Point of Seduction: Body Chemistry III

Flipping through the countless channels which showed nothing but boring "erotic" thrillers, I finally gave up and settled on "Body Chemistry3". To my surprise(and slight embarrassment), I enjoyed this picture, not as an erotic thriller(there are no thrills and the sex scenes are so mechanical I thought the Pep Boys would show up!) but as an unintentional comedy. I laughed throughout this movie because the stars, and the director, takes this story so seriously.

The story cocerns an accomplished TV producer, Alan Clay(Andrew Stevens, who throws around names "Meryl" and "Glenn" like he could actually get them) who is pushed into producing a story about Dr. Claire Archer(Shari Shattuck), a beautiful sociopath(and a shrink!)who, in BC 2, murdered and stalked a highschool sweetheart but made it look like he did it(he died as a result of her manipulations). She soon seduces Alan, who is married to an ambitious TV actress(Morgan Fairchild), and weaves a tangled web where several people get murdered. In the end, well..let's just say there's a Body Chemistry 4 out there as well.

The campiness factor lies in the screenplay. The film has essentially B-grade actors who talk like their big stars working in the Hollywood Industry. They sip "hip" bottles water and try to talk the lingo of Hollywood showbusiness. The production values of the movie only make these situations even funnier than they already are.

Andrew Stevens gives his typically Stevens performance: dead serious and bland. He tries so hard to be an "actor" that you'll laugh at his straining. Morgan Fairchild plays essentially herself, long fingernails and all. She's oddly appealing in an annoying kind of way. Chick Vennera, Delia Sheppard, Stella Stevens and a pre jackie Brown Robert Forster all give appealing bad performances. Shattuck, who looks like Heather Locklear with a lazy eye, is the only cast member who is not bad and she gives the part a surprising amount of sopa opera juciness that is sorely missing in Shannon Tweed's lackluster take on the character in 4.

Would I recommend this to see if it was released in a theatre? No but since it was released to video(and subsequent pay channels), I'd recommend it for some good laughs and a good time.

Another formulaic Stevens project. Shari Shattuck sizzles her way through this as the sex therapist who has a thing with Stevens, who is married to Morgan Fairchild. One thing leads to another in this predictable sludge featuring amusing support from Chick "Why doesn't Robert Redford contact me to do a sequel to the Milagro Beanfield War???" Venera and Robert "Jackie Brown" Foster.

shari shattuck saves this movie by stripping and grinding, and i mean that in the most serious way. basically, the film wants to be a slick, tantalizing adult short story, like a RED SHOE DIARY ditty. and there's nothing wrong with that, esp. since its package is fairly informative about its contents. it promises steam, so it had better deliver. but lead-man andrew stevens and director jim wynorski appear to have conceived of this film with more than a slight nod to the most perfunctory aspects of the adult xxx genre. yawn! torpid characters, low-budget camera-work. since we know ms. fairchild is not going to do it, if ms. shattuck had also abstained from nudity, the movie would have fizzled like so much middle age without viagra. what is remarkable, though, is how it sizzled! ms. shattuck seems intent on giving BODY HEAT and BASIC INSTINCT some decent competition. despite the script's thin excuses which telegraph the sex scenes, the movie delivers as promised. the rest of the cast owes ms. shattuck for this one.

I love everything about this movie. From the over the top sex sequences to the over the top lightening flashes (you know it from other jim wynorski pictures). He is one of my favorite horror thriller directors from the direct to video sub genre. Morgan Fairchild is hilarious. Unintentionally but it still works. They're all unintentionally hilarious. If BASIC INSTINCT was a piece of wood. Anyway, it all makes for something that I appreciate. I have watched this movie countless times and enjoy it every time. Nostalgic too.

Otherwise, don't bother. This is just your basic direct-to-video fluff. Andrew Stevens is such a bad actor it's not even funny. He and Morgan Fairchild (what's SHE doing in this?) provide perhaps the worst sex scene in film history as well. She must've had a no-nudity clause cause the camera never pans down further than the top of her bustline in this. Shari Shattuck (who thankfully does not have a no-nudity clause) is ok at best. Her sex scenes are so over-the-top they're actually entertaining.

The premise would probably make more sense if I saw the first two B.C.'s. I didn't, so I'll take this at face value. Stevens and his friend want to make a movie about Shattuck's life. She says no, then she seduces married man Stevens. Ummm, ok. Shattuck plays a manipulator, but you can't help but be sucked in by her. The ending of the movie is good. However, the rest is awful. I suppose there are worse ways to blow $3, and Shattuck is alright. I still wouldn't recommend it, though.