Crímenes de pasión

Weird movie with Turner as a faux-hooker living out her fantasies and Perkins as a faux-preacher wanting to save/prey on her. Wild performances, witty script, and in spite of a little moralizing about being honest with yourself it's just silly fun.

The prostitute China Blue is the mask that professional designer, Joanna Crane wears by night. Crane hides behind her alter-ego to live in a grimy and seedy fantasy world to escape her reality. Pastor Shayne is Peter Shayne's view into the world of China Blue and her co-workers. The relationship between China and the Pastor is the focus of this bizarre neon-lit fable of salvation, and deciding who is the one in need of saving is complicated. In-between this twisted relationship, in steps Bobby Grady. Grady is hired to follow Crane to see if she's selling her employers secrets to the competition - Grady finds out that Crane's double life is way more complicated than selling secrets...she's collecting them. Grady, whose stale, lifeless suburban marriage is failing, falls for his mark. This evolves into a bizarre ménage a trois with China chasing a fantasy, Shayne and Grady chasing China. What ensues is Crane becoming unmasked and realising that the life she's chosen is not so easy when you have nothing to hide behind.

If all this sounds complicated, or even messy, it's because it is. Russell's visual-audio fantasy is turned up to eleven as Turner and Perkins act out their character's fantasies. And the casting of both really does fit Russell's style, with Perkins undeniably commanding your attention during his scenes. There's a depth in his portrayal of this tortured faux-preacher that keeps your gaze locked on him throughout. However, Turner is as alluring and committed as usual and doesn't suffer from Perkins' chewing the scenery...actually, she chews as much of it as he does. But they never cancel each other out, merely powerfully co-exist. Then there's John Laughlin as Grady, and Annie Potts as his estranged wife. They both do what's needed, with both coming across as naive, when compared to the experienced deviant characters of Blue and Shayne. Grady's man-child naivety helps remove China's mask from Joanna.

The film, however, has obviously been chopped by the powers that be. Russell's narrative is splintered, a little too much at times. And although the 'masks we wear' message is effective, some of the plot points to highlight them are a little disjointed. Saying that, though, Perkins and Turner are mesmerising and they really keep the film entertaining.

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Fashion designer (Kathleen Turner) lives a double life at night posing as a $50 hooker. She is stalked and terrorized by a psycho preacher (Anthony Perkins) while a married man (John Laughlin) slowly falls in love with her. Amid all the sleaze, kink, (which is all very necessary to the plot of the film) and talk lies an intelligent, thoughtful film. You are never able to take your eyes off of Turner who is absolutely spellbinding. Perkins plays crazy like no one else can. And Laughlin and Annie Potts turn in frank, honest performances. Director Ken Russell is able to create colorful characterizations and generate memorable dialogue. The very 80's score falls perfectly into place in the film and the ending is among one of the most shocking in cinema history. A masterpiece in every respect and one of the most under rated films of all time.

Unrated; Extreme Sexual & Violent Content, Nudity, Profanity, Adult Themes and Nudity.

Thank God for Ken Russell. No other director could have made this one. This is not one of his best films, but it is certainly a fun one to watch. Kathleen Turner really goes the limit as an actress in her role as China Blue. She looks great and gives more to the film than it really deserves. While there are some serious jabs made at relationships and sexuality --- this movie is really just raunchy fun. Anthony Perkins almost steals the show in a send-up of his "Psycho" performance. Great use of color and set design considering the small budget. Rick Wakeman's score is suitably cheezy and very dated. An adult film worth watching.

"Crimes of Passion", an incredibly bizarre, sexually charged drama, provides interesting material with which inimitable filmmaker Ken Russell can work. It's as stylish as anything he's done, and maintains a gritty, fairly sleazy atmosphere and a deliberate pace. Kathleen Turner is striking in the role of "China Blue", a lady with a double life: by day she's a fashion designer (real name Joanna Crane), by night she's a hooker. She fascinates two men, one of them an ordinary guy named Bobby Grady (John Laughlin), the other a fanatical, so-called "preacher" named Peter Shayne (Anthony Perkins) who claims to be out to "save" her. Bobby was hired by Joannas' boss to tail her, and she presents the young man with a fresh view of the world; his relationship with his uptight wife Amy (Annie Potts) has soured after years of marriage, and he's happy to meet somebody who doesn't have any hangups about being intimate. The movie is never quite as outrageous as some viewers may expect, but that doesn't mean that there isn't some explicit imagery here and there. Its few sex scenes are done in a surprisingly tasteful manner, but its dialogue is quite kinky, witty, and delicious; it's amazing to hear ever reliable Perkins, extremely well cast in one of his typical nutty roles, utter lots of obscenities. He's just fantastic as always, and the lovely Turner delivers a multi dimensional performance worthy of some respect. Laughlin and Potts are both fine, and the cast also features people such as Bruce Davison, Stephen Lee, Norman Burton, Peggy Feury, and Gerald S. O'Loughlin, but it's the two leads that truly command your attention. Working from a screenplay by producer Barry Sandler, Russell injects the film with plenty of humour; just the idea of Perkins carrying erotic paraphernalia around with him is a hoot. (There's a vibrator, in particular, that will prove to be a very important prop later on.) It may require a bit of patience on the part of some viewers due to its unhurried nature, and of course some may find the subject matter a turn off. Those who don't will be amused by the sordid story and all of the trappings of the milieu. In the end, this isn't something that can be easily forgotten. Seven out of 10.