Reviews

Not having read the book, I have to accept from other reviewers that this is a faithful adaptation. Having said that, Sir Walter Scott has given his hero strange treatment, having him bedridden from a jousting injury early in the story. Perhaps Scott was trying to put across a picture of racial and religious intolerance, zealotry and bigotry. Certainly, some of the actors paint this picture vividly.

Actors of note in this production include Anthony Bate, Roger Bizley, Peter Dineley and especially Andre Van Gyseghem but Eric Flynn was perhaps not the best choice for playing Ivanhoe, the knight just returned from the crusade. Also,Tim Preece just did not convince as the nasty scheming Prince John. The whole production did not look too good either.

The action sequences looked rather amateurishly done and although the mail armour for the knights looked real enough, the weapons sounded wooden. With bare trees and snow lying on the ground, it looked as if this series was made in the depths of winter - perhaps renting the locations was cheaper in winter. I felt that the BBC did not do justice to Scott's novel.

Here's a mystery: Why do Hollywood kids call their mums, "Mormy, Mormy"? You never hear teenagers or adults say it like that, so the question is, at what age do Hollywood kids stop saying "Mormy" and what triggers the change? Anyway, now for the film. The question is not who did it - we actually know the answer - but who instigated it? Faith Kelsey (Cybill Shepherd) wants her wedding ring back but is that a good enough motive for murder? Or could be that the dead woman stole Kelsey's first husband? Faith herself is hardly a paragon of virtue, playing the seductress to get her way; and her father is hardly sympathetic to her problems.

Whilst the other actors play their parts well enough, Cybill Shepherd does not really convince as the cunning seductress she is supposed to be. In fact, it would be difficult to think of any reason why she would have so much attraction to any man. She comes across as a bit of a Plain Jane and not much better on the emotion front. On a different subject, I found it quite amusing during the assassination attempt at the lake, when the actor (or stuntman) playing Faith's new husband Terry, tries to escape the gunmen by jumping high into the air before diving into the water. He should be recruited into the Olympics high-jump team. Otherwise it was an acceptable way of passing three hours.

I had only recently bought this DVD when I found out that Julie Strain had sadly passed away. This is the sort of film I like and Julie Strain played to her strengths as the chief dominatrix at an underground S &M club which may have been involved in the disappearance of a model a year previously. Monique Parent is Claire Reynolds, a reporter who is on the trail as she falls for tycoon Justin Deville (Justin Carroll) who is the key figure. As is the way of these things, Claire falls for Justin but everyone has dark secrets, so who is really going to fall? There is always a sting in the tail with these films.

The fact of an S & M venue gives some good scope for some naked pain and frequent nudity. I am not really a fan of the obviously over-augmented breasts but to each his own. It is a pity that the Parent/Carroll sex scene was spoiled by the over-zealous use of superimposed imagery and too much close-up. Why do they do this with sex scenes? Remember KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. On the other hand, the Strain/Parent scene was worth a look especially Parent standing naked in the rain. On the whole, this is a fairly run-of-the-mill erotic thriller with S & M thrown in.

Bo Derek has a fantastic body. Right then, that's the positive taken care of but what about the negatives? Ye Gods, where to begin? Anthony Quinn's talent is wasted as he spends most of the time as an ethereal talking head surrounded by some sort of shimmering light that looks like an early Star Trek special effect. Bo Derek just cannot express facially, any different emotions despite going through a range of experiences during the film. There are laughs to be had but unfortunately they are unintentional. The biggest laugh for me was when Bo dives out of the cockpit of a seaplane (she is flying solo) but leaves the still powered-up plane to float off to who knows where. Then there is the ethical question of actually inciting some-one to commit murder - and this is supposed to be a comedy of sorts. The biggest let-down is the end. In a sexy film the ending should have a great sex and nudity scene but there isn't one. This has got to be the anti-climax of all anti-climaxes.

This review is based on a US DVD and the UK VHS which was released in 1990. The US DVD runs for 94 minutes compared to the UK VHS at 83 minutes. Some of this difference can be put down to the NTSC and PAL frame speeds but the UK edition has had the following cuts. The NTSC DVD is used as the reference.

The first cut is at 2:45 when Quinn says, "I'm having a heart attack". The UK film cuts directly to the hospital ward instead of showing Katie comforting Scott. The second cut is at 13:29 when Katie says, "You're scaring me Great One". The UK film cuts directly to Scott writing a final draft of a letter instead of Katie and Scott comforting each other. The final cut is at 46:27 and in the UK version the clips showing the Pill Man spying on Katie in the swimming pool before confronting her in the shower have been cut. The BBFC makes no mention of these cuts so they must have been made before the film was submitted for classification. Why were the cuts made? Who knows, but they help move the film along.

This is actually quite a good erotic drama if you do not mind the poor acting and the rather laughable action scenes. Lea Anne Beaman is the journalist investigating mobster Mike Florian (Sam Jones, an actor so wooden a fence post would give him a run for his money) when she sees photos of an unknown woman, found in her husband's jacket. This start her off on a journey not only to discover this mystery woman's identity, but also to discover the truth about herself. Her troubles are not only personal but also professional as she has to deal with sexual politics and corporate rivalry.

Jag Mundhra occupies the same position as Gregory Dark when it comes to erotic film making and this film has a good amount of erotic scenes especially the one with Miss Beaman and the exotic Juliet Reagh, who for some reason calls herself Jenna Persaud for this film. I think Jag Mundhra missed a trick at the start of the film when the first love scene is curtailed by a phone call: always start the film with a hot sex scene to hold the viewer's attention. Despite this, the film delivers what it is meant to deliver.