Movie review - "Undercover Heat" (1995) **1/2

 An utterly competent, perfectly designed late night cable erotic thriller, not with a huge budget, but a skilled, likeable, attractive cast. Athena Massey is very engaging as the cop investigating the murder of a hooker so she goes undercove as a high class call girl in a brothel run by Meg Foster with her offsider Jeffrey Dean Morgan. So there's some star power here.

It's cute (yes also and exploitative) how Massey discovers she quite enjoys doing increasingly sexual acts and tells her superiors to get lost.

The mystery isn't bad. Some promising subplots not developed like Massey and Morgan, and the romance between Meg Foster and Massey's boss. Nice friendship between Massey and the girl from Showgirls.

A movie that absolutely knows what it is.

Movie review - "Two Moon Junction" (1988) **1/2

 This film was a big deal in its day - Sherilyn Fenn was a very big deal. It's some classy erotica from Zalman King with Fenn as a hoity Southern belle who gets horny for hunky carnival worker Richard Tyson. Both are very good looking. And they commit.  Fenn is a natural. The two leads have plenty of heat.

There's an impressive support cast - Burl Ives, Lucille Fleticher,  Hervé Villechaize, Kristy McNichol (she goes topless too), Martin Hewitt (Brooke Shields' lover in Endless Love), a young Milla Jovovich.

Looks gorgeous. I wasn't one hundred percent into the story but Fenn looks terrific and it's an elevated movie.

Movie review - "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1981) ****

A remake with point because it is more faithful to the source novel and can take advantage of more relaxed censorship. Jack Nicholson and especially Jessica Lange are superb in the leads - apparently Meryl Streep auditioned but it's hard to see how anyone could be better than Lange (who comes across as a bit more low rent, shall we say).

This was the first screenplay credit for David Mamet who praised Bob Rafelson's treatment of writers -so too did Ron Bass for Black Widow.

John Colicos - aka Baltar - is okay as the cuckolded husband. Other supporting actors much better. I love the shonky lawyer and Angelica Huston as a lion tamer and John Ryan as a slimy assistant. Maybe it's a little long.

Movie review - "Deep Water" (2022) **1/2

 Adrian Lyne returns to the movies - not exactly the big screen, but with a tale in his wheelhouse: sexual jealousy. It's made with polish and some excellent actors - Affleck and Ana de Armas are genuine stars.

I think the story would've had more resonance if still set in the 1950s - I'm sure kinkiness still goes on, I just think the reality of why you'd be stuck in that marriage when it didn't please you would've "sold" more.

The discovery of a dead body doesn't happen until an hour into the film. De Armas takes probably two too many lovers (after a while it's like "alright already"). And I think the ending of the book was more believable.

Tracy Letts is great as an all too believable self important writer. Very good cast. Affleck and de Armas are terrific - Affleck has all this pain on his face, and you'd put up a lot for de Armas.

Script review - "Sliver" by Joe Eszterhas (warning: spoilers)

 Have never seen the film. It had a bit of a splash at the time, with Sharon Stone and that terrible UB40 cover of an Elvis track and the then hot Phil Noyce and Joe Eszterhas - but no one particularly liked it.

The script is very good. Simple, with three juicy star parts (Eszterhas often did that) plus sex, mystery and violence. Again it's about someone falling in love with someone who could be a killer, and is... but apparently in the film they changed it which ruined the point.

I actually think the key problem was the casting of Sharon Stone. Reading this, for the story to fly it really needed the lead to be played by someone who comes across as sexual inexperienced, shy... so when she calls for Zeke (the Billy Baldwin character) it's like wham, and she doesn't know how to deal with it. Like the Geena Davis-Brad Pitt relationship in Thelma and Louise. Sharon Stone always looks like she's been around the block.

The script totally makes logical sense. I'm surprised they had to reshoot it.

Script review - "Jade" by Joe Eszterhas (warning: spoilers)

 The original draft of this script, so far as I know -I haven't seen the film, but I read the synopsis and it does seem some key changes were made by William Friedkin.

