The Barber

Something is happening in the small Alaskan town where a woman is found dead in the snow. Right after she is discovered, the FBI gets into the case because it ties up with other killings in the Northwest. The town is about to celebrate Christmas, but it won't be a happy time for anyone because suddenly other young women are killed, as well.

Michael Bafaro's, "The Barber", shows some interesting aspects as a mystery movie. Although our attention is immediately drawn toward the most obvious person, something that the local police enforcers, or even the FBI overlook. In fact the film seems to be telling us the assassin is getting away with murder, because the one responsible eludes being trapped.

The film is watchable because of the work of Malcom McDowell in the film. He is an interesting actor to watch at work. Mr. McDowell is always a welcome addition to any film, as he proves in this one. Jeremy Ratchford is also an asset playing the police chief. The FBI agent discovers something murky in his past that might implicate him in the murders.

The bleak winter of that remote town in Alaska is captured in the film with good results by Mr. Bafaro and his crew. While this film doesn't break new ground, it will keep the viewer involved in the story.

By Trevor Stevens (The Anti Critic) 01-03-2003

OVERVIEW:

Hair today, dead tomorrow, life goes on. In a remote town in the far north of the world lies a town where citizens die out of blue, but to hell if they die without great hair thanks to the barber known as Dexter Miles (Malcolm McDowell). In a town where everybody sleeps with the same woman, hunters kill in the off season, and the chief of police is about as smart as the village idiot one would never suspect a serial killer to waste his time messing with these people since their existence alone is as depressing as the 24 hour darkness they live in.

Suffice to say, bodies of the few and pretty women of the town start showing up and the chief's answer is to get p***ed about his fax machine. The locals know the answer to this of course, it's called S.A.D. which stands for Seasonal Affection Disorder and blame the darkness for making people crazy. Maybe they should change it to Stupid A$$ Drunks. With all of this going on who would ever think it would be the one man who wields a blade as a living?

PROS:

Wonderful serial killer flick with a smooth mix of dark comedy and thriller fare. Malcolm McDowell was the only known star in this and the main role as the satirical mass murdering barber was made for him and no one else. He also narrates through most of it and with his voice that only helps.

The town is covered in darkness throughout the entirety of it's runtime and it only brings out joy from me. Living in darkness would be wonderful, minus a barber that imbibes in killing of customers of course. This brings a wonderful morose mood to the movie and FOR ONCE the serial killer isn't some lame one dimensional single tracked fiend set out on getting himself caught no matter what. Malcolm's character is written very well and in a scene where he says "Come here I have a nice sink to do you in" makes me crack up everytime cause when you see it you'll know why, it just works on so many levels. Not to mention his comments throughout the film are just observations on people's preconceptions of psychopaths and are not only great satire, but also make since and can even dare I say, be informative.

Slick production and some nice Canadian supporting actors make this a sure fire hit that people will surely pass off as a cheap horror movie. Nothing horror about it really, if you love dark comedy it's perfect.

CONS

The only thing wrong with this movie is that I couldn't stop laughing long enough to see some scenes. Wonderful flick.

Eventhough it is damn funny throughout, I digress to say that the comedy in this is dark and you have to have the right sense of humor to enjoy that. It mostly tries to be a thriller so don't feel bad if you don't laugh....maybe i'm just "special"

I've saw this movie once and now Im trying to get it to have a copy of it. I found this movie very slow but at times good. Im from the town where this movies was shot but missed watching the shooting of it by a few months.Its based in the fictional town of Revelstoke Alaska but in fact Revelstoke is in Eastern British Columbia Canada.Almost in between Vancouver BC and Calgary Alberta. Every place where the scenes were filmed I knew exactly where it was. Also a lot of the extras that shown I knew them. After watching the movie I was talking to the "locals" who were in the movie only to realize their scenes were edited out. More info on the town and the movie like probably guess most of the scenes were filmed at night. Yes it does snow a lot in fact this past winter we received over 14 feet of snow for the whole winter. Where "the barber" had his shop is located in an antique store that is on Mckenzie Ave. As Revelstoke is what is called a old railway town so we tend old buildings. Never less I want to movie more for where its filmed than for the actual storyline like i had said before the storyline is slow.

I bought the DVD of this movie for five bucks at Fred Meyer. Honestly, I thought it was going to suck. I only bought it because it stars Malcolm McDowell, and I'd watch that man read the phone book.

Big surprise! The Barber is delightful! It's filled with dark humor, wit, and some really terrific visual jokes. Oh yeah, and grisly murders, too.

Malcolm McDowell is fantastic, as usual. He alternately downplays the character and chews the scenery. The rest of the cast is good as well. The chief of police is excellent as he slowly comes unhinged. The dim but sweet Jules was another of my favorites.

Sure, there are technical problems. It's a low-budget flick, and they could have used a continuity editor. But so what? The movie is great fun. Watch it on a dark, cold night.

And I'm not just saying this because Malcolm McDowell makes my horns pointy.

"The Barber" is an entertaining film about a serial killer hiding out in small town Alaska. The fact that almost everyone there can barely write their own name makes them easy prey for Malcolm McDowell, the town barber. Some good character development, and sharp humor help immensely. The bleak Alaskan winter provides an appropriately dreary backdrop for the strangling of several females. Friction develops between the local sheriff and an FBI agent sent to investigate. Most of the story is told from the killers viewpoint, and the ending is both unexpected and out of the ordinary. I liked it and recommend "The Barber" - MERK