The Pyx (1973)

Very Cool!!!

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Sadly Over-hyped

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

For a movie attempting at a chilling, twisted originality, 'The Pyx' plays straight some standard features—the nudity (Elizabeth's ass, Jane's perky tits), the religious items. The same approach, on testosterone, will result in 'Angel Heart', some 15 yrs later.In 'Angel Heart', a guy—not a policeman—investigates, and the corpses start piling up.In 'The Pyx', Plummer sketches gently the policeman he's playing—low—keyed, inconspicuous, nonchalant, yet macho and tough; anyway, Plummer is good, and effortlessly intriguing. As a storytelling, 'The Pyx' is a masterwork of non—linear classicism; and I believe this screwed storytelling narrows the plot, it narrows the plot severely, almost incredibly much, enhancing in exchange the oppressive atmosphere. The director focused on the storytelling's virtuosity, with rather typical '70s emphasis on experimentalism. But the outburst of violence barely squares with the vagueness of the story, and it seems unconvincing to leave it so wholly unexplained, as if the core was hollow; we should know more about Keerson's mind (Keerson is played _lispingly by Roux, a quite ridiculous lisping, withered villain), and why does he begin so resolutely a hopeless battle with the police, plus signing the scenes with gory inverted crosses, etc.. This movie is original, interesting, intriguing and flawed.The plot is quite meager, underdeveloped—sketchy, if you will—more like a pattern of hints, ultimately unsatisfactory. I mean, 'The Pyx' doesn't deserve its reputation of the movie of the Satanism; it could of been, it missed. The truth is, the movie, the script doesn't really enter the world of the drug addicts, of the _occultists, etc., Montreal's underworlds. It merely hints at those. And the action was too hurried for the confrontation between the policeman and the blasphemer not to look way too contrived and _malapropos; they are exchanging comic books lines, as if they would of fight off since forever. That kind of highly dramatic showdown would of required a longer succession of events in the police's investigation—not a mere day ….But then again, one must acknowledge the movie's attempt at some sound theology—the prostitute refused to confess, yet she protects the host, which means she's herself worthy of receiving, and not desecrating it by unworthy communion—she becomes herself a host, adding her sacrifice to that she benefits from.Every masterpiece (which 'The Pyx' isn't), or at least intensely original work, is a standalone; nonetheless, 'The Pyx' is a chance to find out about Montreal, the novelist Buell, or Plummer, whose career reminds me of Hackman—both, good actors who have been, for a while, in good movies. Plummer resembles a smart priest, he has this sharply intelligent clerical air; more of a genuinely priestly type than, say, V. Sydow.Karen, a remarkably gifted actress, was the very feminine, bitchy, wry type—here, in the role of a messed up woman. An American actress, she was 33 yrs when shooting this movie. She is a Scientologist, four times married, and essentially a '70s actress.She sings a few tunes, Ethereal Wave, or ethereal goth, though by the early '70s none would have called them that, that have been justly remarked. Her songs are of the classy folk type, tentatively anticipating Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins—and significantly contemporary with Cohen's crooked folk.Original and well—meaning, adorned, studded with thoughtful imagery, 'The Pyx' chooses the impressionistic haze of the early '70s, over the relevance of 'Cruising's descent into Hell; the synopsis of 'The Pyx' promises a descent into the underworld, which this movie _ain't—but a minutely sketched pattern of disturbing images, and veiled hints at a sickly world one would of liked to find more about. Such as it is, it surely _ain't one of the naturalistic descents into the Hell of some nastiness; and here is also its originality and even beauty of sorts.Plummer plays a sharp, focused cop; one of his better roles.Daddy Plummer must have been the most affordable supporting actor ever—since it looks like everyone could afford him for supporting roles—since The Fall of the Roman Empire, The Night of the Generals, Battle of Britain, Waterloo, until Malcolm X, Wolf, 12 Monkeys, The Insider, A Beautiful Mind, Alexander—an interesting physiognomy, not much of an actor—not with contemporaries like Hackman, and squashed between the generation of Newman, and those of O'Toole, Nicholson, etc.; Plummer was 2 yrs older than Barray. The stage demands less _expressivity. So 'The Pyx' is one in a handful of leading roles made by Plummer; as demeanor, he resembled a bit Harrison.

