Someone probably should have told the producers/directors of Fascination that a thriller is, by definition, supposed to be thrilling. Instead, this movie contains one of the funniest opening sequences ever: a buff older dude goes out for a swim, then on his way back to shore, a wave knocks him into a rock, his head hits with a big CRACK, and he drowns. Opening credits roll, with the unintentionally funny "Based on a screenplay by ..." two writers getting a chuckle out of me. Especially when it was followed by "Written, Produced and Directed by Klaus Menzel". Anyway, old dude's wife quickly remarries, throwing her son (Kangaroo Jack voice Adam Garcia) into a bit of a tizzy, which is only resolved when he meet new hubby's daughter, and they get their sex on. A series of unlikely events happen -- the best of which is Garcia and his lawyer buddy exhuming the former's father to perform a toxicology test -- and Garcia's suspicions of the new husband keep mounting. Like many other movies I have watched recently, this would probably make for an enjoyable enough afternoon on TBS/TNT/USA/etc. I honestly think that movies like this need to have their monotony broken up by commercials. Interestingly, this was not a made-for-TV move, but rather an MGM-financed $5,000,000-budget big-screen flop that opened on 10 screens nationwide and grossed a lot less than its budget. How much less? 1/10 would've been nice, but not even close. There are some sexy sex scenes though, so it's not all bad -- Alice Evans is a babe wicked stepsister. I would give it a 3.5 basically for that, but the end of this movie totally blew (even following what came before it), and right before the credits roll there is a joke (I assume it's a joke!) ad for Garcia's character's first album, ballads based on his pseudo-incestuous relationship with his sister. That brings this movie into solid 2.5-3.0 territory -- IMDb says 3.7, so hey!
46 Reviews
Kind of Deja Vu
RainStar_Anahita5 January 2007
I gave this film the vote of 4, basically for its music, otherwise it felt like watching some cheap Australian soap...
I could not see any clever twist in Fascination. It was one disaster after another with two absolutely opposite endings ...
The film was patchy with all sorts of obvious conspiracies loosely arranged to get something together.
Yes, an unhappy wife, a seemingly disloyal husband, an affair and behind all a mastermind to use people's emotions for personal aims are all we have seen before and we all know about the thin line between love and hate.
All the way through this movie I watched scenarios that I had seen before on other films and so I had this sense of Deja Vu all the time.
I could not see any clever twist in Fascination. It was one disaster after another with two absolutely opposite endings ...
The film was patchy with all sorts of obvious conspiracies loosely arranged to get something together.
Yes, an unhappy wife, a seemingly disloyal husband, an affair and behind all a mastermind to use people's emotions for personal aims are all we have seen before and we all know about the thin line between love and hate.
All the way through this movie I watched scenarios that I had seen before on other films and so I had this sense of Deja Vu all the time.
Highly recommend to all friends of Hitchcock
rayteam3 February 2005
I give the film a10 for the acting by all principle actors, for its production values, beautiful locations, excellent cinematography and for the unusual storytelling, which made me, discuss the movie with all my friends. I just saw it a second time. It still kept me on my toes, and I discovered many things I overlooked the first time. I highly recommend it to all friends of Hitchcock who was the best in mixing suspense and romance into a potent combination of erotic chills. He also used elements of the film noir even though none are core examples of noir movement. "Fascination" also has those plot twists, surprising performances and a wonderfully ambiguous, sexy femme fatale in Alice Evans. - Also, I predict that Adam Garcia will be a superstar soon. Every girl younger than 25 loves to see him on the big screen...
How unfascinating!
Chrysanthepop25 August 2007
I really should have checked IMDb before watching this mess. It is a bad movie. Direction and writing is very amateurish. There are shots of the rainbow above the sea. Was that supposed to be symbolic or did the director just put it there because it looked nice? There are several plot holes and the characters are badly written. Adam Garcia takes his shirt off more than he acts. Alice Evans seems to show potential but this half-baked role does nothing to confirm. Stuart Wilson is very bad too. The only one who did act is Jacqueline Bisset. Why is this woman doing terrible movies? 'Fascination' may qualify as soft-core (even though the love-scenes were very unconvincing). It is quite a waste of time and should have been rightfully called 'Unfascination'.
