Spikeopath
Brian De Palma has often come in for some flak over the years, his penchant for sticking tight to Alfred Hitchcock thriller formula has been the source of much consternation in certain quarters. Yet when you view something like Peter Hall's Never Talk to Strangers it rams home just how welcome it is to have Hitch like thrillers at least done well!Rebecca De Mornay is a troubled shrink who whilst dealing with the mind games of a serial killing loony (Harry Dean Stanton), meets sexually charged Latino guy (Antonio Banderas) and indulges in passions unbound. Then she starts to get very unwelcome presents in the post...The erotic thriller has been well trodden, and will continue to be so for sure, so it feels a little churlish to decry Hall's movie for coming off as a weak willed imitator of previous purveyors of the sub-genre, but this blend of Silence of the Lambs meets Sea of Love - cum - Dressed to Kill - cum Fatal Attraction etc etc just comes across as a cheat. And that's because it is!The makers know this and try to hide their ridiculous folly behind eroticism as the two lovely looking headlining stars get sweaty and wet, indulging in sexual play that's as powerful as the surroundings (Banderas lives in a loft apartment resplendent with metal cage and wrought iron doors). But, or should that be butt? The mystery element is weak, the suspense equally so, while the back story of De Mornay's father (a key character) is hopelessly under developed.Then there is H.D. Stanton, stealing every scene is he is in, quid pro quo indeed, yet he's hardly in the film, which ultimately proves to be a tragedy as the plot hurtles towards its implausible and risible revelations. Red herrings come and go as quickly as Becca and Tony's underwear (the continuity editor should have been sacked along with the writers because of one scene BTW), and even though Pino Donaggio scores the music with customary swirling qualities, this just comes off as a piggyback tactic...This is a poor thriller in spite of two very committed and visually attractive perfs from the leads - and of course Stanton's knowingly sleazy turn. Seek this out only if you think Body of Evidence is in the upper echelons of erotic thrillers. 5/10
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews
I write this for people who've seen the movie, and don't understand it. First of all, you have to understand that Sarah suffered from multi-personality disorder from a long time before the movie started; most likely since she was a child. She didn't know this herself, because it's like that with MPD's. The regular personality doesn't know what the other(s) are doing. They are simply unaware. And her other personality hated men, while her regular just didn't trust them. That's why she thought her old boyfriend Benny left "without a note or anything". Her other personality reacted aggressively against a man that her regular personality loved; it killed him, and made it seem to her and her close friends, that he just left suddenly. She didn't know he was dead. However, although her other personality usually hates men, it falls in love with Tony, as well as Sarah herself. This is obvious in the scene where Sarah appears in Tony's home, slaps him, and has sex with him. Her regular personality wasn't ready for that kind of commitment yet; also, her other personality's way of having sex is very aggressive. Everything weird, bizarre, or directly threatening that happens towards Sarah, is caused by her other personality, because it's jealous. It wants Tony for itself. It starts out threatening her(the paper, the flowers), and ends with trying to kill her(with the heater in the bathtub). Sarah, who doesn't know that it's her other personality, and isn't good at trusting men, especially men who are close to her, blames Tony, because she doesn't feel safe when he's around. However, at the end, she is told the truth by Tony: He is investigating her, in order to find out what happened to Benny. In the beginning, Sarah doesn't believe that she's "been stalking herself". However, when her father enters, he triggers some memories, that awakes her other personality. She reacts aggressively to both, because she feels, as usual, that men are the root of all evil. She starts by killing Tony, because she was, in fact, in love with him, and it seems(to her, at least) like he isn't in love with her. After killing him, her father, not knowing she is not "herself" at the moment, tries to calm her down; this triggers more unwanted memories; she feels like she's back at the top of those stairs, her father making her cover his crime. She reacts very aggressively, as that memory is one part of the origin of her hate against men(the other being sexual abuse by her father). After killing him, she destroys the tape, which is the only devastating proof toward her suffering from multi-personality disorder. At that point she's still not "herself", but her other personality. She then covers her own crime, as she feels that it was her father's fault, just like back when she was little. After covering up her crime, she sits down by