Net Games (2003) User Reviews

Net Games: Generic cyber thriller

[Platypuschow · 4/10 · 1 July 2018]

Going by quite a few different names Net Games is a cyber thriller crossed with a fatal attraction-esque plot.

It tells the story of a man whose sex life has gone off the rails after the rape of his wife. Unwilling to wait he turns to an online sex site and initially engages in little more than risque chat. But this is a movie so of course things escalate and before he knows it the mysterious girl on the other side of the screen has him by the short and curlys through a series of underhanded tactics and twisted games.

Starring b-movie legend C Thomas Howell, Star Treks own Marina Sirtis and a cameo appearance by Ed Begley Jr this thriller takes concepts froms everal other titles, blends them together and produces a rather trite little effort.

These movies immediatly suffers in my eyes due to the lack of a protagonist to care about. I'm sure plenty will argue that what he did was harmless but I personally disagree and question why I was supposed to be rooting for him and more importantly why yet another poor animal had to suffer for dumb "Heroes" sins.

I've seen much worse don't get me wrong, but the film is simply devoid of originality, you will predict everything coming and the rushed finale makes me question the writers place in the industry.

The Good:

Fairly well constructed

The Bad:

Weirdly uncomfortable viewing in places

Howell isn't leading man material

Begley was wasted

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

The movie makes cyber sex look a lot more exciting than it really is

Do You Want to Play a Game?

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 27 June 2007]

The successful publicist Adam Vance (C. Thomas Howell) of the SFC is in the middle of a campaign to get an important Japanese client and is needy of sex because his traumatized wife Jennifer Vance (Monique Demers) was raped one year ago and is totally frigid, refusing to have sex. His close friend and colleague Ray Walters (Samuel Ball) suggests Adam to visit the porn site cyber chat.net, where lonely people have erotic conversation. Adam meets Angel (Lala Sloatman), a luscious woman and hacker while his wife is visiting her rapist in the prison with her therapist as part of her treatment. When Adam decides to finish his virtual affair with Angel, he is chased and blackmailed by the deranged sexy killer.

"Net Games" has a shallow and flawed screenplay, with some erotic moments and many ridiculous scenes. Adam Vance is successful in his career and totally naive in Internet, giving his picture and phone number to a complete stranger. The meeting of his wife with her rapist is shameful, and I have never heard about this type of shock treatment for victims of rape. Jennifer is not only healed but shifts her character from a frigid and insecure woman to a hot bitch and brave female version of Rambo. The viewer never sees the face of Angel, but the therapist Dr. Klein (Joan Van Ark), Detective Sandra Simmonds (Maeve Quinlan) and even Jennifer's friend Peg Wallace (Vanessa Evigan) have a great resemblance with her, and the ambiguous sentence of Sandra in the end ("I know how he plays") is intended to confuse the viewer. There is no explanation for the stupid attitudes of Adam hiding a body with his mate or how his pictures in front of the computer and with the wife of his boss were taken. However, there are some entertaining moments in this forgettable movie, therefore my vote is five.

Title (Brazil): ".Com Para Matar" (".Com to Kill")

I Wanna Play!

[Crap_Connoisseur · 12 December 2005]

Net Games has to be seen to be believed. It's truly a miracle that a thriller this ludicrous ever saw the light of day. But I thank god that it did, because I enjoyed every ridiculous minute of this hunk of junk and recommend it highly to my fellow crap connoisseurs!

The main reason why I hired Net Games was C. Thomas Howell, in my mind one of the most underrated actors working today. The man has an uncanny knack of giving depth to even the most poorly written character and never fails to lift a movie with his performance.

In this film Mr Howell plays Adam, a devoted but horny husband who has not had relations with his wife for 8 months. When Adam's wife goes on a trip to confront the man who raped her (an equally turgid sub-plot), Adam takes some advice from his dodgy friend Ray and visits an internet chat room.

This is when this film really hits its stride. Adam meets Angel, a demented woman who apparently spends her days masturbating in front of her computer screen. I'm sure she's not alone in that pursuit, but I doubt that many other people go to the effort of wearing sexy lingerie, full make-up and a ridiculous drag queen wig while in the privacy of their own home - let alone bother getting nasty with ice cubes.

