When Rutentuten is in love, he wants to get to really know his girl- inside out.
I’ve been really looking forward to this part of the story-arc for some time now. The climactic finale- that part of a script even most b-movies get right, even if they fail on all other counts. While I have ripped-o…uhm…been inspired by many things from the 1995 ‘Mummy’, I based these decisive episodes on the original ‘Mummy’ movie, starring Karloff. It’s just so much more atmospheric at that stage, mostly through the clever use of light and shadows, and Karloff’s unrivaled acting. The text in the fourth panel is a direct quote from that movie – remember: ‘When the going gets though, the villain goes for an alliteration.’
Tradition requires that the villain is lighted from below for such scenes, so he casts a towering shadow onto the wall behind him, which will transpose every small movement he makes into gigantic dimensions. Many b-movies are so enamoured with this visual effect that they even use it in locations where there’s not the slightest plausibility of any light coming from below – hospitals, train stations, private homes. “Uh, well we can count on the willing suspension of disbelief, can’t we? It’s possible, after all…perhaps the interior decorator held the plan upside down, or something…”
Cliffhangers are an integral part of (movie or TV-)serial dramaturgy. Of course, timing is key: the tip of the knife already slightly denting the skin, but not yet drawing blood…a second sooner would diminish the effect. A second later would ruin it, of course.
But I just realized that I passed up a chance to add more b-movie authenticity: Snuka’s broken arm is the left one in all three panels – in a true b-movie, this would likely change between shots. XD
I seriously doubt Rutentuten’s a fully qualified surgeon, however- he correctly marks the planned incision, but then he starts cutting somewhere else. I shudder to think how he will mess up Mopey’s nipples if he keeps that up.
Well, we soon shall know. For the b-movie comic will return on Monday – with the heart-stopping conclusion to ‘The Revenge of Rutentuten’!*
*Heart-stopping optional. In the meantime, please vote for me, and drop by the forum.