Instantly players in the ‘80s/’90s Neo-Noir Revival when THE LAST SEDUCTION/’94 came out, director John Dahl and sultry star Linda Fiorentino wound up being bit players after this second collaboration. Dahl, at least, active to this day (mostly cable & streaming); Fiorentino, all but thru in six years. Agent/manager negligence? Difficult to work with? On the ‘wrong’ side of forty? Hard to guess from this meager paranormal thriller that sees Ray Liotta’s forensic doc, a long-grieving widower blamed for his wife’s death, taking unhealthy interest in Fiorentino’s mind-merging experiments. Injecting himself with untested serum to get inside a witness's brain, he damages his health to seek the truth. It gives Dahl an excuse for fast-edit psychotronic razzle-dazzle as Liotta shoots up to investigate with Fiorentino playing worrying sidekick/health coach for a guy she inevitably/unaccountably falls for. A deep dive hardly needed when the real killer is so obvious a five-year-old movie novice could have spotted him in the first reel. That said, it’s not a bad watch. Dahl had a talent for these things* and Fiorentino grows on you in this silly role once you get past the horrible bangs that sparsely cover her forehead.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Though Dahl does have a manner of being slightly ‘off’ with his camera set-ups. A bit too close, they sometimes ‘read’ as genre parody.
DOUBLE-BILL: As mentioned, THE LAST SEDUCTION really got people’s attention. Not seen here since its theatrical release. Send a COMMENT (see link below) and let us know how it's holding up. OR: Fiorentino’s striking debut, hard to the touch/quick to melt, against a very green, very likable Matthew Modine in VISION QUEST/’85.
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