Angel is one of the most absurd film characters I have seen in a long time. When not having hilariously unarousing cyber-sex, Angel scrubs herself clean and rolls around on the kitchen floor, screaming incoherently. In between all this, Angel occasionally finds the time to stalk and kill some of her online sex friends in a way that pays homage (ie. shamelessly rips off) to Sharon Stone's character in Basic Instinct.

Surely enough, Angel goes psycho on Adam after he is stupid enough to give this obvious loon his home phone number. The film rapidly descends into a non-sensical mess - Adam manages to redefine the term "bumbling idiot", his wife turns into Rambo and Angel continues to sit at home, masturbating and plotting murders. There came a point when I just decided to go along for the ride and enjoy this film for the stinker it is.

C. Thomas Howell deserves an Oscar for keeping a straight face during this trash epic. Net Games is a worthy addition to any so-bad-it's-good collection!

Don't watch this movie

[Ritzter · 2/10 · 2 September 2003]

If you're in the mood for a really bad porno with no good porn combined with a really bad horror movie, this movie is perfect for you. However, if you breathe air, make sure you spend your time watching anything but this. The acting is crappy. The "plot" is crappy. They try too hard, and the whole time I was waiting for the one good redeeming scene that might make the movie worth watching. Nope. Stick with the scrambled cable.

Flimsy Plot and substandard actiing

[marntech · 2/10 · 2 September 2005]

I see that C. Thomas Howell has appeared in many movies since his heyday in the 80s as an accomplished young actor.

I bought this DVD because it was cheap and in part for the internet-related plot and to see how much older C. Thomas Howell is; I do not recall seeing him in any movies since the 1980s.

In just a few words: what a very big disappointment. I give some low budget movies a chance, but this one started out lame. Within the first 15 minutes of the movie, this elusive woman is chatting with an Asian guy in a chatroom. They basically stimulate themselves to their own chat, she then insists on meeting the participant in person. She meets him, has sex, ties him up and then murders him in cold blood. The plot then deteriorates further.

The plot is thin and flimsy and the acting is very stiff. Do not bother renting it much less purchasing it, even if it is in the $1 DVD bin. I plan to take my copy of the DVD to Goodwill. I am truly amazed that any of the prior reviewers here gave this movie a bad rating.

Reading previous reviews, I get the impression that I enjoy everything I watch!!!

[mistertcj · 6/10 · 14 February 2017]

Now then folks, I enjoyed this film and have a feeling that it has never been available on a proper release in the U.K. I acquired an American import just recently and having watched it, cannot understand why it hasn't been available here. It is true to say that some of the reviews do speak very favourably and, in many instances, I can understand that. Granted, some of the acting is appalling.....particularly Lala Sloatman and Monique Demers. It is of no wonder that Ms Demers CV is not very long. However, I feel that the story, in the main, has been well thought out, with plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing. Sure, the unveiling of the protagonist was a bit disappointing and the sudden transformation from meek housewife to Rambo was a bit over the top, but remember, this film was made in 2003 and if things like this could have happened on the internet then, just imagine who could be watching you now!! Anybody!! You could say that this film was a very big warning of things to come. C Thomas Howell is an extremely accomplished actor and turns in a pretty good performance, as does Sam Ball, and Maeve Quinlan is good fun as the detective. All in all, I thought this to be a good, watchable movie. A little over the top at times sure, but still pretty enjoyable.

See what happens when you cyber sex with your bad-self.

[gmalav5877-2 · 8/10 · 21 August 2003]

The movie opens with an Asian man and a hot blonde heavily into a mutually stimulating cyber session.

When said hot blonde lures the Asian guy to a local hotel for the consumation of their cyber session the tables get quickly turned.

While having the what looks like the greatest copulation of said Asian guys life the hot blonde pulls out a large carving knife and cuts said Asian guy long,deep, fast and frequently. He should have known better.

The movie then picks up with C. Thomas Howell as engaged guy whose finacee is saving it for their wedding night.

C. Thomas is next seen surfing the web and meeting said hot blonde for a cyber session and getting caught up in her web of sexual intrigue, danger and murder.

It just goes to show you, careful what you ask for...

