Never Talk to Strangers

I like this sort of picture, the kind of mystery in which you can't pick out the murderer until the end of the movie. It's not billed as a mystery, though, but that's what it is. Although primarily a mystery, it spends a lot of time as a romance between the two principals, and then switches gears before the onset of tedium. As a result, there is a considerable dead spot in the middle of the film, which may have influenced some reviewers ratings.

As I mentioned, the ending is quite clever and the picture keeps you guessing, since there are few suspects to choose from and the ending was unexpected. Rebecca De Mornay was good as the heroine and Antonio Banderas was even better as the romantic stranger. Len Cariou plays her father in a wasted role. Banderas is often better than the material and does not seem to take himself seriously, as witnessed by the number of crummy movies he has appeared in.

"Never Talk To Strangers" is an absorbing, if uneven, murder mystery which has been given short shrift by reviewers on the IMDb website. If you rent it, give it a chance. I'll bet you won't guess the secret to the ending.

A more or less typical thriller made special by Rebecca De Mornay's awesome performance. She is the executive producer of this picture and must have badly wanted to do this role -- I'm glad she did.

She plays a psychiatrist evaluating whether an accused serial killer is competent to stand trial. It becomes obvious early on that she was drawn to psychiatry because of her own severe emotional problems and difficult past. In the meantime, we are shown troubling relationships with men appearing in her personal life. An upstairs neighbor badly wants her, but she wants only to be friends. Her father shows up out of the blue seeking affection and assistance, but she resists him, and it is obvious that their relationship and her childhood were deeply troubled. A stranger (Banderas) she meets in a store ardently pursues her, and they begin an affair, but she has difficulty trusting him, both because he is something of a suspicious character and because, as she tells him, she has difficulty trusting anybody. Their relationship becomes volatile and angry, tinged with violent overtones. Then there is the issue of her ex-fiancé, who vanished abruptly and without explanation just before the scheduled wedding.

As happens in these kinds of films, she is sent a series of mysterious messages and packages with no return addresses. Then violent things start to occur. Someone is clearly trying to terrorize her, but who? So many suspects -- Banderas? The upstairs neighbor (who is of course jealous of Banderas)? The serial killer, acting through friends outside of prison? Her father? The ex-fiancée? I did not anticipate the answer to this question, revealed of course at the film's end, but it was not an especially unusual conclusion for films of this kind. What made this picture worthwhile was De Mornay's utterly believable portrayal of, let us say, a difficult character, reminiscent of what she did in "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle". She is simply great at this kind of thing, besides being classically gorgeous.

The other acting is fine, but no one stands out. Banderas is always good, but in this one he is mostly eye candy for the ladies. Harry Dean Stanton as the serial killer is suitably menacing and crazed, but this picture is really all De Mornay. I found it a bit slow at times, but the last 20 minutes or so made up for the weak spots. Definitely worth watching.

Brian De Palma has often come in for some flak over the years, his penchant for sticking tight to Alfred Hitchcock thriller formula has been the source of much consternation in certain quarters. Yet when you view something like Peter Hall's Never Talk to Strangers it rams home just how welcome it is to have Hitch like thrillers at least done well!

Rebecca De Mornay is a troubled shrink who whilst dealing with the mind games of a serial killing loony (Harry Dean Stanton), meets sexually charged Latino guy (Antonio Banderas) and indulges in passions unbound. Then she starts to get very unwelcome presents in the post...

The erotic thriller has been well trodden, and will continue to be so for sure, so it feels a little churlish to decry Hall's movie for coming off as a weak willed imitator of previous purveyors of the sub-genre, but this blend of Silence of the Lambs meets Sea of Love - cum - Dressed to Kill - cum Fatal Attraction etc etc just comes across as a cheat. And that's because it is!

The makers know this and try to hide their ridiculous folly behind eroticism as the two lovely looking headlining stars get sweaty and wet, indulging in sexual play that's as powerful as the surroundings (Banderas lives in a loft apartment resplendent with metal cage and wrought iron doors). But, or should that be butt? The mystery element is weak, the suspense equally so, while the back story of De Mornay's father (a key character) is hopelessly under developed.

Then there is H.D. Stanton, stealing every scene is he is in, quid pro quo indeed, yet he's hardly in the film, which ultimately proves to be a tragedy as the plot hurtles towards its implausible and risible revelations. Red herrings come and go as quickly as Becca and Tony's underwear (the continuity editor should have been sacked along with the writers because of one scene BTW), and even though Pino Donaggio scores the music with customary swirling qualities, this just comes off as a piggyback tactic...

This is a poor thriller in spite of two very committed and visually attractive perfs from the leads - and of course Stanton's knowingly sleazy turn. Seek this out only if you think Body of Evidence is in the upper echelons of erotic thrillers. 5/10

Duh, it's a thriller during the early nineties Tarnished Age of Thrillers. I'm sure glad we're past that stage. So yes, if you don't know already, as a thriller it stinks.

But as a sex movie, it's not bad. I mean, who else would you rather see getting it on than Banderas and De Mornay. There's one classically trashy scene when Antonio nails the naked and voluptuous Rebecca up against a very trendy chain-link fence inside her very trendy loft. Antonio looks more angry than turned on and Rebecca looks more ashamed and uncomfortable, but she's naked, sexy, and making some happy sounds, so who cares? And who cares whodunit either?

Yes, the plot devices were, at times, obvious. Yes, there were clear hints to the outcome in the early stages of the film. Yes, some of the acting wasn't great.

But, I didn't think it was that bad, and (forgive my ignorance in psychiatric matters if this is wrong) that implausible either.

I think, in acting terms, it was a general disappointment in the two main star actors who have done much better work than this. But don't be too harsh.