Black Rainbow *** (1989, Rosanna Arquette, Jason Robards, Tom Hulce) – Classic Movie Review 9418

Director Mike Hodges’s intriguing and involving 1989 horror thriller Black Rainbow stars Rosanna Arquette, Jason Robards Jr and Tom Hulce.

Arquette plays spiritualist medium Martha Travis, who travels to America’s Bible belt on tour with her manipulative father Walter Travis (Robards) and predicts a violent murder in a vision where a hitman kills a whistleblower.

Black Rainbow is a chilling, supernatural thriller with a heady brew of fast-moving suspense, the occult and a touching father-daughter relationship. Fine performances from Arquette, Robards Jr and Tom Hulce as the investigating reporter Gary Wallace highlight this ambitious British movie, filmed in North Carolina.

Also in the cast are Mark Joy, Ron Rosenthal, John Bennes, Linda Pierce, Olek Krupa, Marty Terry, Ed Grady, Jon Thompson and Helen Baldwin.

Black Rainbow is directed by Mike Hodges, runs 113 minutes, is made by Goldcrest Films International, is released by Palace Pictures (1989) (UK), is written by Mike Hodges, is shot by Gerry Fisher, is produced by John Quested and Geoffrey Helman, is scored by John Scott, and designed by Voytek and Patty Klawonn.

When Hodges learned about real-life hit killings of whistleblowers while shooting in North Carolina, he decided to make this a focus of the story.

It was shot between October and December 1988 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9418

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