the body of Tony, and her other personality subsides. Sarah is herself again; thereby, she doesn't know what happened, but guess/thinks that Tony killed her father(which would seem logical to her, as she was certain that Tony was insane) and she shot him in self-defense. We hear that the police aren't going to file charges, since it seems like an obvious case of self-defense. She then gives us a definition on a multi-personality disorder(which fits perfectly on herself) and goes out with Cliff. She doesn't know that she is guilty of killing two people close to her, and the movie ends with the disturbing conclusion, that unless something hinders her from killing more, her other personality can keep killing men, while her regular personality can have a clean consciousness, as she doesn't know the truth.Review:While watching this movie, I thought that it was just the regular thriller. I was very surprised at the ending, which tries to turn it into more... I'm not quite sure it succeeds, but it made everything that preceded it easier to forgive. The movie has a very Hitchcock feel to it; suspense, shocks, atmosphere... It felt like it could have been the work of the late Hitchcock himself(save for the sex scene, which I'm not quite sure was so much necessary as an easy device to attract those on the look-out for such a thing). I recommend this to fans of thrillers(just don't expect a masterpiece... but hey, it's got Rebecca De Mornay, does anyone actually see her name on the cast list of anything and think "oh, quality cinema lies ahead!"?), particularly those who like them with a "twist". Yes, I actually just made that pun. 6/10.
OneDisturbedDude
horrible, predictable and boring, this movie is obviously for horny demornay fans or just older/middle aged divorced women looking to lust after banderas, they're acting was pretty poor considering what they've done in the past was actully good, in this movie it felt like each of them were just found right from a casting call in hollywood with no experience.... what a cheap rip off of all the old classic thrillers in fact i must say it's an insult to good thrillers... thank god that year Se7en came out and that kicked the credibility out of this movie.. What's realy funny is the scene in the fence, it was supposed to be special and serious but in all actuality it's hilarious, i mean think about it!!!.. The idea alone that a successful shrink like the character demornay plays just falls for low life bum (who ends up later in the movie claiming he was a cop), who some how had enough money to get a nice new motorcycle, straight off the boat from puerto rico is hilarious cause god knows most female shrinks have such an ego and are soooo snobby that she would have smacked that bottle of wine over his head in the store to begin with had this been an accurate film but then we would never have had a movie(UNFORTUNATELY WE DID), OVERALL THE BEST ACTING IN THIS PILE OF AUDIO AND VISUAL HORSE droppings (i'd much rather use bad words to describe this but i'm going to be civil with my disgust towards thig movie) WAS FROM THE DEAD PUSSY cat. The dead cat was absolutely stunning!!!! i compare that scene of death to al Paccino's death scene in Carlito's way where he's dying. the dead cat was just that good, unfortunately the humans weren't that good.. the movie would've just been better if the porn angle between demornay and banderas went from softcore to hardcore , lets face it that would have won a great award right there... i'd comment on the whole load of bs of wheter or not Demornay was abused somehow as a child, that angle was just put there to add time to the movie not the plot.....please take everything i've said seriously, don't rent it or buy it on dvd if it's offered to you say no thank you i'll wath Se7en, if someone puts a gun to your head and says the only way i'll let you live is if you watch this movie entirely i'd take the bullet!!!
aromatic-2
I never expected to be so positively impressed by this universally panned thriller. Did all the other reviewers see the same movie I did? I just shake my head, and marvel at the brilliance of all these people who found the ending so predictable. I daresay I'm older and have seen more classic thrillers than most of the imdb audience, but this movie kept me on the edge of my seat. And Banderas has never looked better. I thought both lead characters were interesting and deep. Harry Dean Stanton is marvelous, as usual, as the serial killer against whom De Mornay has to testify, and Len Cariou does a nice turn as her estranged father trying to make final peace with her.
De Mornay actually produced this, and the daring sex scene could not have happened without her enthusiasm. Okay, I agree the dead cat was too much of a cliche, but the detective? Banderas' true identity? Miller's real character? The twists and turns certainly had me going. Although I wanted to off De Mornay myself to take her place in the chain-wire fence scene. And, yes, this old gal certainly found it erotic, despite what I have read above. I think this is her best performance to-date.I give this 10/10.
