I can see why this one underwent a name change... ostensibly a remake of Exposé, all that remains from the original is a writer who goes to a country home to get some work done, and runs into some trouble with their new PA. It's even less of a Remake than Toolbox Murders.
Oh, I tell a lie; they did keep one thing from the original; Linda Hayden. Hayden played the PA in Exposé, and is a housekeeper here.
This time around the author (now Paula instead of Paul) goes to her family's old holiday spot in order to write her 2nd novel. The PA (Linda) shows up and, after a perfectly normal start, begins to act violently, take over the writing of Paula's book, and even murder anyone who could interfere with the writing and publication of the novel.
Thankfully, this is another short one, coming in at 77mins including credits; I say 'thankfully' because the first half hour is as dull as hell, followed by another half hour lumbering towards a very predictable twist.
Martin Kemp (yes, the Spanda Ballet / Eastenders, guy) pulls writer and director duties and, while not entirely badly put together, it is very obviously a directorial debut; every shot is something we've seen before (often done better) and, as is too often the case with first time thriller directors, Kemp obviously spent quite some time (although not enough time) watching Hitchcock movies.
******spoilers from here******
There is, as I have said, a 'twist' , and it could have been a (relatively) interesting, if clichéd one, but for one thing...
Paula keeps having dreams in which a younger man is having sex with her, and starts bleeding and dies mid-act; During Linda's first murder (a journalist after a scoop) she screams that she (Linda) used to be regularly raped by her brother... Until she stabbed him mid-act.
If you can't work out the 'twist' from that, you've probably never seen a movie before.
Showing posts with label Stalker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stalker. Show all posts
Saturday, 23 February 2013
Stalker - Lisa's Review
***SPOILERS***
I put 'spoilers' as my first word here, but I doubt it will spoil anything for anyone, for as unlikely as it is that anyone besides me and Will are actually reading these review, its even more unlikely anyone who didn't 'have' to watch this movie would have any desire to... even less so after reading my review I would imagine.
So, here we have Martin Kemps first directorial debut with Stalker, a movie described as a 'remake of Expose' (a movie we watched for the Nasties challenge). Here instead of the delectable Udo Kier as the author Paul Martin, we have a rather dull, non inspiring female author called Paula Martin.
The basic premis is that she has a best selling book behind her and has had a difficult time and a nervous breakdown. She retreats to a beautiful mansion in the middle of the country to seek inspiration and peace to write her second novel. What follows could be compared to a mish-mash of movies... 'Single white female, 'Misery', 'Identity'... unfortunately it falls far short on every level when compared with any of these movies.
An assistant (Linda) is sent to help Paula with the typing of her novel. Things all seem to be going swimmingly well (asides from what appears to be a rather uncomfortable over familiarity with Linda and Paula), then Paula continues to get increasingly more and more irate at her writers block. This mild mannered, quiet, gentle woman is prone to hissy fits it seems. Linda, seemingly wanting to help starts to write for Paula. Initially absolutely furious at this intrusion and insult, Paula gives it to Linda both barrels. That seems to be the last we see of Paula as the woman we have been introduced to.
I put 'spoilers' as my first word here, but I doubt it will spoil anything for anyone, for as unlikely as it is that anyone besides me and Will are actually reading these review, its even more unlikely anyone who didn't 'have' to watch this movie would have any desire to... even less so after reading my review I would imagine.
So, here we have Martin Kemps first directorial debut with Stalker, a movie described as a 'remake of Expose' (a movie we watched for the Nasties challenge). Here instead of the delectable Udo Kier as the author Paul Martin, we have a rather dull, non inspiring female author called Paula Martin.
The basic premis is that she has a best selling book behind her and has had a difficult time and a nervous breakdown. She retreats to a beautiful mansion in the middle of the country to seek inspiration and peace to write her second novel. What follows could be compared to a mish-mash of movies... 'Single white female, 'Misery', 'Identity'... unfortunately it falls far short on every level when compared with any of these movies.
An assistant (Linda) is sent to help Paula with the typing of her novel. Things all seem to be going swimmingly well (asides from what appears to be a rather uncomfortable over familiarity with Linda and Paula), then Paula continues to get increasingly more and more irate at her writers block. This mild mannered, quiet, gentle woman is prone to hissy fits it seems. Linda, seemingly wanting to help starts to write for Paula. Initially absolutely furious at this intrusion and insult, Paula gives it to Linda both barrels. That seems to be the last we see of Paula as the woman we have been introduced to.
Monday, 18 February 2013
WEEK 92 - Stalker
Year: 2010
Reviews / Author Comments due: 2/3/2013
Reason for Inclusion: Remake of DPP movie, Expose
BBFC Status: Passed uncut in 2011
More Info: No Wikipedia, IMDB
DVD: LINK
Feel free to use the comments section of this post to add your own reviews and thoughts about this movie.
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