Prostitute Elizabeth Lucy (Karen Black) is found dead at the beginning--she fell (or was pushed) from the top of a building. Police sergeant Jim Henderson (Christopher Plummer) investigates and finds himself involved in satanic rites, ritual killings and more. Also there are flashbacks to the last few days of Lucy's life to see what happened to her.Interesting but very confusing. It starts off pretty good with Black singing (and doing a credible job) over the opening credits and throughout the film. Then it gets very involved, the story gets muddled and murky and leads to an unsatisfying end. To be honest I'm STILL not sure what happened! Also there's bad overdubbing of voices, poor direction and a hysterically bad score at the end which sounds like a bunch of Munchkins signing! The acting is pretty good considering the material. Plummer (a great actor) looks miserable and gives a rare bad performance. Black however was just great. It's a very difficult role and she pulls it off. I kept watching solely for her. So--if you do want to see it see it for Black.Be warned: The St. Clair DVD is in terrible shape. It (obviously) inserts a new title (calling it "The Hooker Cult Murders"!), has faded color and jumps VERY badly at the beginning. Also the sound quality is poor and the movie ends a full nine minutes before it's 111 min running time. That may have some reason for me not understanding it.

Karen Black shines as Elizabeth Lucy, a heroin-addicted prostitute, in one of her finest roles from this under-rated and little-seen French-Canadian effort, filmed in Montreal. She also composed and sang three haunting songs which appear on the film's soundtrack. Christopher Plummer is also first rate as the policeman investigating her mysterious death; with somber overtones and a feeling of dread, the film, the film alternates between flashbacks and current time. Highly recommended, for those who like intelligence and thoughtfulness in their thrillers; they will not be disappointed with this one. The supporting cast is all equally proficient, and effective in their roles, especially Yvette Brind Amour as Meg the Madam. The grim and despairing world of heroin usage is presented unflinchingly as well in a hard-hitting way. The beautiful city of Montreal is presented in several time shots as well; to me, at any rate, one of THE very best and over-looked films of the early 1970's.

Now that Im a grown up I'm beginning to appreciate Karen Black for the fabulous Scream Queen she is. Many of my childhood memories are of scarey movies I used to watch on TV and then not be able to sleep. One is BURNT OFFERINGS a very spooky Karen Black flick. I also remember Karen running from the Evil Zuni doll in the freaky deaky TRILOGY OF TERROR. So when I found out Karen was in THE PYX I just knew I had to buy a copy(eBay). I was SO disappointed. This movie...a sort of whodunit...although they let us know WHO did it and WHY...is sort of muddled, for lack of a better word. Because it uses flashbacks between Karens life and the investigation after her death its pretty confusing. We also know that karens charactor, Elizabeth dies in the beginning of the movie, so when we are seeing her sad life unfold we know how the story ends, and we can guess when the phonecall comes for her to go to a strange place that this is how and why she will die. The box captions lead you to believe they'll be alot of deparvity with sex and drugs and homosexuality. Well, first up...Elizabeth has a friend who just HAPPENS to be gay. Thats the big homosexual angle. As for the sex, I believe they show her with one "customer" (and then a scene where she strips for a potential customer...then gets dressed again. So no big sex angle there. Then theres the drugs: I belive we see Elizabeth shoot up once. So there goes that angle. In fact, the scene where Elizabeth is shot up and having flashback dreams we see how sad and lonely she is. Then when she gets the "strange calling" it seems she KNOWS something bad is going to happen to her (the church scene) and is prepared to meet her fate, because her life was not so wonderful anyway (although she DOES believe in God she tells us through tears). When Elizabeth arrives at the Black Mass there is strange eerie Satanic Cult-type music, that I would've run screaming from. It sets up a good atmosphere. Then a sped-up Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks-type track of Satanic Worship music comes on and it it SO distracting it almost turns a serious scene FUNNY!!! When karen dies the scene is so choppy that you feel CHEATED that you hung on for an hour and a half...they really should've done more with that scene! One * out of five.