It's a perfectly decent thriller, albeit very similar to Basic Instinct and Jagged Edge which is presumably why it sold for so much money. The star part is a prosecutor involved in the investigation of a series of violent murders. He's in love with the chief suspect, a beautiful, sexy woman who loves sex... Katrina who turns out to be a prostitute called Jade, married to the lead's friend, Matt. There's a support red herring, we're never sure if the girl did it or not til the end... when it's revealed it was the husband. Which is fine.

It's got twists, a lot of harsh language, and sex. Friedkin should have shot the script but I think the bigger problem is no one got too excited about the star combo: David Caruso, Linda Fiorentino and Chazz Palmenteri, all very good actors, but were a bit "B" team. (I get why all where cast, they were all cresting).

Movie review - "Crimes of Passion" (1984) ***

Ken Russell's great days were in the 70s but in hindsight he had a pretty good 80s because many of his films found popularity on video. This was one such movie - a drama about sex I guess you could call it with Kathleen Turner going balls to the wall as a designer who works nights as  hooker, and Tony Perkins as a reverend who is obsessed with her.

You can tell Russell's heart is with this nutty duo rather than John Laughlin an all American guy who tails Turner. Laughlin has a difficult role to play - an ordinary joe - but doesn't pull it off. He's got all these scenes with Annie Potts as his wife - and she's acting her arse off, but she's hurt because her character is basically someone who doesn't want to have sex with Laughlin.

In its heart of hearts I feel the China Blue character should have been a guy - China talks a lot about cocks - which would make Laughlin's dilemma more solid, a married man attracted to a guy. I know why the writer did what he did.

Turner and Perkins really go for it especially Perkins - they completely commit. And it's a reminder what a powerhouse Turner was. They probably should have cut the Laughlin bit - or maybe he's useful as a straight man they just could have trimmed it down.  I would have liked more with Turner as a designer.

There's some delirious stuff - sex involving a night stick, sex with a dying man, video clips. Russell went for it. A flawed film but consistently interesting.

Script review - "Chloe" (2008) by Erin Cressidia Wilson (warning: spoilers)

Not bad erotic thriller/drama from Wilson which I read because I loved Wilson's script for The Girl on The Train. This isn't as good but is still sharply written. It has an intriguing premise - a woman is convinced her husband is cheating and pays a hooker to seduce him.

You can have more fun reading erotic tales written by women (I have anyway) because you can go "hey if it turns you on" and don't have to worry about (as much) dodginess. It's the basic story that I felt a little underwhelmed by - it lacked a twist or two. I think the husband should have genuinely been a cheater and one of the family should have died. Just to give it more oomph and deliver on its promise. Though it was cool the wife slept with the hooker.

Movie review - "Stripped to Kill" (1987) **1/2

Roger Corman's output from the 50s to early 80s tend to be well known by buffs in part because they were released theatrically and often made by people who went on to better things. From the early 80s onwards he aimed more at straight to video and his alumni became less distinguished.

This is one of the better known entries - in part because it was a hit and kicked off a cycle of films set around strip clubs, which still continues today (eg After Midnight), in part because it was directed by a woman, Katt Shea, who had a brief vogue with the critics in the early 90s.

And Shea does a pretty good job, as a director and writer (she wrote it with Andy Ruben). The basic idea is very strong: a female cop goes undercover as a stripper, to track down a serial killer of strippers. The end twist is good too (spoilers) - it's a guy who impersonates a stripper. I didn't pick it. It is transphobic but it is a solid twist.

I'm trying not to be too smart-arse-y here but you can tell it's from a female director, I feel. The stripping numbers are filmed more like dance numbers. The female characters have more dimension - there are scenes of friendship as well as rivalry among the dancers. There are many lecherous men.

The star is Kay Lenz who looked vaguely familiar - she was in Corman's Moving Violation. She is introduced a little late in the story - I think they would've been better off having her straight away. She's older than you might expect (she was 34) but it adds to the believability of the story.

TV stars Greg Evigan (as her partner and love interest) and Norman Fell (as the red herring club owner) pop up.

