The problem with so many black comedies is they focus way too much on the black and not enough on the comedy (I'm looking at you, Tod Solondz!), but Bartel understood that the secret to a truly great black comedy is presenting situations that you shouldn't laugh at in a way that fosters laughs. There is nothing funny about murder, but if you present your murderers as oddly sympathetic louts, there is a goldmine of potential comedy! Paul and Mary Bland (Bartel and the oddly sexy Mary Woronov) are hopelessly square individuals in a sexless marriage who want nothing more than to open their dream restaurant. Lacking the funds and the ability to procure them forces them to become murderers who kill swingers for money. In their own twisted minds, their murders are completely justified in their belief that the swingers are the scum of the earth who nobody will miss, and this is what makes this work as a black comedy, as we as an audience find ourselves rooting for these two people to succeed in their murderous plans, despite the fact that the Blands are actually much more terrible people in the sense that they are murderers, while their victims are, for the most part, harmless sexual deviants. Bartel also maintains a rather cheerful tone throughout the film, which keeps things from being merely depressing (*cough* Solondz *cough*), and allows us as an audience to remain just as chipper despite the carnage and mayhem. The Criterion Blu-Ray of the film includes a wonderful commentary track with Bartel's co-writer, as well as Woronov and Robert Beltran. It also includes many insightful interviews and extras, and is totally worth checking out.
Film The Greatest Black Comedy I've Ever Seen
The problem with so many black comedies is they focus way too much on the black and not enough on the comedy (I'm looking at you, Tod Solondz!), but Bartel understood that the secret to a truly great black comedy is presenting situations that you shouldn't laugh at in a way that fosters laughs. There is nothing funny about murder, but if you present your murderers as oddly sympathetic louts, there is a goldmine of potential comedy! Paul and Mary Bland (Bartel and the oddly sexy Mary Woronov) are hopelessly square individuals in a sexless marriage who want nothing more than to open their dream restaurant. Lacking the funds and the ability to procure them forces them to become murderers who kill swingers for money. In their own twisted minds, their murders are completely justified in their belief that the swingers are the scum of the earth who nobody will miss, and this is what makes this work as a black comedy, as we as an audience find ourselves rooting for these two people to succeed in their murderous plans, despite the fact that the Blands are actually much more terrible people in the sense that they are murderers, while their victims are, for the most part, harmless sexual deviants. Bartel also maintains a rather cheerful tone throughout the film, which keeps things from being merely depressing (*cough* Solondz *cough*), and allows us as an audience to remain just as chipper despite the carnage and mayhem. The Criterion Blu-Ray of the film includes a wonderful commentary track with Bartel's co-writer, as well as Woronov and Robert Beltran. It also includes many insightful interviews and extras, and is totally worth checking out.