Rich people + murder mystery = Farcical film
shes_dead10 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Fascination is a really poor quality predictable murder mystery that is very forced and contrived. There is no character development and both the script and acting are over the top college fodder. It gives the impression of being written by a rich boy who wants to be a film maker and uses all the clichés in a very unintelligent and uninteresting way
No one in this film seems to have true feelings. It is like it is written by someone who doesn't have any feelings themselves. The characters are ill-defined and they chop and change from being nice, to nasty, to nice again for no reason other than to confuse the audience so we aren't supposed to know who the killer is (though it is still very easy to work out anyway).
Dialogue and acting style is melodramatic, the characters are clichéd - a wicked step-father, an uncaring mother, the mandatory best friend who only appears when the writer needs and extra character for, say, grave robbing.
The guy who plays this 'best friend' character is so bad at acting it's like he's not even in the same movie, his acting style as well as his costume and general demeanour is just completely out of kilter with the rest of the film.
The screenplay is so poor that you realise the writer has no integrity at all. He just doesn't care! Bad structure, two dimensional characters, ill-fitting scenes. It had that whole 'first draft' kind of feel.
For example, the main character, Scott, bumps in to a girl called Kelly in one scene. In the very next scene they are sitting in a restaurant with Scott's mother and her new boyfriend. It's only about half way through the scene that you realise Scott isn't introducing Kelly to the parents, but that the mother's new bloke is Kelly's father and they are announcing their marriage plans. So the two main characters have developed a relationship and none of it was shown to the audience. And by sheer chance Scott's new girlfriend happens to be the daughter of his mother's new boyfriend. It's scenes like this that make the film come across as a jumbled mess.
Red herrings abound in this movie, particularly in respect of the mother who throughout most of the film comes across as an evil woman who may have killed her husband; she gets married soon after his death and shows no feeling or thought towards her son. Then in a random scene about three quarters of the way through she has a about-turn and delivers a monologue wherein she explains her deep love for her son and how she would die for him. This is not a deep and meaningful confession of love, but a lazy attempt to tell the audience that the mother has feelings. Unfortunately all it accomplishes is to reveal that she has been portrayed as evil up to this point in a very inept attempt to throw an audience off the trail.
Whatever it is you are looking for in this film (suspense, romance, erotic thriller), you won't find it, believe me.
No one in this film seems to have true feelings. It is like it is written by someone who doesn't have any feelings themselves. The characters are ill-defined and they chop and change from being nice, to nasty, to nice again for no reason other than to confuse the audience so we aren't supposed to know who the killer is (though it is still very easy to work out anyway).
Dialogue and acting style is melodramatic, the characters are clichéd - a wicked step-father, an uncaring mother, the mandatory best friend who only appears when the writer needs and extra character for, say, grave robbing.
The guy who plays this 'best friend' character is so bad at acting it's like he's not even in the same movie, his acting style as well as his costume and general demeanour is just completely out of kilter with the rest of the film.
The screenplay is so poor that you realise the writer has no integrity at all. He just doesn't care! Bad structure, two dimensional characters, ill-fitting scenes. It had that whole 'first draft' kind of feel.
For example, the main character, Scott, bumps in to a girl called Kelly in one scene. In the very next scene they are sitting in a restaurant with Scott's mother and her new boyfriend. It's only about half way through the scene that you realise Scott isn't introducing Kelly to the parents, but that the mother's new bloke is Kelly's father and they are announcing their marriage plans. So the two main characters have developed a relationship and none of it was shown to the audience. And by sheer chance Scott's new girlfriend happens to be the daughter of his mother's new boyfriend. It's scenes like this that make the film come across as a jumbled mess.
