Kabuki killer

Greydon Clark's own book "On The Cheap" details the making of each of his films, including this one which was backed by an English producer. Susan Blakely's lead character is institutionalized after a violent murder of her daughter in an elevator has left her seriously traumatized. It's believed that a known serial killer who attacks in elevators is the culprit. Wings Hauser plays her estranged husband who still wants Blakely back despite her asking for a divorce prior to the incident. Richard Masur plays her therapist, and Edward Albert appears as a cop who takes particular interest in the murders-- why was Blakely's character unharmed and only the child killed, against the pattern of the murderer? Blakely is shown as unhinged and convinced that her child is still alive, clearly struggling with what seems like actual appearances and phone calls from her dead child. Is she delusional or is there a more complicated plot afoot?

Clark's work has a certain charm even if it doesn't always work, and he often managed some good performances out of the many stars who ended up in his 20+ features. OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND was shot over fifteen days for $400,000. As a b-movie made in the late 1980s, this one holds up pretty well. The primary cast were all established capable actors and are working above the limited budget of this production, particularly Blakely and Albert who manage some good interplay. Wings Hauser supplies his usual electric, potentially unhinged character performance, and as usual is highly entertaining (he only worked one week on this picture). Masur is reliable as ever and Clark manages a few good twists and solid misdirection as to who is involved and what their motivation is. This is a character-driven story more than a sleazy genre film and it ought to be judged as thus. It does at times feel like a TV movie but for the thriller/neo-noir genre which popular at that time there are far weaker examples.

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND appears hard to access. It had a very limited release in the US and appears to have been more widely available internationally. I watched it on a Prism/Paramount videotape (the pairing of both companies is unusual) and overall it's was a nice surprise for a efficient low-budget psychological thriller.

My review was written in April 1990 after watching the movie on Prism video cassette.

Susan Blakely gives an earnest performance in this thriller that turns out to be more like an elongated tv episode than a feature film. It's a direct-to-video release from Greydon Clark, more recently helmer of "The Forbidden Dance".

Blakely plays a mom whose daughter has been killed by the Kabuki Killer. Plagued by nightmares and blackouts, role gives Blakely a field day at portraying a high-strung, paranoid personality.

Chief suspects here in a "Gaslight" format are Blakely's husband, Wings Hauser, and a scruffy undercover cop, Edward Albert. Pic hammers away at her fear of elevators, caused by the trauma of seeing her child kidnapped in a lift prior to her murder.

Director Clark develops some good red herrings, though the major twist is telegraphed and unconvincing. Best sustained sequence limns Blakely's understandable paranoia the first day in a new job following therapy.

Supporting cast is okay except for young Jessica Player's stiff performance as the daughter.

I saw this movie under the title SIGHT UNSEEN. When looking it up on here, I read its initial title and now I have this Anthrax song stuck in my head (hence my summary line above). Okay, whatever.

Wings Hauser is the man in yet another stupid film. A psycho-thriller/mystery-slasher too derivative for words but yet uniquely amusing due to a close-to-stupendous "tripping climax" featuring a drugged-out Susan Blakely (who?).

These two previous lines should basically be enough for you to decide and watch this movie or take a pass on it. I really have nothing else substantially to say about it. If this does not suffice, then go read Paul Andrews' review for it. It's very accurate. I just gave it an extra point because, well, it's more stupid fun than it should be and, ehrr,... Wings Hauser is the man!

Woohoo! I just wrote my shortest user-comment ever! Now go ahead and vote for it as "not useful".