L'inconnue

(1994) Save Me ADULT THRILLER/ MYSTERY

After the success of Basic Instinct. Release one year prior to this one, other companies came out that possess a similar theme.

It centers on businessman and separated, Jim Stevens (Harry Hamlin) entering into a boutique, when as soon as he spots Ellie (Lysette Anthony) wearing a piece of lingerie, he begins to notice her. When her spouse, Oliver (Michael Ironside) shows up and when Jim leaves, Elie and Oliver then leave soon after. But not when Ellie leaves a sticky note behind for him to look at! And upon looking at the footnote, it says "Save me!" hence the title with her phone number written on it for him to call her. We find out Oliver is a professional and licensed shrink and he tries to convince him to not to believe everything she is telling him.

When I first saw this movie, I was a horny little teenager and did not pay too close attention to the movie and set up itself. But after re-watching it again after many years later, the movie is not half as bad, considering it is a little predictable with some twists.

Here is the short version description of "Save Me." First half seduction and sex. Second half unbelievable contrived plot, with holes the size of truck tires. Basically this is the type of movie that leaves the audience wishing they had never watched it. The film also sees fit to waste the considerable acting talent of Michael Ironside, by keeping him well in the background for the entire interminable 93 minutes. If Lysette Anthony's sex scenes are your sole reason for watching then I suggest hitting the eject button at halftime. You know the type of film where the end keeps getting more ridiculous with each rewrite, well "Save Me" is that film. - MERK

Wow, that was a terrific cast. Steve Railsback and Michael Ironside are just two of my favorites. Harry Hamlin also had a solid performance. But something was just missing, I can't quite put my finger on it. It's a decent story, the script was adequate. I did not find Lysette Anthony's very good, but not enough to drag it down.

But there was something just missing. Maybe it was just the lack of humanity in the characters. I never got the sense anyone cared, and when it's billed as an Erotic Thriller, it didn't seem erotic or thrilling. The scenery was terrific and Santa Monica looked beautiful, the cinematography was slick and professional.

With so much going for it, it should have been better. It just wasn't good enough.

One of the curses of the night owl life is that movies like this surface on the cables at 3am, and for whatever reason I must watch the whole bleepin' thing sunrise be-darned.

I saw this on, what else, the Showtime Women's channel. I hate to admit it but I agree with the IMDb reviewer from 1999: the only reason to watch this nonsense from start to finish is to see Lysette Anthony naked. Everything in between is the bonehead self-absorbed stuff that burns through the Gross Domestic Product of whole countries in a Hollywood week. I can not believe people get paid to do this stuff.

Whatever else there is to say about this, it is always good to see Steve Railsback on screen, even when his dialogue is worthy of a 7th grade playwright. This is a really stupid movie, full of zero- quality acting.

No suspenseful music score would be able to save this trashy film and Harry Hamlin made this film just so he could have simulated sex with Lynette Anthony. That about sums up this piece of worthless cinema.

Erotic?

Jessica Rabbit has more sex appeal.

A Thriller?

Don Knotts in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken was more exciting.

Give this clunker a solid pass. Don't waste your time. I give it a less than stellar 4 out of 10 IMDb rating.