Double Obsession

DOUBLE OBSESSION (R) - Columbia Tri-Star Video (VHS version): Cross Carol Channing with Basic Instinct's Sharon Stone and you've got...Margaux Hemingway the psycho lesbian librarian from hell!!! In a performance that could be loosely described as a mammothly overcooked study in raging psychosis, Margaux's this screwball campus librarian so obsessed with her former roommate (Maryam D'Abo) that she befriends a gorgeous young student (Beth Fisher), breaks her foot, and introduced her to the pleasures of Miracle Whip soup and candlelit dungeons.

A shoe-in candidate for Best Bad Movie Ever Made, this flick's easier to accept as an atrociously amusing piece of camp crap than the 'terrifying true story' the box would have us believe. Frederic Forrest contributes a lazy, seemingly drunken performance (most of it ad-libbed, some of it apparently read off cue cards in his hands) that helps to push his scenes well past the point of having an actual point, while Tony Roman's putrid synthesizer score plays non-stop throughout most of the flick, and Ed Montes (who thanks his shrink in the credits!) proves himself as adept at directing as Joseph Hazelwood was at piloting oil tankers. 7 (for comedy value only).

Midway through, "Double Obsession" begins to reek of "Misery," when Heather cripples one of her objects of adoration, holds her hostage, and then commits assorted nasties against assorted interlopers. But there's no comparing the sad "Double Obsession" with the masterful "Misery." There are no characters here, only caricatures -- everyone is either psycho or insists on hanging out with psychos, but we have no idea why. Even "Misery"'s truly psychotic Annie Wilkes was more believable. (And more sympathetic.) The soundtrack, by turns, steals suspense and turns suspense into goofiness. And Heather's "psycho laugh" is from Hitchcock by way of Bugs Bunny. If this weren't a feature-length film with professional sets and actors, I'd think it came from a high-school film class.