THE BORROWER (1991)
I'm missing Game 6 of the ALCS (go Astros!) to write this pocket-sized review just for you, so you better appreciate it. You did request this specific title, after all. Didn't you? Anyway, The Borrower is a quirky sci-fi/horror d'oeuvre. John McNaughton directed the piece only a couple of years removed from 1986's Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (man, I love that flick), but his distribution folded up its tent. As a result, The Borrower was placed on the dreaded shelf for close to three years. I have to give McNaughton credit for dipping his toes into completely different waters coming off of the success of Henry. He could have mailed in a tepid "thriller" in the same vein, but instead, he took a SHARP fucking left turn.
An alien did something bad. His punishment? Earth! I feel like that should be punishment for criminals already on Earth. In a not-so-sly obeisance to The Hidden, our alien wears a human skin disguise. When it's time to switch veneers, his head explodes. So it isn't quite borrowing per se, but "the borrower" isn't exactly evil. He's more of an asshole. This is a funny, enterprising b-dish with a sleazy Frank Henenlotter vibe. Rae Dawn Chong and Don Gordon play honest-to-Satan good cops (!), but we never see them do meaningful detective work. They don't get close to catching He Who Borrows. They almost feel as though they exist in a separate movie. In the end, nothing is resolved, and the final frames are needlessly confusing.
The Borrower is as flawed as the Electoral College, but it's worth watching. Don't buy or rent; borrow.
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