I always wondered how Peter Jackson, director of The Cars That Ate Paris, Dead Alive, and Meet the Feebles, convinced big studio execs to give him millions of dollars to make a Lord of the Rings triology. I think one of the answers to that question is Heavenly Creatures, which I finally got around to watching a couple weeks ago (I know. I know. It’s been forever since I’ve posted. Things are settling down now, though. I think I’m back!)
Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet star as the notorious New Zealanders Pauline Parker and Juliette Hulme who killed Pauline’s mother when she threatened to keep the two best friends apart.
I love my BFF Heather, but if my BFF Heather ever decided that we needed to kill her mom in order to continue our semi-lesbian relationship, I would turn down my BFF Heather. Not Juliette and Pauline…they followed through in actuality and in the film with brutality even more horrifying for a couple of 15-year-olds.
The film chooses not to dwell on the murder, however. Though it is certainly the center of the piece (opening and closing with shots of the two girls covered in blood), the murder takes a back seat to the otherwise close-to-normal friendship. The two girls live in a fantasy world that Jackson seamlessly combines with the actual world, perhaps in a percursor to a more popular film such as Finding Neverland.
By spending so much time with these otherwise fairly normal teenagers, their downfall into an even deeper – and much darker – fantasy world becomes much more affecting, causing shock and disgust when there is very little violence actually shown. Compared to a film like Dirty Harry, which has crowds cheering and met with little resitance, Heavenly Creatures has a nasty reputation. I think this has more to do with the surrounding material than with how the murders are actually shot.
And here’s something crazy: Juliette Hulme moved to Scottland, changed her name to Anne Perry, and is now a Mormon mystery writer. Proving once again that the mormon church will take just about anybody.
brian
Whitney
dear jesus 
that’s too bad you wouldn’t commit murder for love. these girls are my favorite.
I’ve got the movie “Heavenly Creatures” and am about halfway thru watching it. I knew that one of the girls later became a famous mystery writer but I had to google it to make sure. Turns out it was Juliet Hulme, who as you said changed her name to Anne Perry and is now an acclaimed mystery writer. I went to her webpage and interestingly (!), she says NOTHING about the murder or her time in prison. In fact she makes her time in New Zealand sound like a grand old adventure!!! Also–according to another website–Hulme/Perry was given an I.Q. test in her teens (probably before the trial) and allegedly scored an I.Q. of 170, which officially makes her a genius!!! And yes, decades ago to converted to the LDS/Mormon church. But how anyone with her “past” can bear to write about murder is beyond me!!!
Regarding the comment:
“Proving once again that the mormon church will take just about anybody”.
I know a lot of people that are mormon, and they are some of the kindest people I know. One of the central focuses of Christianity is repentance and forgiveness through Christ. Who are the people in the Mormon Church to judge this girl? Seems to me like they are simply living their Christian values.
Thank you very much for that defense of the Mormon Church. Of course we take just about everyone, so long as they have repented of their sins. Didn’t Jesus accept all? How could we call ourselves Christians if we are not willing to accept those that have sinned and repented? We all sin, some more than others, but it isn’t our place to judge what goes on inside a persons head.
i would go even further and say that as christians, we should even accept those who do not repent. as paul notes, it’s the law that multiplies sin, while it’s the christ-event that supersedes the law, revealing the spirit of the law which turns out to be love. and love, we learn, is loving our neighbor as our self. so self love can only be known by applying it to our neighbor.
Here are all a quantity of liars ill. It is what we are thinking so be sure! There are if homosexuality is sinful ¡Useless! The homosexuality is the most natural that there are on this planet and god if he loves the homosexuals and please… ENOUGH IS ENOUGH OF DISCRIMINATION AND LIES CONDITIONS! Ah! And so that they know a apostol of Jesus (John) was gay and jesus i accept and however not rejection or told him that he was the worst sinner of the world so please evil people stop lying you Stop frivolously
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/23441272
The above link is about part of the time that Juliet Hulme (Anne Perry) and Pauline Parker (Hilary Nathan) were in prison. It helps put to rest the conjecture over whether Juliet Hulme (Anne Perry) came to repentance. Also that they were not lesbian lovers.
Anne Perry, while being labelled a liar from some quarters, has been telling the truth all these years.