Torment

"Torment" follows a young bride-to-be who spends the weekend with her paranoid soon-to-be-mother-in-law at her sprawling San Francisco estate. Meanwhile, a psychotic woman-killer has arrived in the city, and is about to descend on their weekend plans.

This flick was released by New World Pictures in the late '80s and seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle, toiling away on video store shelves before vanishing into the abyss. Like most New World Titles, "Torment" is not high art, but it is a fairly clever psychothriller which has some things in common with the '70s giallo. The entire film really looks more like a '70s picture than it does an '80s one; everything from the score to the gritty cinematography gives the impression that you are watching a film made in the mid-1970s. There are a few homages to Hitchcock peppered in, and a number of great visuals that counteract the low budget.

There is a fair amount of suspense established early on before the film throws its singular curveball at the midway point, which is an unusual and crafty one. The last half suffers after this revelation to some degree, as there isn't much left in the way of surprises, but fortunately a spunky performance from Eve Brenner as the protective, wheelchair-bound mother-in-law really amps things up. William Witt, an unknown, plays the schlubby killer, while Taylor Gilbert is serviceable as the clueless protagonist.

Though not a terribly exciting film, "Torment" is a crafty thriller that manages to succeed in more ways than one. It is worth viewing for fans of psychothrillers, and manages to establish itself as a late-'80s curio that feels more like a mid-'70s English-language giallo. 7/10.

TORMENT was one of those videos that sat gathering dust at the local video store, so I decided to pick it up one day and give it a look. In all honesty, the film is good for the one surprising twist halfway through the meandering story, but does one twist a movie make? Not really. The film is low-low budget, and the small cast and limited situations are reflective of that. The cast does just enough to get the story told and that's about it. But do you watch a film like this to be blown away? Nope. The directors do throw in a few interesting touches, such as the interesting opening sequence of the murderer's car going down the highway, and the cranky old woman in the wheelchair who winds up being something of the hero sort. Other than that, if you want to skip on by, start the walking.

As is the case with a lot of movies, there were some really good and inventive ideas for the plot and in the hands of a better writer/director and cast, this could have been a great movie. It is still better than a lot of the dross produced in the 80's, just needed more polishing.

A serial killer(William Witt)is murdering young women of San Francisco.Police detective Michael(Warren Lincoln)tries to find him.Unfortunately,Michael's fiancee Jennifer(Taylor Gilbert)soon becomes the madman's next obsession.She finds herself trapped inside a dark house with an elderly near-cripple(Eve Brenner)."Torment" is a boring thriller which offers nothing new.There is no gore and no nudity,so fans of horror will be disappointed.Even the violence is toned down.There is some suspense during the climax,but I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone.4 out of 10.

Awesome film. The theatrics are amazing. William Witt is a great actor