Sometimes this is flat and, to be honest, from my shallow point of view, could have done with more sexiness, or at least what I feel is sexy - for instance a lesbian love scene is shot rather perfunctorily rather than erotically (or, like I say, what I feel is erotic). But there are good moments and the last third is very strong.

TASTE OF FEAR and the Big Twist

(Originally written for the Blacklist website)

(Warning: this essay involves spoilers for the 1961 British film TASTE OF FEAR aka SCREAM OF FEAR)

One of the hallmarks of erotic thrillers are Big Twists. The wife and mistress are in cahoots! The wife and boyfriend are in cahoots! It’s an identical twin/imposter! They killed the wrong person! They’re not really dead/gay/crippled/blind! They’re insane/no they’re not/yes they are/well they weren’t but they are now!

Erotic thrillers also throw in Erotic Twists, which tend to mean one thing: They’re Actually Lesbians (TAL). The first really notable TAL was in the French classic LES DIABOBLIQUES (1954), which revolutionized the thriller genre. It took a while for TAL to establish itself in English-speaking films but once the floodgates opened, boy did they open: BASIC INSTINCT (1992), SINS OF DESIRE (1993), BOUND (1996), WILD THINGS (1998) and its sequels, MULHOLLAND DR. (2001), PASSION (2013), THE HANDMAIDEN (2016) are just some TAL movies. Occasionally guys make out with each other but they lag well behind the girls.

In LES DIABOLIQUES the reveal the two female leads were in bed together was a great shock. It retains some of that power today, mostly because the scene defies expectations you instinctively have when watching a film from 1954, even a French one. But TAL has been used so often in recent years it has no power to surprise in a modern day erotic thriller — it’s really there for character or titillation (depending on the quality of the filmmaker).

There is another sort of twist, however, that I think would still retain the capacity to shock. It’s used in the 1961 British film TASTE OF FEAR directed by Seth Holt and written by Jimmy Sangster for Hammer Films. At the time Hammer were enjoying success with their horror movies, many written by Sangster, who was getting sick of them, so he decided to try a thriller. Inspired by LES DIABOLIQUES and PSYCHO (1960), TASTE OF FEAR was a success and led to Hammer making a bunch of follow ups, many written by Sangster –MANIAC (1963), PARANOIAC (1963), NIGHTMARE (1964), HYSTERIA (1965), THE NANNY (1965) (the best of the bunch), CRESCENDO (1970), FEAR IN THE NIGHT (1972), etc.

Strictly speaking these films are psycho thrillers rather than erotic ones — they usually deal with someone trying to drive someone else insane rather than sex/obsession/desire. But TASTE OF FEAR has one genuine erotic shock in it worth discussing.

The plot is about wheelchair-bound Susan Strasberg (aged 23) returning to the family home after the mysterious disappearance of her father. She clashes with her stepmother Ann Todd (52) and creepy doctor Christopher Lee (39) but is helped by hunky chauffeur Ronald Lewis (33).

Towards the end of the film, Todd arranges for a car to go off a cliff with Strasberg inside. Todd then turns and passionately embraces… Lewis, a man young enough to be her son.

It’s a real jolt, in part because you expect Todd to be in cahoots with Lee and kill Lewis, but also because she’s an older woman making out with a much younger man — and it’s not a polite peck, they go for it, not once, but three separate times.

And while we didn’t see a lot of women in bed together on screens in 1954 but we do now, we didn’t see a lot of 52 year old women making out with 33 year old men in 1961 and we still don’t now — at least not where the younger men are hunks and adults (often guys who go for older women in films are depicted as inexperienced geeks/teenagers e.g. THE GRADUATE, 1967, THE SUMMER OF ’42, 1971, THE READER, 2008.)

We’re often told it’s hard to shock audiences these days because they’ve seen so much and society is so tolerant, but every society has things which aren’t normally seen — and one of them is still a 52 year old woman with wrinkles making out with a handsome 33 year old man on screen.

Erotic thrillers are still capable of erotic shocks — it’s just what you decide is erotic.

