Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

slbbooksmusicfilm The Perry Mason TV movies that ran from 1985 to 1993 were not always as good as they could have been, thanks to the formulaic scripts, and the reliance on cases that involved celebrities of some kind, which made them even more repetitive. But they were always entertaining, and Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale's characterisations as Mason and Della Street developed nicely as the series went on, and along the way we get to find out more about them than we ever did in the 271 episodes of the original TV series. The penultimate TV movie, the Telltale Talkshow Host, ends with a poignant kiss between Mason and Della, suggesting a romantic relationship of some kind, and this would probably have been developed slowly but surely had Burr lived. Sadly, though, he only made one more appearance, and that was in the Case of the Killer Kiss. This is one of the worst of the series - if not THE worse. The acting seems to mirror that of the daytime soap opera at the heart of the story, and the writing is little better, although the motive for murder is more complex than normal. Burr was so ill on set that he is always seen sitting or leaning on something - a double is used on the one occasion he is seen walking. It is such a shame that he put such effort into a script that is so poor. Even Burr himself seems to struggle to deliver his cliched and repetitive lines with any enthusiasm. The Perry Mason series were always, even at their worst, watchable, but this final episode pushes the viewer's patience to the limit in that regard. It is notable only for Burr's final screen appearance and the inflated role for Della Street - again, probably a result of Burr being ill. A testiment to Burr's professionalism and love for the character, but otherwise a sad final bow for both him and Perry Mason - both of which were extremely classy gentlemen.

Leofwine_draca THE CASE OF THE KILLER KISS is a notable PERRY MASON movie insofar as it marks Raymond Burr's last screen appearance before his untimely death in 1993; there's a tribute to Burr after the final scene. It's a shame his last movie couldn't be a bit better, but then that often happens with our long-running TV show heroes (COLUMBO LIKES THE NIGHTLIFE wasn't up to much either). Burr is clearly frail here, forced to sit or lean for all of the production, but there's no faulting his acting.The problem with this production is just how predictable it is. Once again the setting is a TV studio in which the philandering jerk of a male lead is killed by persons unknown. There's an obvious suspect, but Perry digs a bit and soon uncovers a conspiracy of lies and hidden plots. I found the writing quite lazy here, with the security guard sub-plot shoe-horned in just to give William R. Moses something to do and count for some action and suspense scenes. The final reveal is unguessable due to information being withheld from the viewer. Stuart Damon, one-time star of TV's THE CHAMPIONS, plays in support.

jamesraeburn2003 Perry Mason enters the world of TV soap operas to defend Mile High star Kris Buckner (Genie Francis) whom has been framed for the murder of her co-star, Mark Stratton (Sean Kanan). Somebody spiked actress Charlotte Grant's (Krista Tesreau)lipstick with walnut nut oil knowing that the actor would kiss her in a scene and, as a result, has an allergic reaction. The crew fetch his allergy kit but that had been spiked too and he dies. The police figure that Buckner killed her co-star because, on the day before he died, Stratton demanded that her part in the show be drastically cut by having her character go into a coma. In a rage, Kris struck Stratton on the face saying "I could kill you for this." To make matters worse, a duplicate allergy kit of the murdered man is discovered in her dressing room and she was seen re-entering the studio on the night before Stratton died. Mason learns that Stratton was detested by all who worked on the show and many had reasons for wanting him dead. They include production assistant Mimi Hoyle (Karen Moncrieff) who was once Stratton's lover and she became pregnant with his child. But, he demanded she have an abortion and threatened to have her fired if she did not. The show's producer, Evan King (Michael Tylo), also had a strong motive for murdering Stratton because it turns out that Stratton was putting pressure on the production company to axe him from the show so that he could take over completely. Mason is puzzled as to why Stratton appeared to have so much control over the running of the show because, after all, he was only the leading man. Mason sends Ken Malansky (William R Moses) to the rural town of Cedar Grove - Stratton's home town - where an unsolved old murder from thirty years ago could hold the key to the killer's real identity.This was Raymond Burr's final appearance in his most celebrated role as the Los Angeles defence attorney Perry Mason in what seemed like a never ending series of revival movies that began with Perry Mason Returns in 1985. Burr sadly died in 1993. Basically, with these films, if you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all. However, there was a few exceptions where the series successfully broke away from the routine courtroom drama formula, but this is purely standard fare. If you love the series, as I do, then you will love it and for somebody who has never seen an episode before then its not a bad place to start as the storyline has enough to keep one engaged for a couple of hours and the script generally plays fair with the audience. The supporting cast, while undeniably second league, is more than competent and Arleen Sorkin is good as an irritatingly obsessive soap fan, Peg Furman, who gets under Malansky's hair as he does his usual heavy lifting in order to track down vital witnesses and clues for his boss - as ever, risking his life in the process. Only Furman, as much as Malansky wanted her out of the way, turns out to be useful as she unwittingly holds a vital clue to the killer's identity as a result of her sneaking into the TV studio and stealing a copy of Mark Stratton's script. A coffee stain bearing the indentation of the murdered man's personalised mug on the script helps Mason unravel the mystery.

bob the moo On the set of a popular daytime soap opera `Mile High', actress Kris Buckner is being forced off by co-star Mark Stratton. When she says that she'll `kill him before she leaves the show', she makes herself the prime suspect when Stratton is murdered by someone poisoning him. As an old friend, Perry Mason comes to the help of Kris and agrees to defend her. Meanwhile Ken goes in search of information with the help of fan of the show.The final Perry Mason film which starred Burr in the title role, this is a fairly typical entry in the series that gives the audience all we would usually expect from the films. The plot is OK but it seems a little bit more forced than in other films in the series. The film enjoys poking fun at the soap opera types - although not as gleefully as I would have expected a TVM series to have done!Mason does his usual stuff - ripping through TV actors in small roles as red herrings etc. Burr is good in the role as one would expect from someone in the role for so long. Moses has his usual stuff to do - chasing thugs with an useless female sidekick, but it is a little lame this time and the autograph hunter is very irritating. The supporting cast contains nobody of note and none of them really excel themselves, just delivering by-the-numbers performances.Overall Mason fans will like this because it goes through the formula well and has all the usual stuff. The lack of stronger actors and characters in the support cast is a problem, but essentially the film does what all it's predecessors have done - deliver the usual story in a build up to an average scene of minor fireworks where the real killer is revealed.