Glorious Trash

[kbumbulis · 12 May 2006]

You know when you're in the right mood and you catch a bad movie and have a great time? I was lucky enough to catch this movie at just such a time.

This movie has logical flaws up the wazoo. There are so many ludicrous things to keep your mind active.

Litte things like: The woman is completely bonkers, yet seems to live in a real nice house, has a fancy computer setup with 3 monitors but appears to have no job. She takes pictures of things she couldn't photograph. And apparently is a technical wizard. And the movie never bothers to explain anything.

Howell's beautiful wife goes through some great emotional journey. One minute she's leaving her husband, the next minute she's screwing him and turning vigilante.

And so few films give us 'chick fights to the death.' Fantastic.

As others have pointed out, the movie is spawning with red herrings. Pretty much every woman except Howell's wife is a blonde so everyone is a suspect. SEMI BIG SPOILER- Of course the movie cleverly keeps the killers face hidden until the finale so when the reveal happens... the viewer can revel in the surprise that they still don't know who the heck she is! That's some fine directing! Even at the closing credits, there was an additional moment of pure cheese that had me giggling.

This movie is not good by any stretch of the imagination. It makes no sense. Logic flaws left and right. Inexplicable characters and character choices. But if you can laugh at this stuff, you just might have a good time.

A fair warning to browsers of the Internet

[samsloan · 8/10 · 23 January 2005]

Net Games is an excellent movie once one realizes that it reflects a real situation and real dangers which browsers of the Internet face. The plot resembles the infamous "Cybersex Torture Case", a real court case in which a young woman used the Internet to lure a man into a sexual relationship with her and then, as part of her perversion, had him arrested.

Not only are women browsing the Internet searching for a man, but some of these women are actually FBI Agents posing as 14-year-old girls anxiously seeking sex with much older men. Any man who responds positively, falls into their trap. When her shows up to meet the supposed girl, he finds the handcuffs placed on him.

Yet, the Internet is a part of life which cannot be ignored. I met my own wife through the Internet. We would have never met otherwise. Now, we have a beautiful three-year-old girl. The movie Net Games provides a public service by warning the viewers of real dangers lurking out there on the Internet.

Sam Sloan

How did this movie ever get made?

[Chris-660 · 4 May 2004]

A young married man with a wife who is a recent, traumatized rape victim, turns to a cyber-sex Internet site at the suggestion of a friend. He quickly gets ensnared into a conversation/sex session with Angel. Angel is a nut case. The wife, along with her therapist, goes to visit her rapist in prison to bring closure. The confrontation is brief and really pretty ridiculous. The wife returns home ready to hop into bed, having gotten over her post-traumatic stress by yelling some obscenities at the rapist. Meanwhile, our hero is being stalked by Angel after he tries to break off the relationship. She has called him at home, his office, sent pictures.

There is no explanation for who took the pictures; no explanation as to why this seemingly intelligent man would fall for this. He agrees to meet with Angel and finds a dead body. He and his friend Ray bury the body, assuming it is Angel. No explanation is given as to who might have killed her or why.

As a red herring, perhaps, the police detective in this case is blonde and attractive and looks remarkably like Angel. And so does the wife's therapist. The sex is monotonous and looks like they shot two or three scenes to be used over and over. Acting is okay. Production values okay. The plot is stupid. Ed Begley Jr, in a small part, must have been desperate for the money.

I never Knew

[lennychic · 23 August 2004]

I never knew what kind of things take place on internet sex chat rooms. after watching this movie, I really don't want to find out. Adam is a young married man whose wife is unable to be intimate with him, so his horned up friend Ray tells him about this sex site and one night, he is just playing around and ends up contacting 'Angel'. I never really figured out what makes her clock tick, but she is one crazy lady. After Adam's wife is ready to become intimate again, Adam calls it quits with Angel, but she gets really angry. She makes a great stalker! She is CRAZY!

Adam, who does the smart thing and tells his wife about everything he did on the internet with Angel, bands together with his wife and his buddy Ray to take down the crazy Angel. I'm not quite sure if they get the job done because there is this scene in the end with a female cop that makes you wonder if the killer isn't really dead. I guess I'll just have to watch it a few more times to see if I can get it figured out. Please rent or buy this DVD. It is worth your time.