Horrorfest 2013: Seconds

Some say Rock Hudson's performance in 1966's SECONDS is the best in his career. The movie wasn't well received upon first release and was almost forgotten until it was finally released on home video in 1997. To this day it still remains rarely seen and that's a shame because it was truly ahead of its time.

I remember when it hit video store shelves in '97 because a few of my friends really wanted to see it and when they did, they sang its praises. I never got around to it, until now. I don't know if I would have really understood it when I was a teenager. I say this because I'm not really sure I understand it, now.

I mean, I get the broad strokes. Don't get me wrong. But, there's a lot going on here.

The movie opens with John Randolph as middle-aged man who is not happy with his life. His marriage has ground to a boring halt, he never sees his daughter, he has a thankless job with a shitty commute. The only thing he has going for him is a series of mysterious phone calls from a man claiming to be his old friend -- his dead friend.

The phone calls give Randolph instructions for seeking out a vaguely sinsiter secret organization that the voice on the other line claims can improve Randolph's life. Spoiler alert: it turns out this is a group that can fake your death, give you extensive plastic surgery, and set you up with a brand new second chance at life where you can do everything you always wished you did, but didn't.

Randolph is reborn as a younger, more vital Rock Hudson. Unfortunately this second chance at life is not all Randolph/Hudson dreamed it would be and the film, which has already been unfolding like a nightmarish dream sequence, spirals even further into the realm of the surreal.

Frankenheimer over-directs at times, favoring flashy trick shots where they're not always needed, but this can be forgiven because, hey, this is a weird movie. Still, I prefer the scenes where Frankenheimer and cinematographer James Wong Howe go simple and handheld over the ones in which they shoot a scene from the strangest angle they can find. Somehow, even with all this craziness, which must have inspired guys like David Lynch, the film remains rooted firmly in reality.

There's also an early, beautiful Jerry Goldsmith score that both heightens the horror and stands at a counterpoint to it.

The themes are universal -- anyone can identify with someone who wants a second chance at life, and we all know the grass is always greener, and we all feel paranoid and lost, sometimes. We've all had dreams and nightmares and been uptight when we should have let go and let go when we should have been uptight.

Still, I have this nagging feeling that SECONDS is floating somewhere just outside of my grasp, which is actually refreshing. It means there's something unique there.