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Post by Captain Spencer on May 28, 2019 2:31:44 GMT
Finally this long-lost movie gets a blu-ray release courtesy of Kino Lorber. Seems to have been forgotten throughout the years, but it really needs to be seen more. It's one hell of an underrated thriller that would have made Hitchcock proud. There are some stylish touches by director Curtis Hanson, good writing, and the Hitchcockian plot moves along at a brisk pace. The scene in which Steve Guttenberg's character is humiliated and discredited in court by the defense attorney (well played with zeal by Wallace Shawn) is a definite highlight. Guttenberg is fine as the everyman who gets in way over his head when he tries to cover for his lover who witnessed a violent crime, and Elizabeth McGovern is very appealing in her role as the assault victim. Brad Greenquist (who you may remember as Victor Pascow in the original Pet Sematary) is delightfully creepy as the rapist/killer; the fact that we never hear him talk makes it all the more unsettling. I saw The Bedroom Window when it first came out in theaters back in 1987; loved it then and I love it now.
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on May 28, 2019 9:54:55 GMT
I havent seen it for a long time but I recall liking it.
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biker1
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Post by biker1 on May 28, 2019 14:13:26 GMT
not Dan Curtis.. Curtis Hanson directed it ten years prior to L.A. confidential (1997). I had it on VHS, but never considered it more than a middling 80s thriller - 4/10. His next movie, psychothriller bad influence (1990), is a good one. And then the hand that rocks the cradle (1992) was a big commercial hit for him.
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Post by Captain Spencer on May 28, 2019 16:02:13 GMT
not Dan Curtis.. Curtis Hanson directed it ten years prior to L.A. confidential (1997). I had it on VHS, but never considered it more than a middling 80s thriller - 4/10. His next movie, psychothriller bad influence (1990), is a good one. And then the hand that rocks the cradle (1992) was a big commercial hit for him. Ooops! Thanks for the correction. I had Dan Curtis on the brain because a couple of nights ago I watched the recent Kino Lorber release of The Night Stalker, which had an interview with Dan Curtis. Freudian slip!
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Post by movielover on May 28, 2019 16:04:58 GMT
I absolutely love that movie. I own it on DVD and rewatch every couple of years. Very Hitchcockian.
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Post by petrolino on May 28, 2019 18:30:58 GMT
It's one of my favourite thrillers of the 1980s.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on May 29, 2019 0:40:38 GMT
This has been a decade where I have taken an active interest in neo-noir and The Bedroom Window was mentioned in one of the publications I read. I tracked it down and reviewed in 2013 >
You're either a romantic fool or you're an idiot!
The Bedroom Window is directed by Curtis Hanson who also adapts the screenplay from the novel The Witnesses written by Anne Holden. It stars Steve Guttenberg, Elizabeth McGovern, Isabelle Huppert, Brad Greenquist and Paul Shenar. Music is by Patrick Gleeson and Michael Shrieve and cinematography by Gilbert Taylor.
Terry Lambert (Guttenberg) is having an affair with his boss' wife Sylvia Wentworth (Huppert). Together one night at Terry's apartment, Sylvia witnesses from the bedroom window an attack on Denise (McGovern) and scares off the assailant. Not wishing to expose her affair with Terry, she refuses to report what she saw, instead allowing Terry to come forward to help the police finger the man who Sylvia saw by pretending it was he who witnessed the crime. But when Terry's evidence comes under scrutiny he finds himself the focus of the police search for the rapist and murderer at large...
With shades of Hitchcock and De Palma, The Bedroom Window is an effective neo-noir like thriller. Guttenberg's protagonist begins to pay severely for his illicit dalliances as he lands in a world quickly spinning out of his control. Duped and a victim of circumstance, this law abiding citizen just wants to do the right thing. This sets up a narrative that isn't shy to toy with audience expectations, keeping suspense high as the wronged man - aided by a spunky femme - sets about proving his innocence and ensuring the guilty man, Henderson (Grenquist) (who we know about from the off) is brought to justice. A couple of twists keep things perky, where even though some contrived events ask a lot of the audience, film never drifts into the mundane.
Hanson would strike a considerable chord with the neo-noir faithful when he brought L.A. Confidential to the screen in 1997. Here, much like with Bad Influence (1990), the director hones his skills as a visualist. The Baltimore locations are often shaded as being places of possible peril, while Gilbert Taylor's photography neatly blends golden promise in daytime shots with shadowy menace at night. Acting performances are hit and miss. Guttenberg surprisingly is effective in a serious role, mainly because it fits the character to have an easy going guy spun into disarray. Huppert struggles as the femme fatale by giving a one dimensional turn, but McGovern lights up the screen with poise and purpose and saves the film from taking a trip up average street in the final third. As for Greenquist? Visually scary and Hanson wisely keeps him as a silent assassin type.
Those contrivances, a dated feel and the valid charges of it being copyist have kept it from essential viewing status. But there is still a strong thriller in the mix and for anyone interested in Hanson's work this is a good addition to your required viewing list. 7/10
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