Anchor Bay // 1982 // 104 Minutes // Rated R
Reviewed by Judge David Johnson // December 8th, 2006
Alone...terrified...trapped like an animal. Now she's fighting back with the only weapon she has...herself!
Morgan Fairchild makes her theatrical debut in a piece of @#$% stalker movie. Her breasts costar.
Jaime Douglas (Fairchild) is a popular L.A. anchorwoman, boasting model-like good looks and a sultry news-reading voice. She has many admirers, though no one is as committed a fan as Derek (Andrew Stevens), a voyeuristic pervert who has taken up stalking Jaime full-time. He confesses his love to her multiple times, only to be rebuffed and smacked around by her boyfriend (Michael Sarrazin).
That doesn't stop the enterprising young wacko, as he relentlessly pursues her, training his camera on her swimming pool, hiding in her bathroom closet while she bathes and, ultimately, introducing homicidal violence into their relationship.
In the end, Jaime will be stripped of all the male protectors she had and must face off with her predator using her feminine wiles and, perhaps, a nearby sharp implement.
Let's take a look at the blurb that adorns the back of the disc case: "An erotic thriller with sex, violence and nudity" and deconstruct it.
* Erotic
Um, no. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a
Cinemax-like experience. The sleaze factor is very low and that's probably a
good thing because, while Fairchild is pretty hot in that overly made-up early
'80s kind of way, her beau looks like your high school choir teacher.
* Thriller
Sorry, but another big red "X" on this
one. This sucker is long and talky and there is hardly any suspense to show for
it. To drive the tension, it's all about Derek and his obsession, but he's a
lame villain -- a whiny little tool, really -- who doesn't bring the sinister
creep factor into play, which is needed in movies like this. The finale moves a
little faster, though the much ballyhooed seduction is like twelve seconds
long.
* Sex
One sex scene actually. It's in a hot tub with Michael
Sarrazin putting his tongue in Morgan Fairchild's mouth and grunting like a musk
ox with a broken leg.
* Nudity
And here we are at probably the only film's claim to
fame. For all you Morgan Fairchild fans out there, yes she does flash a little
bit here and there, but it's blink-and-you-missed it stuff, so if the thought of
catching a glimpse of your girl's assets gets you hot and bothered, have your
DVD remote primed (and bask in the irony that you'll be watching some clown on
the screen doing the same thing).
Anchor Bay has done this half-baked pile a solid with the DVD presentation: a lovely 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer (supported with a mono audio mix), feature commentary by producers Irwin Yablans, Bruce Cohn Curtis and director David Schmoeller, and three featurettes ("Remembering The Seduction," a roundtable discussion with cast and crew, "Remembering the Locations and Production" and "The Seduction and the Law," a goofy feature about the psychology of stalking).
Without Morgan Fairchild's exposed nipples, this is a half-baked made-for-TV movie.
Move along now. Nothing to see here.
Review content copyright © 2006 David Johnson; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2013 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Video: 90
Audio: 80
Extras: 85
Acting: 60
Story: 50
Judgment: 58
Perp Profile
Studio: Anchor Bay
Video Formats:
* 2.35:1 Anamorphic
Audio Formats:
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (English)
Subtitles:
* None
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Release Year: 1982
MPAA Rating: Rated R
Distinguishing Marks
* Director and Producers Commentary
* "Remembering The Seduction"
* "Remembering the Locations and Production"
* "The Seduction and the Law"
* Trailers
Accomplices
* IMDb
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0084652/combined