This thriller is pretty terrible, with B-movie lighting, only competent acting and a treatment of cliches, however there are some redemptive touches, the least of which is hearing Dick Van Patten curse.
The narrative centers on Amy Martin, a sexually frustrated California housewife who succumbs to the seduction of tennis teacher Steve (Nicholas Celozzi), apparently blind to his obvious baggage. When Amy rejects Steve after a night of passion, he turns stalker.
Mixing the serial killer genre with the betrayed lover, we get steals from Psycho and Shadow of a Doubt, with the requisite ineffectual police investigation. Suspicion is also placed on Amy's husband Jerry (Corbin Bernsen) since he never wants to sleep with her. There is a double nightmare, and at the end we are given a Brian de Palma-ish twist.
The treatment provides some comedy - "Nail one ba****d" is noted after the police chief yells "We gotta nail this ba****d", "Motherf**ker" is given a clever use, and someone accused of over-using the telephone ends with a cell phone jammed in their mouth. Steve is given a chopsticks musical motif which at one point allows him to play on a toy piano, Amy is very particular about how she is spoken to as her repeated cry is "Don't speak to me like that", and there is plenty of lightning.
Director Mark Jones goes for the standard subjective, expressionist and lurking camera-work, with minimal use of slow motion, and uses glass for silhouette, refraction and distortion. He cross-cuts between two seductions, stages an argument on the beach with screaming seagulls in the background ending with a long tracking shot, and exposes the bare breasts of prostitute victims.
The narrative centers on Amy Martin, a sexually frustrated California housewife who succumbs to the seduction of tennis teacher Steve (Nicholas Celozzi), apparently blind to his obvious baggage. When Amy rejects Steve after a night of passion, he turns stalker.
Mixing the serial killer genre with the betrayed lover, we get steals from Psycho and Shadow of a Doubt, with the requisite ineffectual police investigation. Suspicion is also placed on Amy's husband Jerry (Corbin Bernsen) since he never wants to sleep with her. There is a double nightmare, and at the end we are given a Brian de Palma-ish twist.
The treatment provides some comedy - "Nail one ba****d" is noted after the police chief yells "We gotta nail this ba****d", "Motherf**ker" is given a clever use, and someone accused of over-using the telephone ends with a cell phone jammed in their mouth. Steve is given a chopsticks musical motif which at one point allows him to play on a toy piano, Amy is very particular about how she is spoken to as her repeated cry is "Don't speak to me like that", and there is plenty of lightning.
Director Mark Jones goes for the standard subjective, expressionist and lurking camera-work, with minimal use of slow motion, and uses glass for silhouette, refraction and distortion. He cross-cuts between two seductions, stages an argument on the beach with screaming seagulls in the background ending with a long tracking shot, and exposes the bare breasts of prostitute victims.