Red herrings abound in this movie, particularly in respect of the mother who throughout most of the film comes across as an evil woman who may have killed her husband; she gets married soon after his death and shows no feeling or thought towards her son. Then in a random scene about three quarters of the way through she has a about-turn and delivers a monologue wherein she explains her deep love for her son and how she would die for him. This is not a deep and meaningful confession of love, but a lazy attempt to tell the audience that the mother has feelings. Unfortunately all it accomplishes is to reveal that she has been portrayed as evil up to this point in a very inept attempt to throw an audience off the trail.
Whatever it is you are looking for in this film (suspense, romance, erotic thriller), you won't find it, believe me.
Don't bother with this movie
robjewelle15 July 2005
If you like watching F grade movies this may be the right one for you. I'm all for independent film making, but they should be good independent movies. The acting is horrific and the script just has too many holes in it to allow you to get into the film. Momentum is lost at almost every scene change. A great idea, but obviously not enough time or $$$ to make it what it should have been.
Does the film qualify for distribution?? I don't think so.
If you are looking for a good thriller with suspense, mystery, ACTING!!, try taking a look at "BLINK" (no pun intended). Another movie to watch would be "SLIVER".
Does the film qualify for distribution?? I don't think so.
If you are looking for a good thriller with suspense, mystery, ACTING!!, try taking a look at "BLINK" (no pun intended). Another movie to watch would be "SLIVER".
Awful, Awful, Awful
August19918 January 2006
I am trying to think of some redeeming qualities for this film but I can think of none. The acting is mediocre, the script senseless, the music unbearable and the scenery mundane for Florida. The plot has obvious holes, needless additions and incomplete tangents. The plot twists are comparable to pushing a grocery cart up and down a supermarket's aisles.
I thought I was renting a thriller and ostensibly, that was the project's ambition. You know the type: X kills Y but makes it look like an accident and then marries Z to get the money, or some such. 'Double Indemnity', 'Body Heat', 'Matchstick Men' are examples from different eras. In the case of 'Fascination', there is a wide gulf (no, an ocean) between ambition and final result. You can also forget the allusions to sexual passion. This is no 'The Postman Always Rings Twice'.
I give this movie a rating of two stars out of humane sympathy, and because you get to see Jacqueline Bisset light up a few cigarettes. We don't see Bisset much in movies any more and cigarettes about as often.
I thought I was renting a thriller and ostensibly, that was the project's ambition. You know the type: X kills Y but makes it look like an accident and then marries Z to get the money, or some such. 'Double Indemnity', 'Body Heat', 'Matchstick Men' are examples from different eras. In the case of 'Fascination', there is a wide gulf (no, an ocean) between ambition and final result. You can also forget the allusions to sexual passion. This is no 'The Postman Always Rings Twice'.
I give this movie a rating of two stars out of humane sympathy, and because you get to see Jacqueline Bisset light up a few cigarettes. We don't see Bisset much in movies any more and cigarettes about as often.
I Don't Think It Could Have Been ..........
savanna-25 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
**********I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL IT BUT IF YOU READ BELOW THIS************ WORSE!!! Terrible! Terrible acting, the most sudsy of soaps story lines. The material from this film is like someone took all the scripts from 10 years of daily soaps and mashed it into one.
What a waste for Jackie. She was the only reason to watch and her part was so one note. Don't waste your time!!
The main reason for making this movie, in my opinion? Someone wanted to see the "love" interest for the son naked! Don't get me wrong, you won't see much, but there are plenty of simulated love scenes. Oh forget it, if you want that, go rent a good film, this would put "Skinamax" to shame!!
What a waste for Jackie. She was the only reason to watch and her part was so one note. Don't waste your time!!
The main reason for making this movie, in my opinion? Someone wanted to see the "love" interest for the son naked! Don't get me wrong, you won't see much, but there are plenty of simulated love scenes. Oh forget it, if you want that, go rent a good film, this would put "Skinamax" to shame!!
