For years I considered the 1984 movie, “Crimes of Passion,” to be one of my favorites. It was directed by Ken Russell and starred Kathleen Turner as a professional woman living a secret double life as a hooker, and an extremely creepy Anthony Perkins as the “reverend” who’s obsessed with her. During the VCR boom of the 80s, I watched it several times with my friend whom I call “Kathy,” the women I’ve written about before who was my all-time best friend for many years (sadly estranged some twenty-five years later). We loved that movie. It was so kinky and naughty, and Anthony Perkins was such a great creep. I really associate it with that time with Kathy in the mid-80s. It was absolutely one of our favorites.
I hadn’t seen it in decades but a few weeks ago I saw it was on Amazon Prime and figured it would be a fun walk down memory lane to watch it again – boy, was I in for a surprise. As I started watching it, I had that experience where you’re revisiting something from the past, something that you think you’re familiar with, but then a sense of disbelief starts to take hold. I don’t normally like to write negative reviews, but oh my, that movie has not aged well.
Don’t get me wrong. I still have a fondness for the movie. Kathleen Turner was at the heights of hotness when she made it. She’s incredibly sexy in that blue dress with the little puffy cap sleeves that she wears for much of the movie. But from the opening scene, which is set in a twelve-step meeting, I found myself thinking, “Wow, this acting is really cheesy. I don’t remember this at all.” Granted, the best performances come from the two leads, who are quite good if over the top. But much of the movie I found kind of slow and even boring at times, which I never would have expected. And Anthony Perkins as the sex-crazed reverend just felt icky to me rather than edgy. I actually felt kind of bad watching him, like I was almost ashamed of myself for being a pervert. It was like, ugh, this guy’s pretty gross. Of course, he’s the bad guy so he’s supposed to be. But the emphasis on the seedy and sleazy side of sex – and all his gross sex toys – just started to feel depressing after a while.
My reaction really surprised me. It was like, how have I changed so much in the forty years since I first saw this? I think when I was young, I actually identified in a weird way with the Anthony Perkins character because I had all my own fantasies and fetishes around bondage and dressing that I hadn’t yet really experienced and accepted. But forty years later, now that I’ve had much more life experience, I just find his character repellent. It’s like, dude, you shouldn’t be so conflicted at your age! Kathleen Turner shares a sad anecdote about working with Anthony Perkins, who only had a few more years to live after they finished the movie (quoted in an interview in Vogue):
I understand it was a pretty chaotic set.
KT: Anthony Perkins was a nightmare. It was such a shame to watch—he would huff benzyl nitrate before every take.
Like poppers?
KT: No, those are amyl nitrate. These were one down, but the effect is very much the same. Anthony would break into sweats, turn bright red, and start mumbling very fast and incoherently. Anything we’d rehearsed before the scene would completely go out the window. And Ken (Russell) was hardly one to criticize him because he was always drunk.
There are things I still like about the movie. Although the roles are silly, Kathleen Turner is quite good, and again, incredibly hot. There’s even a brief bondage scene at the end, but like so much movie bondage it’s not really very exciting since there’s no gag. The photography too is very well done and colorful – literally so; there are lots of colored gels on the lights. And the whole atmosphere of the movie is heightened and stylish. The theme song, which is a reworked version of the tune from Antonín Dvorák’s “From the New World” Symphony, is initially an interesting and effective choice, but boy, do they play that tune a LOT! I don’t normally sit around listening to symphony recordings (though I used to when I was young), but in my mind that piece will forever be associated with this movie.
In the end though for me there’s a kind of sadness to the movie, which isn’t out of place with the plot and theme. Anthony Perkins died of AIDS a few years after finishing the movie, and Kathleen Turner has since struggled with severe rheumatoid arthritis as she’s aged. I’m probably reading too much into it, but my experience of the movie is almost a metaphor for how we lose so much in life as we get older. When I was young, I was in love with this movie, much less so now.
Here’s the trailer, which looking at now years later really underscores some of the cheesier aspects of the movie. I’m glad I saw the movie again, even if for me it doesn’t really hold up very well. If you like campy and cheesy old movies it might be worth a watch, but I doubt I’ll ever need to visit it again.
Magic – I also recently saw the trailer for the ventriloquist horror movie, “Magic,” with Anthony Hopkins, which came out in 1978. The TV commercial for that movie traumatized me as a 15-year-old. It shows a close up of the ventriloquist doll’s head reciting a singsong and menacing little spiel, ending with the words, “Magic is fun, we’re dead!” Back when that movie was in theaters, I would shield my eyes from the black and white TV in our den whenever TV commercials came on for fear that that ad would pop up. It just freaked me out so much! Apparently, TV stations at the time got so many complaints about how creepy the damn thing was that they finally had to pull it off the air.
Just by chance I saw there was a video of the trailer on YouTube a few weeks ago. I paused for a moment and asked myself, “Do I really want to see this thing again?” I’m actually glad I clicked on it. Yes, it’s still creepy, but not traumatic the way it was some 45 years ago. Again, like with “Crimes of Passion,” my memory of the trailer was so different from what it really is – even the lighting was different from what I remembered. For a moment I thought maybe someone had reshot the ad and updated it, but no, it was the same one as from 1978. If you really dislike ventriloquist dummies or are easily scared, then don’t click on this link on YouTube – it is still pretty creepy. All the comments on YouTube about how traumatized everyone was as a child when they first saw the trailer though were very reassuring – I wasn’t the only one! Funny how time changes everything.