Heavenly Creatures (DVD)

Today Peter Jackson is best known and loved for his interpretations of King Kong and Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings. But before he became famous, he was also responsible for cult b-movie schlock-horror Bad Taste and the highly entertaining Braindead. And, of course Heavenly Creatures which helped catapult Kate Winslet to the high heights of media celebrity that she enjoys now but which has largely been forgotten.... Based on a real-life New Zealand murder case in the fifties, the film centres around the lives of two teenage girls, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme (played by Winslet), who enter into a near-obsessive relationship with each other when they begin ...  Read the complete review

Based on a true story, Heavenly Creatures marks a remarkable switch in tone for director Peter Jackson, after his previous films, Braindead and Bad Taste. It kind of bridges the gap between these ultra-low budget, gory films, and his classy LOTR trilogy. It tells the story of two teenage girls in 1950s New Zealand – Pauline (played by Melanie Lynskey, from “Two and a Half Men”, amongst other things), who is sulky and unhappy at school, and Juliet (the then-newcomer Kate Winslet), a lively English girl who arrives on the scene and causes a stir by doing what she wants rather than what she’s told to do. Naturally, the pair get on perfectly together, ...  Read the complete review

Heavenly Creatures (1994) Starring - Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent Director - Peter Jackson Genre - Biopic/Crime/Drama/Fantasy Certificate - 18 (violence/sexual content) Running time - 98 minutes Price - Video £8.99 (DVD not available in UK) Long before he delved in the world of Middle Earth, Peter Jackson proved to the world that he was more than just a goremeister, good with special effects but lacking in substance, with the release of "Heavenly Creatures" in 1994. This is a film that almost defies categorisation; it is so unusual, so outstanding, so complex and so powerful that it is almost ...  Read the complete review

Heavenly Creatures is the true story of two teenage girls who brutally murdered one of their mothers in 1952. The film is set in New Zealand and focuses on the events leading up to the murder. Pauline Parker (Melanie Lynskey) is a quiet New Zealand teenager. She is a dreamer and also an outsider. One day a new girl comes to her school. She is an outspoken British girl who goes by the name of Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet). Juliet is also a bit of an outsider and soon becomes close friends with Pauline because they share the same interests (they both have a crush on tenor Mario Lanza , they both like Orson Wells films) and both love to make up fantasy worlds. Pauline is ...  Read the complete review

Facing a boring Saturday night in I rooted around my videos and came across Heavenly Creatures, taped from ages ago whilst it was on BBC2, I sat down and watched it and I'm glad I did. This movie is dark and disturbing, thanks not only because it is a true-life story but to the brilliant acting that is in the film. Heavenly Creatures tells the tale of two girls living in New Zealand in the 1940s. Pauline Parker (Melanie Lynskey) is a bit of a loner in school with no close friends until a high spirited, English girl, Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet) comes to her school. It does not take long for them to form a very close bond between each other. Soon they ...  Read the complete review