He takes the women to his house, does unspeakable things to them, kills them and buries their bodies neatly in rows under the house. We join the tale as a woman, played by Julia Ormond (Smilla's Sense of Snow, Gold Digger), is the next victim but also has her son with her, thus making a departure from Bob's usual MO.
In a strange turn of events, having killed the boy's mother, Bob decides to lock up the 9 year-old boy (who he dubs Rabbit) as his slave in the house, doing all his housework, mopping up after his grizzly crimes and generally waiting on Bob hand and foot. Over time, Bob starts to warm to the boy, educates him, talks about his future positively - in and amongst Rabbit witnessing what Bob is doing to these females. We leap in time some years and Rabbit is an older teenager, Bob is slowing down, and it looks like he's grooming Rabbit to take over his 'work'.
It's deeply disturbing as an story idea. I couldn't quite work out why I was sticking with it really because at some stages it becomes slow and most odd, to say the least. Very Lynch family, I guess. Vincent D'Onofrio (Men in Black, Dying Young) plays Bob with apparent chilling ease and the older Rabbit played by Eamon Farren (The Dig, Winchester) matches him as the oddball victim.
It's not really a film to enjoy, rather stare open-mouthed at what's being depicted and what's going on between these screwed-up characters. Having said that, much of the violence is conducted behind closed doors away from the camera, making use of suspense and suggestion. I guess it is a horror film really but not in any traditional 'dracula' kind of way - more nasty, dark and sinister. It can't be denied that it's interesting though and for those fans of the Lynch family's work, compelling.
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