackson's HEAVENLY CREATURES is chillingly unforgettable. [More]
Starring: Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent
Starring: Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison, Simon O'Connor
Director: Peter Jackson
Director: Peter Jackson
Reviews for Heavenly Creatures
17-year-old Kate Winslet made her film debut in this compelling blend of true crime and dark fantasy...
The inner tension of the film emerges from Jackson's enjoyment of the girls' bustling insanity and then his gradual withdrawal from it.
Combines original vision, a drop-dead command of the medium and a successful marriage between a dazzling, kinetic techno-show and a complex, credible portrait of the out-of-control relationship between the crime's two schoolgirl perpetrators.
Unlike the campy excess of Jackson's earlier Dead Alive, deliberate overkill ltimately points toward a dearth of ideas rather than a surfeit.
A dark, astounding film from Peter Jackson, showing his mastery of blending fact and fantasy. A deserved winner of Venice Festival's Silver Lion and Toronto Fest's Critics Award. Along with Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, this is 1994's most audacious film.
Fantasy and reality blur in a chilling film that shows Jackson's limitless potential
Peter Jackson creates a rich, haunting atmosphere, deftly juggling the eerily giddy fantasy world of the girls and their harsh, violent reality.
An odd, but mostly effective mix of melodrama, fantasy and voice-over.
Latest News for Heavenly Creatures
December 13, 2005:
Critical Consensus: Crown This "Kong"
The original "King Kong" is a movie so loved, and so emulated, that it would seem a foolhardy task to try to remake it. But Peter Jackson is a director who dreams big,... More...
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