"Mannequin" (1987)

In 1987 I was in middle school. I don’t recall much of this year, it’s that middle of the road in 7^th grade that very few people remember. I do remember a movie called “Mannequin.” There was a theater in Pleasant Ridge that my mom use to dump me off on. The General Cinemas was connected to a mall called Gold Circle. This place was dark. Low income department store. I mean, it actually was a few steps below K-Mart. Anyway, this theater was AWESOME! I loved it. It was a 2^nd run theater and cost at the time 75 cents. I’m not joking. 75 cents. I remember this was playing in the same theater as “Creepshow 2.” I saw pretty much everything here. It was so cheap my mom let me spend the afternoon and into the night at this place as she went shopping. She’d never buy anything. I just got the feeling she liked looking at nice things.

Back to “Mannequin.” I saw this movie in a loop. I think I must’ve saw it three times projected. Just sat in the theater as they ran it over and over. Every showing. Since it was sorta’ a low end theater, very few people would go into it. It would only be crowded when there was a kid’s movie. I thought watching animation in a movie theater was a bit silly. I just remember every single frame of “Mannequin.” I was obsessed with the Starship song. I’m not sure what about that movie spoke to me, other than how insane the plot was. As a pre-teen, I was in love with Kim Catrall too. She was a full woman. She wasn’t exactly obtainable for a guy like me. I figure the girls in my age group weren’t that developed yet. So, it was my escape. I could watch that movie and dream about Kim. The music was typical 80’s pop. It really marked that era for me when I discovered what movies could do. The impression that it made on me was immeasurable.

I really miss that theater. I understand why Quentin Tarantino would want to buy his own movie theater and show what he wanted. If I had enough money, I’d buy a theater, and show all the movies on a loop. I’d show “Mannequinn” the opening night. A loop…three times. For 75 cents.