Ken Russell, Britain's 'enfant terrible' of cinema, directs this gaudy and extremely sordid tale of sex, perversion and madness in his signature outrageous style, with graphic sex, violence and, of course, religious imagery. Kathleen Turner takes the lead, as fashion designer Joanna Crane by day, and $50 hooker China Blue by night. Two men become obsessed with the woman: discontented married father of two Bobby Grady (John Laughlin), who is hired to find out if Joanna is involved in industrial espionage, and nutty street preacher Peter Shayne (Anthony Perkins), who tries to 'save' fallen women through the use of a razor-sharp metal vibrator.
Turner has long been one of my favourite actresses, ever since I saw her in Romancing the Stone back when I was a teenager. Naturally, I sought out her more adult fare -- Body Heat (1981) and this film -- when they became available on home video, but while I loved Lawrence Kasdan's sultry neo-noir, Russell's more audacious movie left me far less satisfied, despite my love of provocative cinema and a golden opportunity to ogle its sexy star getting seriously nasty. And unimpressed I remain, over 30 years later.
Russell, never one to shy away from controversy, revels in the excess of the film's lurid elements, delivering several raunchy scenes guaranteed to give the censors aneurysms (Kathleen and the truncheon!), but he also weaves a very dull plot thread about Bobby's failing marriage into the craziness, causing the film to drag (this time around I watched the 113 minute director's cut, which features more filth, but also several very boring scenes between Bobby and his wife Amy, played by Annie Potts). Turner is great in her dual role, giving her character depth and complexity the film doesn't deserve, and she looks amazing, but Laughlin makes for a bland protagonist, Potts' character is thoroughly unlikable, and Perkins... well he takes Norman Bates to eleven, his sweaty, twitchy, vibrator-fondling psycho a masterclass in overacting, which is fun for a while, but eventually gets tiresome.
Visually, the film is impressive, with great use of light and shadow, neon colours drenching many of the scenes, and there are quite a few gems of witty dialogue ('Are you free?' 'No, but I'm one hell of a bargain.'), but with all that excruciating marital strife, Russell's tendency to stray into head-scratching avant-garde territory, and the often awkward acting make this one far less entertaining than its sleazy premise implies.
4 out of 10 for the film, bumped up to 5 for Kathleen.
Turner has long been one of my favourite actresses, ever since I saw her in Romancing the Stone back when I was a teenager. Naturally, I sought out her more adult fare -- Body Heat (1981) and this film -- when they became available on home video, but while I loved Lawrence Kasdan's sultry neo-noir, Russell's more audacious movie left me far less satisfied, despite my love of provocative cinema and a golden opportunity to ogle its sexy star getting seriously nasty. And unimpressed I remain, over 30 years later.
Russell, never one to shy away from controversy, revels in the excess of the film's lurid elements, delivering several raunchy scenes guaranteed to give the censors aneurysms (Kathleen and the truncheon!), but he also weaves a very dull plot thread about Bobby's failing marriage into the craziness, causing the film to drag (this time around I watched the 113 minute director's cut, which features more filth, but also several very boring scenes between Bobby and his wife Amy, played by Annie Potts). Turner is great in her dual role, giving her character depth and complexity the film doesn't deserve, and she looks amazing, but Laughlin makes for a bland protagonist, Potts' character is thoroughly unlikable, and Perkins... well he takes Norman Bates to eleven, his sweaty, twitchy, vibrator-fondling psycho a masterclass in overacting, which is fun for a while, but eventually gets tiresome.
Visually, the film is impressive, with great use of light and shadow, neon colours drenching many of the scenes, and there are quite a few gems of witty dialogue ('Are you free?' 'No, but I'm one hell of a bargain.'), but with all that excruciating marital strife, Russell's tendency to stray into head-scratching avant-garde territory, and the often awkward acting make this one far less entertaining than its sleazy premise implies.
4 out of 10 for the film, bumped up to 5 for Kathleen.