MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Guilty as Charged’: Savvy, Stylish

“Guilty as Charged” (selected theaters) combines political satire and Grand Guignol horror in a consistently fresh and funny way, resulting in an amusing thriller of considerable sophistication. Inspired writer Charles Gale sets up two stories that seem poles apart, but under Sam Irvin’s witty, confident direction, they collide deftly and hilariously.

On the one hand, there’s the pious owner of a meatpacking plant (Rod Steiger) who has set up in the basement a slaughterhouse of a different kind: a private Death Row leading into a combination chapel/execution chamber, where he electrocutes criminals he feels have gotten off too lightly.

On the other, there’s a telegenic, totally unscrupulous congressman (Lyman Ward) with a dirty secret but who is making a run for governorship anyway. Eventually linking the two is a pretty young parole officer (Heather Graham), who is also a volunteer in the congressman’s campaign. As naive as she is nosy, she’s puzzled as to why so many ex-cons end up missing.

Crammed with incidents and characters, and involving various levels of meaning and shifts in tone, “Guilty as Charged” is a tricky undertaking for a director making his feature debut, but Irvin brings to the project varied production experience, including key film marketing posts. This is a very savvy project, the work of a stylish filmmaker who understands how to make a genre film personal--and who is determined to resist gratuitous gore that could spoil the fun.

Every aspect of the film is crucial in order to pull off such outrageous fare that nevertheless scores some jibes at political corruption and especially rampant vigilantism. Starting with Steiger, casting is perfect right down the 27 listed players and beyond. Steiger is laughably intense in his religious zealotry yet brings a tragic dimension to the meatpacker turned executioner; Gale has provided him with both motive for taking the law into his own hands and a capacity for eventual self-awareness.

This is one of Steiger’s best performances, but one that most likely won’t get full marks because it’s in a modestly budgeted genre film. (He brings to mind Vincent Price’s brilliant turn in “Theatre of Blood.”)

Handsome and silver-haired, Ward effectively plays against his ideal-candidate looks, and Lauren Hutton, in Bob Mackie spangles and Christian Francis Roth appliques, likewise has fun showing us, as the candidate’s wife, the viper behind the elegance. Looking like the fresh Norma Jean Baker before she became the glamorous Marilyn Monroe, Graham is a delicious comedian. Isaac Hayes, who’s especially funny as a weirdo preacher, and hulking Irwin Keyes contribute to the general mirth as Steiger’s henchmen, as does Zelda Rubinstein as Ward’s sharp housekeeper.

With much of the action taking place in Steiger’s dungeon, production designer Byrnadette di Santo’s set becomes a focal point, with its Death Row looking like a corridor from “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” and the main chamber a sort of Sistine Chapel in miniature and in steely shades of gray, recalling black-and-white horror classics such as “Frankenstein” and “Dracula.”

Rounding out the many pluses of “Guilty as Charged” (rated R for violence and language) are Oingo Boingo guitarist and arranger Steve Bartek’s baroque score and cinematographer Richard Michalack’s lush images.

‘Guilty as Charged’

Rod Steiger: Ben Kallin

Lauren Hutton: Liz Stanford

Heather Graham: Kimberly Adams

Lyman Ward: Mark Stanford

Isaac Hayes: Aloysius

An I.R.S. Media presentation. Director Sam Irvin. Producer Randolph Gale. Executive producers Miles A. Copeland III, Paul Colichman, Harold Webb. Screenplay by Charles Gale. Cinematographer Richard Michalack. Editor Kevin Tent. Costumes Madeline Ann Kozlowski. Lauren Hutton’s gowns by Bob Mackie; additional costumes for Hutton by Christian Francis Roth. Music Steve Bartek. Production design Byrnadette di Santo. Art director Ian Hardy. Set decorator Pascale Vaquette. Sound Cameron Hanza.. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes.

MPAA-rated R (for violence and language).