Five Desperate Women

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.

I thought this movie was quite good and very suspenseful. I would say about 95% of the acting was top-notch. Denise Nichols was really good, and even though Anjanette I believe her name is sounded a bit annoying, I thought she really brought a lot to the role of Lucy. Stephanie Powers had a figure that I would sale one of my toes for! This is my kind of movie, five women ending up stranded on a deserted island with a killer on the loose during their reunion. The clothes were out of sight! I really enjoyed this one. There were a few sore spots. I didn't like how they acted about their friend, that's just not the way you behave in a situation like that. Very odd and insensitive. How could you sit around telling stories and towards the end of the movie you would have thought they'd simply had a bad vacation and just wanted to go home. Also, in the last fight scene, not that it was much of a fight, I just didn't get it. Why did it take them so long to act? Were they just going to stand there throwing little rocks forever? I'm still shaking my head. The ending made the women look silly.

"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.

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.