Over the Line (1993) User Reviews

Out of Control

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 8 August 2022]

Also known as Over the Line, this late Cannon movie was directed by Robert Barrett, who is really Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli, the cinematographer of Beyond the Door, Tentacles and many many more, joined by the director of so many of those movies, Ovidio G. Assonitis, who had become the second major stockholder chairman and CEO of Cannon Pictures Inc.

Elaine Patterson (Lesley-Anne Down) is a teacher at a prison outreach program who ends up having a conjugal visit with one of her jailhouse pupils, Dial (John Enos III). She breaks things off when they get too intense; his ex-girlfriend Kandi (Lady B. Pearl) raps about the pain of losing him; he goes after Elaine for shutting down the road to Pound Town.

When Tomas Arana and Michael Parks are both in your movie, you're doing things right. I mean, this is the kind of movie you'd watch scrambled on Cinemax in the early 90s or sneak rent at a mom and pop shop when you're too young to walk in the double doors into the dirty side of video rental.

Written by William Clark and Fabio Piccioni (Murder Syndrome), this is a movie that dares to have a scene where Lesley-Anne Down writes "I will prevail" in the sand after all she's been through. Perhaps we should wonder why she - in a position of power as a teacher - can seemingly be the heroine despite having an inappropriate relationship with one of her students. Ah, 1992, life was simpler and sleazier then.

(S)he's going Down

[kosmasp · 4/10 · 2 May 2023]

No pun intended - this is so 90s .. I mean it oozes that sentiment from all over the place. If you have seen thrillers from that time, you will feel them - this of course is being as predictable as anything. A lot of cliches assembled too. And a main character that seems unable to control herself. Who can refuse a bad guy, right? Well hopefully that sentiment is seen as a relict too.

But if you like your thriller to show a bit of skin, to get sexy and Down and dirty (sorry, I know she can't change her name) ... well this will be one you may enjoy. Just do not expect too much from it. Mayhem will come - and go - and you'll forget about it shortly after you watch it.

aka Over the Line

[petershelleyau · 4 November 2001]

Is it a coincidence that this thriller has 2 directors - Oliver Hellman and Robert Barrett - and the narrative is schizophrenic? We begin in Zalman King territory with Lesley-Anne Down a college literary professor who teaches at a prison inhabited by the gorgeous John Enos. Since both of them are beautiful specimens of humanity we take pleasure in the anticipation of their union, and the progress is teasingly slow, helped along by the Bernard Herrrmann-ish music. However things go wrong in the second half, with Down inexplicably rejecting Enos, and the romance turns into a stalking thriller. Even if we are meant to see that Down is repressing her sexual freedom (she's given the requisite scene of solo frustration), admittedly with someone who is a murderer which can sometimes bring up trust issues in a relationship, we lose all empathy with her. I mean, she has to be much crazier than Enos to not want a man who looks like him. That may sound shallow, but a hunk is a hunk. And he sensitive. He cries, he uses a little boy voice, and has an irresistible opening line to Down in "I can see your pain". Enos has baggage in the form of girlfriend rap performer Lady B Pearl who is indulged in an extended music sequence, which definitely clued me into the mistep the film makers had taken. As the woman scorned, Pearl poses like Rita Moreno in West Side Story, and delivers mind numbingly awful pseudo-uplifting rap-poetry. The prison sequences have laughably variable levels of security, with conjugal quarters the size of deluxe hotelrooms, and feature a demonstration of ant-gay bashing which is odd considering the attention the camera pays to Enos' crotch and bottom. Down represents the American fascination with British ladies like Joan Collins who have a slatternly edge, but whilst Down is a more subtle performer than Collins she also lacks Collin's authority (camp or otherwise). The title refers to Enos' description of his affair with Down as a "dance to the edge", but when Down later writes "I will prevail" in the sand, our hopes are as dashed as the imprint from the incoming tide.

Cheap 'erotic' thriller

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 12 January 2022]

A cheap 'erotic thriller' that singularly fails to get the pulses racing. This one involves Lesley-Anne Down playing a prison teacher who unwisely begins a sordid affair with a 'hot con', an affair which soon spirals out of control. A lot of cheesy melodrama as befits Cannon Pictures, and I had no idea that Ovidio G. Assonitis was the man behind it, but it makes sense. The psycho murders seem shoehorned in from a slasher film and don't fit with the rest of the plot at all.

Out of Control - worth a look..

[markrobi · 6/10 · 3 April 2016]

Channel surfing over-the-air TV the other night (boycotting cable right now) I stumble across this little number. As others have commented what starts out as well-paced and coherent becomes quite jumbled by the end; were they just rushing to end the production for some reason(?) The frequent re-appearance of cast members, esp. Mike Parks and Sofia Milos helps keep up your interest as the plot goes it's merry way..it's a little too pandering to qualify as a psycho-drama. Reasonably well produced Out of Control scores points for being filmed in a small market (Corpus Christi, TX) with interior and night shots clear and colorful. A surprise is actress - Lady B. Pearl - playing a club rapper/spurned girlfriend of Dial. It appears this has been the only movie she's starred in. Pity.

Lesley Ann- Down hots it up!!

[nadkarnisumeet · 6/10 · 2 November 2020]

Saw the film only for my fave Lesley- Ann Down and it didnt disappoint me one bit. Her simmering chemistry with the handsome hunk John Enos reaches a crescendo in the lovemaking scene which itself is worth your time and money. Trust me, it is smouldering hot and all Down fans will certainly have a blast!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

If the narrative is schizophrenic; it also has a touch of genius- in that a college professor with tenure and promotion, is willing to put it ALL on the line for a tryst.

[koolgirlie · 25 May 2003]

The first commenter mentioned being in Zalman King territory. Given the fact, that KING is damn near a genius in creating erotic films w/o being pornographic. There is a difference. Consider the setting. Downs takes notice of Dial the first day, just as he does of her and immediately sets her self-discipline aside, thinking she can play games with a psycho-killer without repercussions. Joe Dial on the other hand, even though perhaps pschotic from parent-abuse as a child; is highly intelligent. He is in a position of trust as a Trustee and pretty much accessibility to the prison surroundings (takes SOME doing to get into this position). When he corners Downs in the supply room and starts making love to her, he stops before she is able to climax; thus no WAY in hell is she not going to go to the conjugal visit, laying her whole career on the line if she is discovered. Think for a minute ALL she would be giving up, if this happened. The press would bury her. I hate to think of the damage to her reputation, not to mention the college would fire her immediately. Yet, like a moth dancing a flame, she DOES dance to the edge just as Joey had described, ignoring the consequences. AND what was LADY B. Pearl thinking? If my boyfriend wanted to sleep with another, he wouldn't be my boyfriend anymore. It was her jealousy that got Dial killed, the warden killed and the stalking started in the first place...because he no more wanted her than he wanted her choc chip cookies. This is where I first DISCOVERED John Enos seeing this flick as a rerun on late nite TV. One thing I gotta say; yeah I realize John is great looking, but there is so much MORE to him than looks. I have the ability to see great potential in things or people, whatever it is. John is intelligent, creative, sensitive, funny, and even manages to have an innocence and a great calmness about him. If the ladies ONLY see his good looks, they are missing out on ALL the REST. I for one, hope John Enos career takes off and goes places for the benefit of his fans as well as the Entertainment Industry. John Enos, like Al Pacino has great IMPACT.