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Movie review - "The Wicked Lady" (1946) ****

(originally published for the Blacklist)

Here’s a pitch for an erotic thriller…

Meet Barbara. Twenties. Sexually voracious. Stunning. Emotionally messed up by her mother’s death. Visits her boring best friend from high school who’s in love with an older rich guy. Barbara seduces the old guy, marries him, moves into a mansion.

Barbara gets bored. She gets the hots for a hunky young dude she meets at her own wedding and tries to seduce him. She stops sleeping with her old husband and starts robbing people for kicks and a bit of spare cash. She meets another thief, and they start a torrid affair. A servant of the old guy busts her, but she kills him with poison. She catches her thief lover in bed with another woman, so shoots him dead. She falls in love with the hunky younger dude, and he loves her — but he shoots her while she’s committing a robbery, not realizing it’s the woman he loves. She dies from her wounds. The old guy winds up back with the boring best friend.

Sex, murder, betrayal, robbery, couple swapping, irony…. You can see it, can’t you? In 1993 you’d have Shannon Tweed or Tanya Roberts as Barbara, and Andrew Stevens as one of the male leads.

But it wasn’t made in the 1990s — it was actually shot in 1945 and it was called THE WICKED LADY.

And it was one of the most popular British movies of all time.

THE WICKED LADY was one of a series of films known today as “Gainsborough melodramas.” They made in the 1940s by Gainsborough Pictures, usually set in the past, and turned actors like Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, Stewart Granger, and Phyllis Calvert into stars. The plots were full of sex, greed, longing, murder and death. In THE MAN IN GREY (1943) Lockwood sleeps with Mason, the abusive husband of her best friend Calvert, who is actually in love with Granger; Lockwood arranges for Calvert to die, but is killed herself by Mason. In MADONNA OF THE SEVEN MOONS (1944) Calvert is married with a daughter when she discovers she has a split personality that makes her run off to Florence and become the mistress to thief Stewart Granger. In CARAVAN (1946) Stewart Granger loves Anne Crawford but loses his memory and marries gypsy girl Jean Kent.

The films were critically despised and enormously popular (in Britain at any rate — American audiences never much went for them.) Being set in the past allowed not just cool costumes and sets, but enabled a lot of (relatively) daring sexual and political content to get past the censor. This had resonance during the social upheaval of World War II, particularly for female audiences experiencing unprecedented financial and sexual independence at the time.

The stories normally focused around a “good” woman and a “bad” woman, who would drive the action, and gave audiences a choice of who to identify with/fantasize over. The bad woman usually slept around a lot, murdered people and was killed at the end, but she was also (in the better of these films, at least) depicted with some empathy — it was clear she was “that way” for a reason, whether a restrictive society, a cruel husband, love of a dud guy, etc A sympathetic character could still genuinely love the bad girl, as in THE WICKED LADY. And the “good” girl was always shown to have strong sexual drives — she was just better able to control them — and her passivity was normally shown to have bad consequences, eg. sitting back and watching another woman steal your husband. They did a similar good-bad split with their male leads — the good man was dashing but decent and poor, the bad man was cruel and violent but also rich and sexy.

By the late 40s the genre died out as the films became less popular. Its death was helped along by executives and stars embarrassed by the films’ complete lack of critical acclaim, but it has to be admitted that later Gainsborough melodramas movies don’t work as well as the first ones. They were either given the serious, “respectful” treatment and became a lot less fun (e.g. SARABAND FOR DEAD LOVERS, 1948), or began to focus too much on the male characters (e.g. HUNGRY HILL, 1947, BAD LORD BYRON, 1949) or they were miscast (anything with Dennis Price in a lead), or they were simply ineptly done… For instance JASSY (1947) and THE ROOT OF EVIL (1947), instead of having two female leads, one good and one bad, both feature the one female lead who is a mixture of good and bad, which may be more true to life, but tends to be dramatically unsatisfying and rob the films of narrative drive and conflict.

The films were harder to make well than people realized at the time, or indeed later — for instance, take a look at the Faye Dunaway-Michael Winner remake of THE WICKED LADY (1983.) It adds nudity and violence, including a duel with horsewhips between Dunaway and a topless Mirina Sirtis, but lacks the same energy and focus.

