Le prix du péché

I first saw this movie a long time ago on Joe Bob Briggs' Drive-In Theater (remember when TMC had this...they REALLY need to bring him back).

A decent cast with the gorgeous Maria Ford, one of my favorite porn stars Madison (billed as Madison Stone), Rick Dean (in an amazing performance), William Katt (Greatest American Hero), Wendy MacDonald and the lovely Elena Sahagan...plus a special appearance by my favorite cheesy movie director, Fred Olen Ray and Roger Craig (yes, the football player).

The plot is a bit simple, a city councilman rallying against filfth wanders into a strip club and ends up in trouble...

Rick Dean as Sam Silver is amazing and mesmerizing. The strip club scenes are great and the dances well choreographed...too often movies set in strip clubs have gals on stage who look like they've never seen a pole before....

The addition of a bit of a surprise ending and some dark humor make this one of those great popcorn flicks...

With an inane plot, moronic script, half-assed directing, and, worst of all, inept acting -- in a word, CHEEZY -- you have to question why a movie like this even exists. The quick answer is sexploitation, of course, but then why not just pile on the sex, instead of complicating it with (a) a noir cliche like the crusading public servant falling into moral dissolution, (b) the enigmatic Christoid character from another plane of reality, whose name, Sam Silver, is a takeoff on the director's name? This dud was in the theater for one week before it disappeared, and when I went I was the only person in the audience! To see this was slumming and it was a guilty pleasure like junk food. The only reason I remember it is because of the unexplained pretentiousness of inserting an ill-fitting note of profundity in the person of Sam Silver, and especially, the presence of Elena Sahagun, a very beautiful and underappreciated actress. It was worth the price of admission just to see her prancing in sexy white lingerie. Please, someone, give her a major role in a well-directed quality film and let her shine. She deserves much better!

The soundtrack was surprisingly good. William Katt is perfect as the councilman pulled by a mysterious stranger who holds his fate. maria ford is totally HOT as the object of his desire. Becky Woo should be rich from the song Welcome to the Dark Side.

'Naked Obsession' is a vintage T&A flick I viewed solely because of good reviews. Fans know that pics from this genre ultimately pass or fail on female nudity. Does it have a bunch of it and is it hot? We don't expect high budgets, deep stories or good acting. So imagine my surprise the most memorable piece here is the very latter.

Married straightlaced Councilman Frank Carlyle (William Katt) running to become mayor ventures to the rundown part of town under proposal to be cleaned up & gets carjacked. He befriends a homeless man Sam Silver (Rick Dean) who directs him to a payphone inside a strip club where a dancer Lynne (Maria Ford) takes a shine to him. Venturing back to that club with Sam finds himself bedding Lynne. It's when she turns up dead he becomes suspect #1 as his world begins to unravel.

No stranger to b-movies or taking her clothes off, Ford goes all the way as does pornstar Madison. Ria Coyne & Michelle Bauer go topless as dancers as do both Wendy MacDonald & Elena Sahagun as Frank's wife, secretary. While I didn't find much of the nudity - 50% of it simulated sex scenes - very hot, fans of Ford will enjoy her extended stage strip.

Real takeaway is two actors - Katt & Dean - turning in good work. The story they're navigating isn't deep or super satisfying, but they make their characters come to life in a down to earth way. An unhappy man who has to take a trip on the wild side to figure it out ... and the other? A guardian angel or the devil himself. Looking, sounding like a b-movie version of Sam Elliot.

It's crazy to say good acting is the best part of a long forgotten T&A flick calling itself 'Naked Obsession', but it's the truth. The main murder mystery isn't much fun. Nudity pretty standard as the story unwinds in low budget fashion. B-movie director Fred Olen Ray shows up as a strip club DJ and ex-NFL star Roger Craig cameos as a homicide detective.

One of the great hidden gems of late-night cable. The main actor, William Katt, has come a long way since he was Carrie's date for the prom. A second-generation actor (Bill Williams and Barbara Hale's son), Katt is great in this role, but the movie is stolen by the masterful performance of Rick Dean as the very bizarre "Sam Silver" in this Hitchcockian thriller. If ever there was an example of how big a part luck and studio hype play in film success, this is it. This movie deserves to be well-known, and it should have catapulted Rick Dean into a major role. Watch this movie, and tape it for your friends who have taste.