MAGNET contributing writer Jud Cost is sharing some of the wealth of classic films he’s been lucky enough to see over the past 40 years. Trolling the backwaters of cinema, he has worked up a list of more than 500 titles—from the silent era through the ’90s—that you may have missed. A new selection, all currently available on DVD, appears every week.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992, 134 minutes)
Imagine a groundbreaking TV series that created a nationwide sizzle similar to Breaking Bad, but rather than completing five increasingly successful seasons and riding into the sunset after a nationally televised cast party at a Hollywood cemetery, had the plug pulled instead after its second year.
That was the short history of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, a deliciously disturbing 1990-91 ABC program that removed the lid from a small town in Washington and found enough drug abuse, teenage prostitution, murder, madness, incest—and just plain weirdness— to easily fill all 30 episodes. After its cancellation, Lynch took his baby to the large screen for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, a 1992 prequel to the series that had begun with the discovery of Twin Peaks high-school homecoming queen Laura Palmer’s body, naked and wrapped in plastic, floating in the river.
F.B.I. regional bureau chief Gordon Cole (David Lynch, himself) shouts at his secretary, “Get me Chester Desmond in Fargo, N.D.!” The reason for Cole raising his voice is as evident as the hearing aid, large as a transistor radio, pinned to his jacket’s breast pocket and connected to a chrome-plated speaker protruding from his left ear.
When the phone rings, Desmond (Chris Isaak) and three more special agents are handcuffing a Fargo School System bus driver and two women dressed like hookers, as the children in the bus scream. “Chet, it’s Gordon Cole calling from Portland, Ore.,” he shouts over the phone as Desmond winces and turns down the volume. “OK, Gordon,” says Desmond. “OR-E-GON! Portland, Ore.” corrects Cole as Desmond rolls his eyes in pain. “I’ve got a girl who’s been murdered here named Teresa Banks! Seventeen years old!” bellows Cole. “Chet, I’ve got a surprise for you, something I’d like to show you! Arrangements have been made! I’ll meet you at the private Portland airport!”
Cole’s surprise for Desmond is Lil, an angular girl in a gaudy red dress who awkwardly minces out from behind a private airplane. Her mouth is puckered, her eyes are squinting, and she’s wearing a crimson dime-store wig as she pirouettes like a runway model in a fashion show at an insane asylum. Desmond later explains the eerie pantomime to Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland), the young partner Cole has selected for him. “Lil wore a sour face, which means we’ll have problems with local authorities,” says Desmond. “They won’t be receptive to the F.B.I. Both eyes were blinking which means a sheriff and a deputy, I’m guessing. What did you notice about the dress?” he asks. “It was altered to fit her,” answers Stanley. “Gordon said you were good,” notes Desmond. “Tailored dress is our code for drugs. Notice what was pinned to it?” Stanley replies, “A blue rose.” “Good,” says Desmond, “But I can’t tell you about that.”
