The best part of "Deadly Shores" is the film's poster with a screaming woman, with a tall lighthouse in the background. The image recalls the iconic poster of Hitchcodk's Vertigo with Jimmy Stuart and the San Juan Batista. But the comparison must end there because "Deadly Shores" turned out to be deadly dull.
The protagonist Anna, the screamer in the poster, has recently been released from a mental institution where she was under the care of Dr. Shaw. The doctor is troubled that Anna has made the decision to marry a mystery writer who resides in an old lighthouse where his first wife died under suspicious circumstances. The good doctor has good reason to be concerned.
The drama unfolds with Anna moving into the lighthouse as Mrs. Richard Palmer. But it turns out the mystery writer is deep in debt and is planning to drive Anna insane, have her institutionalized, and walk away with her estate. Richard is aided by his lover Beth, who likely collaborated with Richard on the death of the first Mrs. Richard Palmer.
Two other characters are noteworthy. There is the eccentric Mrs. Argyle, the cook, who treats Anna with disdain. There is also Carrie, the bartender at the Sail Croft watering hole, who is sympathetic towards Annie's plight. There are also some filler scenes with the local pastor and his wife that do not add anything to narrative
While slow-paced, the film started to pick up some momentum, prior to imploding at the end. It was not made clear why Richard suddenly changed his mind and attempted to kill Anna instead of driving her mad. Then, the complete transformation of Anna into a fiend who goes on a rampage was not made credible. Perhaps she was a nut case who killed her parents in a fire. But the unexpected transformation from the passive Anna to the avenging fury seemed implausible.
"Deadly Shores" was disappointing both as a thriller and as a character study. Anna's plight was touching until she became the demon that sent her right back to the nut house. At least she was spared the fate of the first Mrs. Richard Palmer.
The protagonist Anna, the screamer in the poster, has recently been released from a mental institution where she was under the care of Dr. Shaw. The doctor is troubled that Anna has made the decision to marry a mystery writer who resides in an old lighthouse where his first wife died under suspicious circumstances. The good doctor has good reason to be concerned.
The drama unfolds with Anna moving into the lighthouse as Mrs. Richard Palmer. But it turns out the mystery writer is deep in debt and is planning to drive Anna insane, have her institutionalized, and walk away with her estate. Richard is aided by his lover Beth, who likely collaborated with Richard on the death of the first Mrs. Richard Palmer.
Two other characters are noteworthy. There is the eccentric Mrs. Argyle, the cook, who treats Anna with disdain. There is also Carrie, the bartender at the Sail Croft watering hole, who is sympathetic towards Annie's plight. There are also some filler scenes with the local pastor and his wife that do not add anything to narrative
While slow-paced, the film started to pick up some momentum, prior to imploding at the end. It was not made clear why Richard suddenly changed his mind and attempted to kill Anna instead of driving her mad. Then, the complete transformation of Anna into a fiend who goes on a rampage was not made credible. Perhaps she was a nut case who killed her parents in a fire. But the unexpected transformation from the passive Anna to the avenging fury seemed implausible.
"Deadly Shores" was disappointing both as a thriller and as a character study. Anna's plight was touching until she became the demon that sent her right back to the nut house. At least she was spared the fate of the first Mrs. Richard Palmer.