The 1945 WICKED LADY was not robbed when overlooked at Oscar time. It is often silly — practically every scene has a moment which feels like “this is the subtext” is being subtitled on screen. The actors ham it up — Margaret Lockwood’s nostrils literally flare in some scenes. It is not politically correct. There is an unpleasant rape scene.

But it has a plot full of action and incident; it has clearly defined characters who behave logically and contrast in clear ways; it is centered around a fascinating female protagonist who is not likeable but always compelling and whose desires (for sex, love, money, safety) drive the bulk of the story; there are strong male characters (well, two of them). And, for 1945 British cinema, it is extremely erotic — people have sex in fields, cheat on spouses, fall in lust at first sight — and is thrilling. It has integrity. And what your erotic thriller needs as much as eroticism and thrills, is integrity.

Script review - "Showgirls" by Joe Eszterhas

It's hard to believe this actually exists. Maybe it's one of those projects which are better off in short hand having never been made or read eg "Eszterhas and Verhoeven were going to make Showgirls after Basic Instinct but they could never get the finance". That would've sounded awesome. This is not awesome.

It's not even awesome fun. Maybe it is watching it but... I don't know. It's a mess. It's about Nomi, a dancer who wants to make it in Vegas, and discovers it's all shallow.

Nomi yells and abuses people a lot - I mean a lot. Sure, sometimes she gets ripped off but she's really aggro. Elizabeth Berkley played the part as written. Why does she deserve fame? (as much fame as being a dancer in Vegas can get you anyway?) She doesn't seem to like dancing. She doesn't seem to like people. She doesn't seem to like Zack, that guy she sleeps with - so the fact he manipulated her doesn't mean much. She doesn't seem to particularly like her friend Molly, the one who gets raped - I mean she avenges her rape which is cool but she yells at her a lot and makes her go dancing.

I kept expecting the James subplot to reveal that she loved dancing but no - that plot went nowhere. He wanted to dance with her, she didn't want to, he slept with another dancer, used the same lines on both, but then told the truth to Nomi, then left. It was like "why did we watch that whole plot?"

I get the Cristal plot - it's All About Eve. Only in that film you had logical dramatic drive - Eve tried to take over Margot's life, by pinching her men and her roles and her life. There's none of that here - Cristal kind of manipulates Nomi, but basically gives her a job. Nomi gets an audition then Cristal stops it - that's not super evil.

There's horrible treatment of the dancers which I'm sure is true to life but isn't fun - Tony Moss abuses them, that horrible strip club guy Sal abuses them. Why bring back him and the chubby comic, Henrietta? They were awful.

Eszterhas might argue it was meant to be a comedy but it lacks logic and proper narrative drive. Really he should have had someone killing off the strippers and Nomi investigating. And Cristal and Nomi should have slept together.

But it's awful on the page.

Movie review - "Naked After Midnight" (2014) **

A late entry in the woman-going-undercover-as-stripper-to-solve-crime genre. It's not particularly lively or energetic, but I enjoy watching Fred Olen Ray movies, in part to see how he goes about getting the best production value (i.e. actors doing scenes all clearly done in one day).

Richard Grieco is good value as a creepy shrinky and Tawny Kitaen even better as the lively owner of a strip club. The undercover stripper isn't that great but there's some decent support and a strong twist at the end.

Movie review - "Victim of Desire" (1995) *1/2

Jim Wynorski has made over 150 movies and only regrets a few of them, of which this is one. His main problem was the script which he said he never understood. I didn't have the same issue - mainly I suppose because I wasn't paying full attention and just assumed they were copying Basic Instinct with Marc Singer in the Michael Douglas role of a cop (well SEC investigator here) who is investigating a murder with a fat cop sidekick, that involves questioning a hot blonde (Shannon Tweed, always good value in these sort of movies) who may or may not have done it, and who Singer winds up sleeping with.

When you look at it closely Singer's actions don't really make sense and feel contrived. Ditto Tweed's and Wings Hauser. I don't think it would be too hard to get the drama so Singer was falling for Tweed while investigating her and get blamed for it etc... but the plotting felt convoluted. There was a lot of exposition.