Ridiculously bad movie, but what I really want to know is...
bradchrisman14 August 2005
OK, "Fascination" is an astonishingly, ridiculously bad movie, for all the reasons that the last few reviewers have described. But did you notice something suspicious about the first several reviews here on IMDb? They're all absolutely glowing! Did the studio pay people to go online and write positive reviews? If so, is that a new way to make money? Movie review mercenary? I'm almost tempted to volunteer my services, but I don't think there's enough money in Hollywood to make me say nice things about a movie like "Fascination." That is, unless it could be re-released as a comedy. Now there's an idea I could get behind! Just put a laugh track behind it, and market it as a "side-splitting, laugh-out-loud romp that the whole family will enjoy." The trailer could show the scene where an entire cabin blows up from the frighteningly explosive force of one small propane burner. "You'll explode with laughter!"
Don't be fooled into renting this
cranemillican6 September 2005
I read the reviews on the database and I went out and rented this film. I'm note sure if the other people had watched this film, but I can safely say it was beyond a doubt, the worst film I have ever sat through. The story line was predictable, the acting was no existent and the sex scenes (yes there are a few here!)are ... misplaced? I don't want to spoil any of it for you if you actually do make it through the whole thing. There is very little to tell except for that the script is more like a cheap film school entry and the acting is laughable. Some of the scenes are actually shot fairly well but then again, you'll spent a good deal of the movie trying to figure out why these people have English accents if they are living in Florida!
Awful!
royer1004 February 2005
Warning: Spoilers
So bad it's hard to describe! I recently saw this movie at a preview screening and was appalled. How did it ever get made? The music is a joke, the actors are horrible, and they throw in random sex scenes that make NO sense and had the ENTIRE audience laughing uncontrollably when it was supposed to be a tender/passionate moment. The plot, with its twists and reveals, almost had potential, but was completely ruined by everything else. We should have walked out and spared ourselves the pain of sitting through the whole thing, although the hilarity of the ending, because it was so unbelievably ridiculous, was almost fun. Let's see if I can paraphrase: Girl: I love you, but you'll never trust me, so I'm going to jump out of this speeding car. Boy: No! Don't! (reaches for her) (violent car crash) Both: Hey, we barely survived and are all bloody, so let's have random sex on the beach! Aaargh!
fast film with lots of unexpected turns
judith-cierzynski10 May 2005
"Fascination" is an extremely fast film. I guess I personally would have liked it to takes things a little bit slower. The plot takes turns that you wouldn't possibly expect and the film evolves into a more complex story by the minute. The character you've just grown to like and trust might turn out to be driven by some strong sinister motive just the next scene. So you end up feeling mistrust towards basically anybody quite soon. Adam Garcia's acting is excellent. So is Jacqueline Bisset's. Garcia's mourning for his father is quite authentic. Moreover, his dazzling physical appearance is bound to appeal to the entire female audience. He's real cute. I am sure, we'll hear more from him in the future. I've seen the German cut and I guess it must be somewhat more revealing than the American version in this sense. I liked the film even though those who argues that the ending was rather unusual may have a point. ...So go and see for yourself.
There's just something I like about it
watcher10124 November 2019
If you were to ask me what I like about this movie, I honestly couldn't tell you. I watched it at random one day, and felt myself really liking it. I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I did. And I really can't tell you why. It doesn't really do anything new, the story, characters, and relationships are average and standard, and the ending was rather anti-climatic, but there's just something about it that I found myself really liking, though for the life of me I can't figure out what. I guess it's just one of those things you like but can't explain why you like it. I'd say give it a watch, and maybe you'll find something appealing about it that you really like too.
