Hollywood 90028 is an Odd Horror Film

 

Credit to Hollywood 90028 | Coolidge Corner Theater

Hollywood 90028, which is already a pretty weird title, is one of the strangest horror films I have seen in a long time. This film analyzes the psyche of a young man named Mark, who is a killer. We don’t actually ever get to learn his backstory, but we get strong hints as to what he went through as a child. 

His brother had died when he was young, and this event traumatized Mark, transforming him into a killer who strangles young women that he spends time with. Why he only focuses on young woman was also a huge mystery, and I wonder if maybe his mother had anything to do with this killer within him. I believe that he blamed her for his brother’s death, and this stayed with him for years. 

Again, this is only a theory, because this film only leaves you puzzle pieces for his backstory. This movie is freaking weird, and I did struggle whether or not I did enjoy watching it. 

Mark is revealed to be a killer in the beginning of the film. 

Credit to Strange Pleasures: Hollywood 90028 — Journal — Metrograph

Mark spends time with this young woman, who he instantly strangles during their time together. He leaves her apartment, and goes to his job, where he works as a camera guy for adult films. During Mark’s second adult film, he meets a young woman named Michelle. They instantly hit it off, and start to get to know each other. She invites him to her place, where she cooks dinner for him, and as they continue to talk, Mark finds himself attracted to her. 

Michelle tells him that she wants to wait, because she is living with a man named Paul, who she is grateful for. This man had offered her a place to stay, and she was happy that a stranger was willing to help her. Michelle reveals her story to Mark, telling him about her backstory before she came to the city. She had grown up in a small town, and wanted to follow her dreams. The expenses became too much for her to pay for, and she decided to begin starring in adult films. 

This decision leads to her losing contact with her friends and family back home, and Paul was the only one who was ever there for her, and he takes her into his home, to look after her. 

This part of the film was my favorite. Michelle’s character was written so well, and I felt so sorry for her when it came to the path she had to take. It’s sad how people are looked down upon for choosing to do stuff like this, but sometimes people desperately need money, and its a shame that Michelle’s loved ones could never forgive her for that. 

Mark admits to her that he has feelings for her, and Michelle smiles at him, as she is dropped off back at her place. 

Mark kills another woman after getting reminded of his brother. 

Credit to Hollywood 90028 (4K) | Sitges Film Festival

While Mark is driving down the road, he sees a random woman named Gretchen, who is wanting a ride to the beach. He offers to take her, and they hang out at the beach, the two of them getting to know each other. Then while they are going sailing together, Gretchen brings up Mark’s brother, wanting to learn about his family life, since she had told Mark about her own sibling. 

Mark snaps after hearing his brother getting mentioned, and he strangles her. He throws her over the boat, and he sails back on his own, lying to the man who let him rent the boat, that he had dropped her off somewhere else, after a fight. 

Mark goes back home, and while he is developing pictures, he gets a voicemail from Michelle. She tells him that she is going to stay with Paul, because she senses that something dark is within Mark, and that is preventing him from wanting to be happy. 

Mark goes crazy after getting this voicemail, and he drives to Michelle’s place. 

Credit to After the Gold Rush: On “Hollywood 90028” on Notebook | MUBI

They spend time together, and Mark starts to picture a life with her, imagining the photos he is going to take of her. The next day, as Mark is getting ready to leave the apartment, he goes over to greet Michelle in bed. She never wakes up, and he screams, realizing that he killed her sometime that night. The scene suddenly cuts to Mark ending his life in front of the Hollywood sign, as the camera cuts away to the whole city. 

A camera was also in front of his body, to film his death. 

I have to be honest here, I wasn’t really sure how to feel about the movie. I did enjoy a lot of scenes, like when Michelle is making dinner with Mark. It was interesting how the camera focused on a lot of scenes with Mark’s character, almost like we were studying this character, who is a monster deep down. 

I think this movie needed some type of backstory for me to actually love it. I’m not sure if I would ever watch this movie again, because the movie did rely a bit too much on giving us cool shots, but at least Michelle’s character made up for the majority of the movie. Her character was like a breathe of fresh air, she was so interesting to learn about, and she was my favorite character in this film. 

Maybe we need some kind of remake for the movie, because Mark’s character didn’t feel that fleshed out for me. 

Maybe that was the intention with the director, but it didn’t work for me.