By Geno McGahee
Harry (Raymond Elmendorf) is going through a nasty divorce and it has hurt him mentally. He is a mechanic and is found on the job with an engine completely apart, and he just kept saying that he can’t make the pieces fit together. He is immediately fired. The next time that we see him, he’s naked in church. Somebody tried to put a suit coat on him, but his chest wasn’t the part that was bothering the churchgoers. They were offended by his junk.
Harry’s brother becomes his keeper and takes him in, letting him stay at an abandoned hotel, but things go from bad to worse. Harry keeps seeing hallucinations and many of them are very grim, involving suicide and murder. He is also conversing with a teddy bear that talks back.
Dr. Johnson (Pamela Baker) is desperately trying to reach Harry, but he can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy. He creates this world where he and Johnson are romantically involved and soon, his entire world becomes one of fantasy. He soon becomes convinced that he killed his ex-wife and that three goons are hunting him down. He is very disturbed.
As he slips into madness, Harry finds a machine gun and walks into a coffee shop and opens fire, killing nearly everyone until one of the customers gets into his coat and fires back, shooting and killing him.
This film is based on the real massacre involving shooter James Huberty in 1984 that left 21 people dead. BLOODY WEDNESDAY brings a slightly altered true story to the screen with an explanation as to why somebody would do something like this. At times, the film resembles THE SHINING, but nowhere as good.
BLOODY WEDNESDAY is a mediocrity at best. The concept is good, but it is very slow moving and repetitious at times. It had more of an impact when you think about what really happened at McDonald’s in 1984, but other than that, it was really unremarkable. This one you can take or leave.
Rating: 4/10