The cast are professional - Tweed has a good old time. But it's really not that good.

Movie review - "Sins of Desire" (1993) **

Erotic thriller made to cash in on Basic Instinct (though to be fair they'd been doing knock offs since Fatal Attraction). It was Jim Wynorski's first entry in the genre, and he'd made a few of them.

This has Tanya Roberts as a girl going undercover as a receptionist at a creepy doctors office where they're doing weird therapy. Jay Richardson and especially Delia Shepperd are fun as the weird married couple who run it - she's more into women, he's happy to go after patients.

The guys in this film aren't that attractive - we get sex scenes with pudgy Richardson, and also ones with Nick Cassavetes, who has a distractingly awful 90s haircut. The women are pretty.

Tanya Roberts gets in the ring with Cassavetes (going topless) and also, in probably the film's most memorable moment, Shepperd (she lets her seduce her so Cassavetes gets away).

I wished at times Wynorski would send the whole thing up. It's a bit silly - not as strongly plotted as Body Chemistry III. It's patchy - you've got Gail Harris (that Wynorski regular with the weird English accent) having gone undercover, then Roberts going undercover; Cassavetes investigating, and Roberts and another cop. Too much feels repetitive and unfocused.

There's some fun seeing Shepperd grope all the women, and Roberts letting herself be seduced by Shepperd, and having Jan Michael Vincent prop up in a small role (I mean prop up literally, Wynorski always puts him sitting down). There's a prequel to be had in the adventures of Shepperd and Andrews.

Movie review - 'Body Chemistry 4: Full Exposure" (1995) **

This Wynorski sequel picks up with a reprise of the finale from the previous entry, with the death of Andrew Stevens and his screenwriting friend... so it pays attention to continuity. To a point. Number three had a need coda where Dr Archer got away with the murder and a film was made of it starring Morgan Fairchild - that's thrown away, which is disappointing as I kind of liked it.

Instead Archer is on trial for the producer's murder. Unable to stop getting up to her old tricks, she seduces her defence attorney. Like in 3, the guy is married.

However the script isn't as strong as 3 - in that one the wife had a real goal, to be in the film of Archer's life; here she gets a few phone calls and nags the lawyer (Larry Poindexter) about never coming come. Also in the previous one there was a good subplot about the screenwriter investigating - the one here, where Poindexter's assistant is wondering what's going on, isn't as good.

They do reprise the characters of the two film executives - Robert Forster doesn't return in his part (they get some silver fox to do it) but Stella Stevens does.

Larry Poindexter is a bit wet in the lead - he doesn't have Stevens' strength. However Shannon Tweed is great value as Archer, much better than the girl in three, as she seduces Poindexter on several occasions. It copies most of the story beats of the third film, though you can understand why - they work.

Movie review - "Point of Seduction: Body Chemistry 3" (1994) **1/2

I saw this film in a cut version with all the sex scenes truncated, which I'm pretty sure is not how it should be watched. But it still held because of a strong cast and decent story.

Andrew Stevens is good value as a TV producer married to soap star Morgan Fairchild. Stevens is told about a TV shrink Shari Sattuck, who is beautiful but whose wooden performance is a flaw. A shame because he has an interesting character - two obsessed men have tried to kill her in the past; it turns out that she manipulated them into it.

Two strong subplots - a screenwriter who pokes around Sattuck's past, and the fact Fairchild wants to play the role of Sattuck in the movie... that's a great idea.

The support cast includes Robert Forster as Stevens' boss, Stella Stevens as an exec, and Chick Vennera as the screenwriter. A clever twist at the end; and fans of director Jim Wynorski will enjoy the jokes at the expense of the film industry.

Production wise it's shot in that early 90s erotic thriller video way - an artefact of its time.

Script review - "Dressed to Kill" by Brian De Palma (warning: spoilers)

De Palma rips off the structure of Psycho - we introduce the protagonist, a frustrated woman unhappy with her life, who starts off on a story that we think the film is going to be about, then she's shockingly killed by a woman, and the film becomes about investigating the murder, and it turns out the killer is actually a man dressed as a woman.

