Cinco Mulheres Desesperadas

"Five Desperate Women" has the ambition of an Agatha Christie adaptation and the spirited enthusiasm of a misogynist slasher but, in the end, it is what it is, namely an early 70s made-for-TV production with all its restrictions: short running time, low body count, and absence of graphic violence and/or sleaze.

The plot and atmosphere are good, though, and a professional director like Ted Post always does more than what you think is possible with the limited means available. Five former college girlfriends in their early 30s have planned a joyful reunion weekend on an island resort, but unfortunately for them a wife-murdering lunatic escaped from a nearby asylum and hides out on the island as well.

Even though there are only 2 possible suspects, the caretaker and the boatman, Ted Post and his cast manages to uphold the tension. Admittedly, every slightly experienced fan of the genre will see straight through the red herrings and correctly guess the culprit's identity, but still. Fantastic cast, also, with Robert Conrad and Bradford Dillman rivaling to be close to the ladies.

Five Desperate Women is a film of laughable plot and performances. Not as funny bad as Plan Nine From Outer Space, but it will make you laugh. Anjanette Comer as Lucy steals the show! Worth a few giggles, as long as you don't take the film as seriously as the cast and crew do.

This film begins with a violent man overpowering a security guard and then escaping from an insane asylum. Not long afterward, he comes upon a man who is relaxing on a beach and then proceeds to kill him for no apparent reason. The scene then shifts to five women meeting each other after several years apart. To that effect, they all board a small boat where they plan to spend some time together on a remote island with no outside visitors other than the captain of the boat "Jim Meeker" (Bradford Dillman) and the caretaker of the house "Michael Wylie" (Robert Conrad). Although there is a little bit of drama between some of the women at first, things appear to be going rather well--at least, until one of the women is found strangled to death in her bedroom, that is. So, faced with this horrifying dilemma--and not knowing which of the two men they can trust--the women now find that they must either stick together as a group or die one-by-one at the hands of a homicidal maniac. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a rather average murder-mystery which suffered to an extent from its made-for-television format. Admittedly, the film could have used a bit more suspense at times, but even so I thought it was good enough for the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

ABC movie-of-the-week from producer Aaron Spelling has five ladies, college friends from years before who went their separate ways after graduation, reuniting for a vacation on a remote island ("No phones...no interruptions...nobody!"); unfortunately--as we hear from a radio broadcast but the women do not--an escaped psychotic is loose in the area. Ted Post directed, and his use of point-of-view photography from the killer's perspective in one instance is very effective (and before its time). Still, there are really only two suspects in this thin scenario, and writers Marc Norman and Walter Black, working from Larry Gordon's story, are not interested in springing a surprise on us (no third-act plot twists from these guys). As the desperate women, Anjanette Comer, Joan Hackett, Denise Nicholas, Stefanie Powers and Julie Sommars do what they can with the mediocre material, but nobody stands out (not even Hackett, arguably the most talented member of the cast). By-the-numbers thriller is TV-tepid instead of suspenseful.

FIVE DESPERATE WOMEN jumps right off, with an insane murderer escaping from a mental hospital, then killing his first victim. All within the first 3 minutes!

The five old friends of the title, including Stefanie Powers, Denise Nicholas, and Joan Hackett, reunite for a big weekend on a tiny resort island. It's made quite clear that the madman is on the loose and will probably be dropping by. Of course, this is decades before cell phones, and there's no phone on the island.

All five female characters are solid, and work well as a team. They're believable as old school friends.

The identity of the killer is not revealed until well into the story. Then, it all hits the fan. Both Bradford Dillman and Robert Conrad are effective as the possible suspects.

5DW is an outstanding made-for-TV horror-thriller from a time when television was king, and such quality films were common...