I can't believe that someone paid money to see this disaster
mpmurr13 January 2007
I caught this film by chance as my wife fell asleep on the sofa and this was on when I woke her up. I was interested to hear Alice Evans's voice so I sat down and tried to watch the film. I really tried, honestly I really did, but I was totally taken aback by the total lack of acting skills of the main characters. I was stunned at how wooden the actors were. I just can't explain how so much money was spent on such a disaster of a film. I have seen bad films that turned out to be funny because they were trying to be serious, but this wasn't even funny. It was just bad. I guess the producers spent all their cash on getting the "name" i.e. Jacquiline Bisset, and the other $1000 was spent making the film. I think that the director must not have visited Key West as the movie was made in PR and that is nothing like South Florida. But did you notice something suspicious about lots of the reviews here on IMDb? They're all loving the movie! what planet were they living on? How much did the studio pay people to go online and write positive reviews? Thank goodness that IMDb weight the rating as they can tell who has seen a movie and who is paid to say it. PS. Daryl Haney gets a minus 5 for writing a disaster of a script. He should stick to his soft-core porn scripts e.g. Emmanuelle-Queen of the Galaxy and Lady Chatterley's Stories, where the script doesn't really matter.
Crappiest movie I have seen in recent times
rajanxxx21 October 2006
A great DVD cover and a good storyline on the back of it was enough to fool me into buying it.So in case you have bought it and have not yet seen it then let it be that way. The complicated relations remind me of cheap B grade thrillers where double crosses are inevitably followed by a triple cross.The acting was below average and Alice Evans in particular was horrible.The way she talked with that twangy accent( don't know where that comes from but I am sure it was unintentional on her part) was really awful.Too few characters and too much complicity for a storyline which ain't fit even for an amateur movie. Klaus Menezel should stop directing movies if this is what he is good at.
Stay away, stay very far away
jmail-1027 January 2005
My wife and I saw a preview earlier this week at one of the finer independent film type theaters in the Washington DC area and we were shocked and appalled at how bad it was. This movie is a joke! We struggled through 45 minutes and ended up walking out. It would need to improve by several orders of magnitude to be considered for the Lifetime Network. Imagine the worst, most dreadfully acted movie of the late 70s/early 80s and then lower your expectations. It was so laughable it was almost reached a "Showgirls" level kitch but in reality, it lacked a sustainable entertainment value at even that lower level standard. Maybe all those stories are true because clearly the director and/or producer had to be sleeping with someone at MGM to get this piece of garbage distributed. Otherwise, I am frankly at a loss. Do yourself a huge favor and keep away from this clunker. If not, you've been warned.
horrible movie.
Scampo5531 January 2005
I recently went to the screening of this movie with a friend. The acting in this movie was absolutely horrible. Adam Garcia is the worst actor i have ever seen It also had a very week plot with just a bunch of sex to fill it in. And let me mention the worst part of the movie, the music. It sounds like some soft core porno flick and it goes on and on and it makes you want to drive a screwdriver threw your head. I'm warning you don't waste your $9.00 on this movie.
The really embarrassing thing was that the whole theater was laughing right trough the movie. Even the critics. I don't know how this got to be in taters.
The really embarrassing thing was that the whole theater was laughing right trough the movie. Even the critics. I don't know how this got to be in taters.
Fascinated How Bad This Movie Really is
cre8toruk29 March 2005
I have to completely agree with the latest comments on this movie. I suffered 1 hour of this film and by then I'd really had enough. The location and filming is OK, though the closeups are more often than not a pain. The plot is as thin as a human hair if not thinner and the acting is painful at best. I'm not going to write tomes as this movie simply doesn't deserve it. I actually don't care "who dunnit" as I'm not prepared to sit through another second of this film. Never mind straight to video, this should be straight to the incinerator and the people who made it should never be allowed to work again. In case I haven't made my point, this movie is POOR POOR POOR.
Don't let the cheerful commentaries fool you
Grumnarrh18 September 2008
I don't want to say anything else about the sheer crappyness of this thing as all there is to it is already said.
I just want to point out that, with one exception, every single one of the "users" that give more than four stars to it has so far contributed only one review. Don't get me wrong, I'd never dare to question someones taste in movies. But if a unquestionably and objectively horrible movie like this gets reviews which are as unrealistic and obviously unjustified as the ones here it really makes me wonder. So if I had the impression that there could be any way to believe that all these cheerful posters could actually be more than one person i wouldn't say anything. But in this case i feel obliged to warn everyone who hasn't seen this movie to avoid it at all costs. Ed Wood would hide his face in shame if he had done this.
