The Cyberstalking

I loved this movie, although it was a made for TV movie it was excellent. I had been searching for the song that Holly Moon had sung in the movie and finally found it. I'm mad that I could not find the song that Samatha had sung in the movie, but for all who are interested the song Holly Moon sings is "Holly" by "Republica" such an awesome song and a great band. They are based in the United Kingdom, but are gaining popularity in the United States with time. But they movie is excellent and I would love to know how I could get a copy of it. I've been searching and searching, with no luck. If anyone out there is reading this please let me know how I could acquire it. ENJOY!!!

A superficial, predictable plot line and ridiculous premise forever relegate this film to the "B" vault. However, it does manage to affect some substantial qualities of appeal. The special effects are beautiful and almost believable, while the music, especially the overriding theme "In Hollywood (Who Cares Anyway)" is memorable and effective at setting the pace and mood.

Of note is the inclusion of the young actress Indra Ové in this film as the lead character's best friend. Ms. Ové's bit performance in Interview with the Vampire (1994) was enough to (shall we say?) stop my heart. As the pleading, New Orleans prostitute, she moves even the most stoic of hearts. Indra has consistently been cast in pivotal, though minor, parts (most recently, the Brit TV series "Space Island One" and The Fifth Element (1997)) but is well deserving of more substantial roles. I await her anxiously.

Holly Moon is the standard beautiful, aspiring young vocalist played faithfully by Jean Louisa Kelly (Mr. Holland's Opus, Breathing Lessons) who has a huge itch for fame and recognition.

Still, I must say this film has its own weird flavor and is well worth the minutes wasted in front of the tube (made for TV (1999).) I give it a seven. Not a "must see," but catch it if you can. Very entertaining.

I really don't know what this weird virtual reality story is all about, but the highlights of this dark Phantom-of-the-opera-goes-cyberspace-movie is Jean Louisa Kelly's performance as cyberspace singer "Holly Moon", singing a Chemical Brothers-like big beat techno song called "Only in Hollywood", and all of the virtual computer effects of her performances. The rest is a confusing plot about Holly being threatened by an unknown phantom during her performances, but the thrills got lost. A good techno-style video clip with a weak alibi story linking the interesting visual. Don't follow the story, just dance to it!

As far as T.V. movies go, the Cyberstalking is as formulaic as they come. Its clean-cut, television quality mixed with standard special effects is mildly pleasing, but eye candy can only get you so far. If you've seen one of those Sci-Fi T.V. movie you've seen this one. If you've seen the Outerlimits with Mark Hamil, then you've definitely seen The Cyberstalking. The only interesting twist is a song sung by Holly Moon (that's the character's name -really)played by Jean Louisa Kelly. "Only in Hollywood," will definitely stick in your head and you'll find yourself humming a line or two. However, they do overuse this song and it'll get old faster than it takes to summarize the plot. Too bad they didn't add a couple of other songs. Holly Moon plays a struggling singer who desires to make it big. Working effortlessly to promote herself and perfect her craft she gets the opportunity of a lifetime when a producer hears her demo tape. Meanwhile his current artist reaches critical mass and ends up blowing a lobe after an intense session in the virtual reality simulator. Her brother knows something killed her in the program. Through the use of cybernetics, the producer links Holly Moon to a sort of

virtual reality mainframe whereupon she constructs a world by the power of thought in which to present her music; like a music video minus the annoying VJ's. However, things go wrong as a malignant phantom glitch appears in the simulation apparently out to kill again as it did the first time. It's up to the crusading brother to save Holly Moon... Brian Grant, the director should stick to what he does best -t.v. shows.

There have been various comments here about the song that Holly sings, all positive as I recall, so some proper identification is in order. It is in fact called "Holly" (not "Only in Hollywood" or anything else), and was originally recorded by the band that wrote it, Republica, on their self-titled 1996 album. I would say that the original version as sung by the band's little spitfire of a lead singer is somewhat better than this movie version (though there's nothing particularly wrong with the latter). Although Republica only had their 15 minutes of fame here in North America (maybe a half hour in their native UK), they might be familiar for their two hits "Ready to Go" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous". The movie itself is formulaic (it was clear to me all along who the "dark presence" was), but the SF theme is interesting and FX are indeed good.