Has to be said though the rip off works very well - it was one of De Palma's most popular movies and a big hit at the box office. It was also controversial at the time because of all the sex and violence - even now, reading it in script form, it remains shocking. The murder of Kate is described particularly graphically with the killer cutting up between her legs while she's still alive.

De Palma has a real genius at creating suspense by distracting the reader's (viewer's) eye - we are caught up with Kate's dilemma (finds out casual sex guy gave her an STI, has to go back to get ring) when she's stabbed to death; we worry about Liz being chased by the killer... then some hoods... then the killer again. Liz is saved twice but both times are set up - Peter, Kate's son (a likeable hero... he and Liz are a good team) and the undercover policewoman (a neat twist).

I wasn't wild about the Carrie like trick ending.  De Palma has an interesting writing style - lots of short sentences and paragraphs. He uses a lot of inaccessible big print, which is normally a no-no but I guess as he's the director it matters less.

It's a politically problematic film, with it's violence against women and transphobic nature... but it is well done.  The structure is solid.

Script review - "Body Double" by Brian De Palma and Robert Avrech (warning: spoilers)

Having enjoyed a big hit ripping off Hitchcock and adding dollops of sex and violence with Dressed to Kill, Brian De Palma returns to the well with this. It combines Rear Window and Vertigo with modern gore and sex, partially set in the world of porn films.

Jake Scully is a struggling actor who makes a new best friend who lets him house sit for a while. He watches the woman across the way masturbate; he follows her and they almost have sex; then he sees her get murdered. He spots similar masturbation techniques in a porno and tracks down the woman who does it and gets to know her - Holly. She's Kim Novak in Vertigo. She's in on the scam, only she's bad (in this draft anyway - I gather in the final film she was made into a goodie). I liked the twist where they let us think it was a Jake dream, then reveal it actually wasn't.

Its a well structured film - the story ticks along. I enjoy De Palma's writing style, which is a lot of short sentences as paragraphs.

There is a lot of sex and violence - the woman masturbating, the peeping tom, the housewife keen to have sex with her stalker, murder with a drill. I thought it was clever that Jake wound up appearing in a porn with Holly - the film actually "goes there" like that. I didn't quite buy that Gloria would kiss Jake after discovering him stalking her (this feels like a wet dream fantasy) and Sam's plan isn't that clever (it's to get an alibi, right? but won't it be easy to discover that he wasn't in that play once the police do cursory investigation? isn't it risky that Jake identifies him?)

Men are treacherous and women are sleazy sluts - it's weird that Avrech became so conservative (or maybe he already was). De Palma is a problematic filmmaker - he just loved women being killed - but he was very talented.

Movie review - "Swimming Pool" (1969) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)

The first two thirds of this was terrific - Romy Schneider and Alain Delon (a one time real life couple) hanging around a swimming pool in their fancy house in the south of France, looking hot and engaging in (it is heavily implied) some kinky sex; then Schneider's ex, Maurice Roget, turns up with his nubile bikini wearing daughter, Jane Birkin, and when Ronet bats his eyes at Schneider, then Delon figures he'll have a crack at Birkin. There's a lot of cock-off-ing between Ronet and Delon who's a recovering alcoholic, and Birkin talking about how Ronet likes it when people think she's her father's girlfriend.

It's slow paced but the four leads are excellent cast and very good looking and glamorous and the location helps a lot. It all builds logically to Ronet falling in the pool and Delon drowning him. But after that, when the film should get more complex/thrilling/something it slows down and just becomes "will Delon get away with it" as an inspector pokes around and hey presto... yep, he does. Birkin's character becomes entirely passive, as does Schneider's.... and I felt the movie just fizzled. Maybe I was overly influenced by Les Diaboliques and was hoping for something along those lines - sorry, can't help it. I went with the slow moving atmosphere but wanted more of a pay off - another plot twist, or some really interesting character stuff, another death, something.

But fans of the four lead stars will enjoy it and it did pass the time. It's four people hanging around a swimming pool in a beautiful location - these are the sort of movies we could easily make in Australia.