I just want to point out that, with one exception, every single one of the "users" that give more than four stars to it has so far contributed only one review. Don't get me wrong, I'd never dare to question someones taste in movies. But if a unquestionably and objectively horrible movie like this gets reviews which are as unrealistic and obviously unjustified as the ones here it really makes me wonder. So if I had the impression that there could be any way to believe that all these cheerful posters could actually be more than one person i wouldn't say anything. But in this case i feel obliged to warn everyone who hasn't seen this movie to avoid it at all costs. Ed Wood would hide his face in shame if he had done this.
OK--it's terrible but I had fun watching it.
preppy-37 January 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Maureen Doherty's (Jacqueline Bisset) husband Patrick (top billed James Naughton who has about 10 minutes total screen time) dies in an accident. His son Scott (Adam Garcia) is devastated. Within a few weeks Maureen meets Oliver Vance (Stuart Wilson) on a cruise and falls in love. She wants to marry him. Scott isn't too happy till he meets Oliver's daughter Kelly (Alice Evans) and falls for HER! Then he discovers there may be something fishy about his dad's "accident"...
OK--this is a terrible film (Garcia said as much). I can see why it only played on 10 screens in the US. The plot twists were screamingly obvious and the movie got sillier (and stupider) as it went on. The dialogue is just TERRIBLE and I think the cast knew it--Garcia looks like he's trying not to laugh a few times! And the ending has one character doing a COMPLETE turn around in his attitude (so we can have a totally ridiculous happy ending). Still I didn't hate the movie. The locations are beautiful (I think it was shot in Puerto Rico) and the music score is nice. Garcia is a very handsome man and walks around with his shirt open 99.9% of the time showing his nice body. The soft core sex scenes between Garcia and Evans are actually pretty erotic--Evans bares her breasts, Garcia bares his butt. The acting is as good as it can be. Bisset and Wilson are VERY good. Garcia is too but occasionally has this "what am I doing in this crap" look in his eyes. Evans is good but gives away her character too early. Also the movie is fast-paced so you don't have time to think of the gaps in logic...and there are PLENTY of those!
So it's NOT a good film but the fast pace, beautiful locations and nice bodies of Garcia and Evans make it bearable. Almost worth watching for some truly incredible plot twists.
OK--this is a terrible film (Garcia said as much). I can see why it only played on 10 screens in the US. The plot twists were screamingly obvious and the movie got sillier (and stupider) as it went on. The dialogue is just TERRIBLE and I think the cast knew it--Garcia looks like he's trying not to laugh a few times! And the ending has one character doing a COMPLETE turn around in his attitude (so we can have a totally ridiculous happy ending). Still I didn't hate the movie. The locations are beautiful (I think it was shot in Puerto Rico) and the music score is nice. Garcia is a very handsome man and walks around with his shirt open 99.9% of the time showing his nice body. The soft core sex scenes between Garcia and Evans are actually pretty erotic--Evans bares her breasts, Garcia bares his butt. The acting is as good as it can be. Bisset and Wilson are VERY good. Garcia is too but occasionally has this "what am I doing in this crap" look in his eyes. Evans is good but gives away her character too early. Also the movie is fast-paced so you don't have time to think of the gaps in logic...and there are PLENTY of those!
So it's NOT a good film but the fast pace, beautiful locations and nice bodies of Garcia and Evans make it bearable. Almost worth watching for some truly incredible plot twists.
Bad - Worse - Worst
paul-43-5227832 May 2011
Hmm, I've seen some bad movies, but this one comes very close to the top. Normally I don't do much reviews, but seeing so many 10/10 score's (surely bribed/hired peeps) I feel I must put in some counterweight and protect other people from an awful movie experience. Some movies are just bad but without pretense, but this one is full of it. The only sad thing is that Jacqueline Bisset had a momentary lapse of reason when she signed on for this one. Please avoid this movie at all cost. Go rent 'The blue Lagoon' or something if you want to see beautiful loosely clothed people in a tropic setting, and better turn to 'Sherlock Holmes' for a good murder story :)
Film Noir in Sunny Setting
clinton_hulig5 November 2004
"Fascination" is a film that really delights in circumventing, undermining and blatantly avoiding your expectations - and I mean that as a compliment.
