Within Heaven and Hell (1996)

• 85%
• 1996
• Ellen Cantor

Swinging between pleasure and torment, Cantor narrates an autobiographical story of a doomed love affair over scenes from The Sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974). Wittily and ingeniously cutting between parallel sequences from the iconic Hollywood musical and the equally iconic slasher film, Cantor draws out the familial and sexual tensions and terrors underlying both. At one point, in Within Heaven and Hell, Cantor relates a time her lover said to her, "You sound like a movie." As Cantor would later note, both "The Sound of Music and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are based on true stories.