Gritty Little Thriller...Basic Instinct

Paul Verhoeven is a much maligned director, in great part due to the train wreck that was Show Girls.  While that movie was utter shit, it shouldn't result in Verhoeven's body of work being discounted.  This is the man behind such undisputed classics as Robocop and Total Recall.  In my mind though Basic Instinct is his masterpiece and over 20 years later its easy to see why. 

Erotic Thrillers as a sub genre get more shit than they deserve.  And while there are scores of late night cable skin flicks that create this image, it shouldn't discount the solid entries the genre has produced.  If you look beyond the nudity, the essence of the erotic thriller is film noir.  The basic template of the genre comes from the nearly flawless 1950 Bogart flick in a Lonely Place.  I say nearly flawless because no film ever needed to adress the sexual relationship between the two leads more.  Instead their is a hokey scene and a subtle implication Bogart spent the night.

Catherine Tramell is the greatest femme fatal ever.  While some may look at Stone's performance as hoeky now, it only comes off that way because it has been imitated ad nauseam.  Tramell is sexy, smart and dangerous.  One of the greatest keys to this is that it is NEVER clear she is the killer.  While some see the infamous leg crossing scene as gratuitous nudity, it is a plot point, and a clever one at that.    Michael Douglas' Nick Curran is another great archetype from the pulp error.  Smart, reckless yet with a very clear personal code of conduct.   

Paul Verhoeven's direction is top notch, owing much to Hitchcok.  While some may whine about the sexuality on display, and as puriant as it is, the sex scenes in the film are also about suspense and character development.  Nick and Catherine's big scene was nearly shot for shot like the opening murder, and Nick's rape of Jeanne Tripplehorn's Beth Garner shows both his repressed darkness, and implies a great deal about who she is.  

When Paul Verhoeven submitted the film for a rating it was awarded an NC-17 and among a list of cuts, two major trims took place that I think bare a special look at.  The first was an orgasm from the female murder in the opening.  The second and most telling was the cunilingus between Nick and Catherine.  In the theatrical version she goes down on him with reciprocating.  Jerry Goldsmith's score also deserves a little extra recognition, with a great theme that haunts the images onscreen.  

Basic Instinct represents the pinnacle of big screen erotic thrillers, and the film had an incredible impact that can be felt to this day, think of nearly ever drama on Premium cable for starters.  

With a big screen version of 50 Shades of Gray on the way, I'd like to look back to 1992, when a blockbuster could have a sexually dominant woman in the lead.  

Gritty Little Thriller...Sweet Karma

A mute Russian girl (Shera Bechard) infiltrates Toronto's underground sex trade to avenge the death of her sister.  At a lean 85 minutes writer director Andrew Thomas Hunt sends his protagonist Karma on a no frills path of vengeance against an international sex slave operation.  

With a strong female protagonist (she doesn't need to be rescued) and some great, inventive and grounded kill sequences I enjoyed this film.  (Strip club kill was the best in my mind)  It was gritty and never romanticized the sex trade, instead it was portrayed as filthy, and run by people equally filthy.  If you have less than two hours and and want to see a few pimps(I personally can't stand positive/soft portrayals of pimps) get their comeuppance, this is a satisfying if a tad too by the numbers little grind house descendant.  

A Gritty Little Thriller...M.R reviews David Croneberg’s Crash

David Croneberg’s Crash is never beautiful, but somehow intensely sensual.  The films focuses on kinky sex and car crashes, but is not about either action.  Sex is merely a release of tension the characters feel, tension that builds from their intricate study of car crashes.

Croneberg has created a character study, with characters that have vague back stories if any. The focus is always on the present, never the past or future.  These people believe in the intensity of the moment, and the question becomes why?  And the audience in free to apply their own experiences into this question, because Croneberg is not going to help you.     

The entire cast is amazing but Deborah Unger is a clear stand out.  She purrs her lines with a layered sense of emotion, conveying intensity in her eyes that her body and words try to hide.   She does everything that she can to support her husband, as they both spiral further into a dark dangerous world. 

Elias Koteas is memorizing as the main catalyst for the intense sensations that the cast searches out.  He is neither a villain or hero, he merely is.  He provides an outlet for what you feel, but will never help you truly understand it. 

David Croneberg’s Crash is a hypnotic film that draws you into a world that exists on the verge of our own.  The score by Howard Shore is memorizing and with each viewing of this film I take something new from it.  This from a film I hated the first time I saw it, though it was the heavily censored version blockbuster carried.  (Geographic convenience sorry).  I cannot emphasize what a car wreck(get it) this version is.  Scenes aren’t just trimmed, but entirely removed, important scenes that without, the film makes NO SENSE what so ever.  If this is the only version you have access to don’t bother.  

A Gritty Little Thriller...M.R reviews X

 X Review            

Overview;

Holly Rowe’s (Viva Bianca) last night as a prostitute hits a slight road bump and she hires Shay Ryan(Hanna Mangan Lawrence) to fill in for the missing girl.  Shay is a teenage runaway and this is her second night as a prostitute.  The simple job goes horribly wrong.

Review;

X is a success on many levels.  One is an expert use of contrast.  Holly is a seasoned prostitute Shay is just beginning.  The contrast of police and criminals is also used very effectively.  The cast is great, particularly the two female leads. 

The greatest strength of X is its darkness.  Viva Bianca is an incredibly attractive lead, but his is not a sexy movie, it is sinister and disturbing.  The early sequences of Shay’s first few tricks are awkward and cringe worthy. 

Though the world is against Holly and Shay it is vital to note, they are never portrayed as victims, they are survivors in a harsh reality.  One standout scene involves a pimp smacking Holly, before she proceeds to thoroughly beat the shit out of him. 

Director Writer Jon Hewitt keeps an incredible intensity through the bulk of the film’s running time.  

In the end;

The tightly paced script and direction by Jon Hewitt create a criminally under seen crime flick.  The cast is terrific and the plot hits all the right notes.  If you are looking for a crime film that does not glamorous sex and violence this is the film for you.  John Hewitt finds small human moments within the darkness and chase sequences creating a emotional resonance for his characters.