The movie starts out not with a murder but with an accident: Patrick Doherty, wealthy businessman, goes for a swim and never comes back well, not alive that is. His body is thrown on the rocks of his beach-front property. Cause of death: drowning.
His son Scott (Adam Garcia) deeply mourns his father's death; but when his mother (Jacqueline Bisset) announces marriage-plans soon after, his mourning turns to something darker, deeper, maybe Oedipal. His new step dad's sexy daughter has an even darker suspicion: could their parents have killed his dad and maybe some years earlier maybe her mother.
The two step-siblings quickly fall in lust and investigate but this thriller-turn doesn't even do justice to what director Klaus Menzel keeps brooding beneath the surface. Nobody can be trusted. Love without trust is impossible but, boy, does it make for hot sex!
In the end we don't even care who killed whom but we deeply care about the love-story. It's not about Scott getting the girl, but if he will be foolish enough to lose her. She might not be trustworthy, but she's certainly the hottest alleged murderess since Sharon Stone got hold of an ice-pick.
The movie starts out not with a murder but with an accident: Patrick Doherty, wealthy businessman, goes for a swim and never comes back well, not alive that is. His body is thrown on the rocks of his beach-front property. Cause of death: drowning.
His son Scott (Adam Garcia) deeply mourns his father's death; but when his mother (Jacqueline Bisset) announces marriage-plans soon after, his mourning turns to something darker, deeper, maybe Oedipal. His new step dad's sexy daughter has an even darker suspicion: could their parents have killed his dad and maybe some years earlier maybe her mother.
The two step-siblings quickly fall in lust and investigate but this thriller-turn doesn't even do justice to what director Klaus Menzel keeps brooding beneath the surface. Nobody can be trusted. Love without trust is impossible but, boy, does it make for hot sex!
In the end we don't even care who killed whom but we deeply care about the love-story. It's not about Scott getting the girl, but if he will be foolish enough to lose her. She might not be trustworthy, but she's certainly the hottest alleged murderess since Sharon Stone got hold of an ice-pick.
Ridiculous
tiffanytallent19819 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I gave this movie 3 stars for the beautiful landscape, the murder scene, and because Adam Garcia is pretty to look at. No seriously the last star is for Jacqueline Bisset, who is too good for this movie. The story line is actually intriguing, once you figure out what is going on. But whew! There is so much sex between the two lead characters, Scott and Kelly. Ok that's fine you say. They are young, good looking, and wildly attracted to one another. However, Kelly just seduces Scott at the weirdest times. I guess to her sex fixes everything or at least distracts Scott from her true agenda. It's just plain creepy how she acts. And he should realize how crazy and toxic their relationship is. Instead, they end up having sex on the beach after his mom is murdered by Kelly's pedophile lover. Crazy right? And Scott is all forgiving that Kelly played a part in deceiving him. I mean, she was groomed by the older lover and lied to. She just went off of information she was given. It was all too much for me to ever be interested in watching it again.
a visual feast
bananated4 March 2005
We watched this on a recent trip to Europe and were transported to the beautiful coastlines of Costa Rica, which doubled for Florida locations in this movie. Adam Garcia is a strong male lead and pairs well with the young and upcoming Alice Evans. Their intimate scenes were tough and a core part of the film, which is both thriller and romance, as well as an action adventure. The performances were generally good throughout, especially from the always watchable Jacqueline Bisset, and held the movie together even when the script dipped at times. Supporting cast also very tight, and overall the mood of a young couple searching for the truth about their haunting family's past is well conveyed; both the fantasy and comic elements are combined by director Menzel in his first feature.
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