Am Abgrund der Nacht

This film bored me. The only actor who didn't seem to mail it in was John Allen Nelson, as the baddie. I've heard that it's more fun to play the villain, so that's probably why. Joan Severance is a babe, but she was thouroughly unconvincing as the tough cop. For such a B movie, with Ms. Severance in it, I had hoped for more nudity. I notice that the director, Donna Deitch works mostly in TV. She needs a better script and better actors to see if she can do a good job on a feature film. I think maybe she could.

Donna Deitch, director of the groundbreaking lesbian romance Desert Hearts, deftly turns her critical eye toward the erotic thriller with Criminal Passion, and succeeds in making a feminist version of this dog-eared cinematic trope.

There's an admirable effortlessness in her execution. She never waves it in our faces that the lead cop is a woman, but at the same time makes you viscerally feel that Detective Melanie Hudson exists in a man's world...and that it does actually mess with her head. Other characters similarly have their genders flipped from the norms within the genre; plus Melanie works with a queer cop, to boot.

All this doesn't merely serve to give us a few breaths of fresh air, but rather informs the very essence of the film. It hits very differently than your Basic Instincts or Last Seductions. It's a highly enjoyable watch, suffused with great atmosphere and memorable characters. Plotwise it may not be the most original thing you'll watch this month, but I don't think that was the point. It feels like Deitch was attempting to give a genre film her unique feminist touch. But I don't want to minimize its craft. Criminal Passion is both extremely capable and very refreshing filmmaking. I'm gonna watch it a second time.

This movie may not be the most exciting I've ever seen because you can guess the identity of the killer within the first few minutes.But what makes it interesting is the performance of John Allen Nelson as the crime suspect Connor Ashcroft.The role of a playboy,who obviously is irresistible to women,fits him absolutely perfect.He plays both this erotic component as well as his dark side more than convincing.I can think of no one who could present it better! The performance of Joan Severance as Detective Melanie Hudson isn't quite as convincing.No doubt she's a good actress,but you just don't believe her to be a tough cop.So good acting is not enough sometimes. All in all the movie is worth watching it,I'll give it 7 out of 10.

Which is the only reason it gets two stars and not one. Forget the story, the plot, the characters, etc...

Joan stars as a beautiful cop (could she star as anything that isn't beautiful), because we all know that really hot men and women become civil servants pulling down 50K a year, right? But hey! Don't sweat it! We got Joan gearing down, and that's all we need.

How she wasn't nominated for an Oscar is beyond me. Let's face it, she does some of her best work when she puts on a shirt to answer the door! I won't even bother telling you what it's about, other than to say this is right up there with such classics as "Hard Ticket to Hawaii", "Busty Coeds v. Lusty Cheerleaders", and "Busty cops." I saw this one night when I couldn't sleep on Cinemax at 3 in the morning. My insomnia was cured,because as bad as this was, it was like a train wreck: you shouldn't stare but you can't help it.

Avoid this at all costs.

Haven't we seen this before? Soft core erotica film star Joan Severnce stars as a tough, take-no-sh*t cop who falls for a man who could be killing women after sex. "Basic Instinct" anyone? "Criminal Passion" plays like a sad attempt at making "Basic Instinct" with reversed roles and without the camp. But in no way is it as fun as "Basic Instinct." There is little buildup to the sex that Severence and the man take part in; they just seem to do it. "Criminal Passion" really isn't as bad as it could have been, but for grade-A B movie, check out "Basic Instinct."

One-and-a-half Stars out of Four.