Au seuil de la démence

This is sort of a blue-collar version of "Afraid of the Dark" set in a trailer park in Niagara Falls (the trailer park of America). Teenager Mark Burnz is supposed to be the crazy person in this movie, but it's actually *everyone else* who's crazy. So deep.

What I liked about this movie: The casting was great. Nicholas Shields is like an unformed Tom Cruise. David Keith is so hateable in this movie as is his brother. And Kathleen Robertson from 90210... Who could be more 80's than that? Shannon Tweed lives up to her potential as a great actress, for once not playing the wife of a wealthy mean-spirited aristocrat. In fact, this is sort of a role-reversal for her since she ends up fleeing the arms of the blue-collar guy. The plot is workable enough to keep you interested in all the characters. And the panty-sniffing.

What I didn't like about this movie: I couldn't tell if this movie really had multiple layers or just looked like it was trying to. For example, Mark's father was supposedly beheaded when he went over the falls. Later in the movie, Mark is standing in front of a wax dummy of his father, which is regaled in the stuntman outfit. A pick-axe is swung at Mark, who ducks, and the dummy's head is lopped off. Is this supposed to be symbolism or parallelism? Or is it a ham-fisted attempt to look like there's more depth to the movie than there really is?

What else didn't I like: Christopher Plummer. And the scene where brother Dave is going to rape Shannon with the duck puppet made me laugh. Lastly, the director makes a pretty big deal out of the fact that Mark doesn't know how to drive. In fact he almost gets killed twice because of that. But then, at the end of the movie when Mark and his mom are moving away from the Falls, Mark is driving. What's up with that?

Rent "Afraid of the dark" instead. But if you've already seen that watch this for a good contrast.

I actually saw this when it was released to movie theaters in my area, with little advertising or promotion. However, I knew that Shannon Tweed was in it, so I was sold. "Liar's Edge" turned out to be a bizarre, well-crafted thriller making great use of it's Niagara Falls/Clifton Hill, Canada, locales. Shannon showed off her dramatic chops here in a role that was quite different for her, a widowed trailer park Mom raising her suicidal teenage son. Playing her son, Nicholas Shields was excellent, displaying handsome teen idol looks but acting talent as well. Future "90210" star and indie movie staple Kathleen Robertson also makes a good impression as a punk girl who takes a liking to Shields. The climax on Clifton Hill and in a shadowy wax museum was also well done, with a haunting musical score by Paul Zaza. If you come upon this movie, by all means, check it out. Mystery/thriller fans will enjoy this a lot, as will Shannon Tweed fans - but in case you're expecting skin from her in this, she stays clothed. It's too bad this didn't receive a wider release, they could've made a great sequel.

Niagara Falls locations are used to great advantage in "Liars Edge", a mystery thriller that exhibits plenty of suspense with style. The presence of Christopher Plummer initially attracted me to this movie. Regrettably he plays only a small part as a police detective. I was not disappointed with the film overall, because it has good character development, and is not very predictable. Quite a bit is left unexplained relating to a certain stash of cash however. Nicholas Shields is convincing as the suicidal son dealing with his fathers death after dad attempts going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. David Kieth and Joseph Bottoms are menacing brothers who move in with Shields mom, Shannon Tweed. Creepy elements like doll heads in a fish tank, and a puppet molestation, add a certain edginess to the film that pervades throughout. - MERK

Writer/director Ron Oliver's thriller doesn't break any new ground but it's diverting if ultimately forgettable entertainment. Shannon Tweed stars as the mother of a 16 year old boy who has been traumatised by the accidental death of his father, a stuntman who failed to survive a jump over Niagara Falls. Oliver gives us a witty editing cut from the boy screaming to a car alarm, which clues you that this isn't going to be a deep psychological drama. I also liked a psychiatrist's comment to Tweed's concern over her son being institutionalised - "We've paved over the snake pits"- and one scene where it is the psychiatrist who rests on a couch while the boy talks. Since we are told that the father was beheaded in the fall, that may explain the son's collection of doll's heads which he keeps in a fish tank. When truckie David Keith marries Tweed, their wedding cake amusingly made in the shape of a truck, and then Joseph Bottoms appears as Keith's brother, the signs indicate more trouble is ahead, especially since Keith sports a ponytail and Bottoms an earring. The boy begins to have visions of a woman in a red car, and you can bet that she leads him back to the Falls. As the boy Nicholas Shields is all big eyes, but his sheepishness in reaction to Bottoms' attempt at seduction is funny, and Oliver times our sight of Bottoms in his face pack superbly. Oliver encourages Bottoms, Kathleen Robertson as a girl who befriends Shields, and Christopher Plummer doing a parody of Peter Falk's detective, to overplay, and he even gets a reasonable performance out of Tweed, who for once isn't used as a sexpot. She has a scene where Bottoms torments her with a duck glove puppet that is more comic than serious. The setting of the climax in a Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Murders has delicious potential but by then we've been exhausted by an extended chase where the outcome has to come to be disappointingly inevitable. The plot features a point about a large amount of money, the origin of which is never made clear or rational by the end, and gives the coda an unfunny laugh line, spoken by the character in a totally out of character way. Mention is made of the lovely theme music by Paul J Zaza.