Scissors

Angie Anderson (Sharon Stone) gets attacked by a masked man in her apartment elevator. She stabs him with her scissors but he promises to return. She is helped by her neighbors identical twins Alex and Cole Morgan (Steve Railsback). She collects dolls and makes clothes. Psychiatrist Dr. Stephan Carter (Ronny Cox) treats her. She's 26 and sexually frigid. She becomes beset by paranoia and fear. Ann (Michelle Phillips) is the doctor's wife.

The music, the acting and the story is all trying to make an old overwrought sexual-psycho thriller horror. Sharon Stone is playing against type especially considering her later roles. She never fit this shy scared girl even when she was younger. It's really problematic. She is forced to overact. There is no good acting in this by anyone. The music gets kind of annoying which makes the horror thriller not scary at all. There are some weird nightmarish turns. However it comes off laughable to me. It's like the movie takes a detour into the Twilight Zone.

I first saw "Scissors" some ten years ago, and I had kept some memories of it when I saw it again on tv. It fulfilled my expectations, as I remembered it as rather interesting, though somewhat far-fetched.

Several reviewers have wondered about the necessity of showing Sharon Stone's beautiful bare breasts. I think it signifies that, though she reacts frigidly to men's advances, her sexuality is nevertheless present and no longer repressed when she is alone. Most writers rightly stress the excellency of the impersonation of Sharon Stone, on her (delayed)way to stardom. However I should like to point out that Steve Railsback, a very underrated actor, is quite remarkable too in the dual role of the neighboring twins. I think the film is worth a 8.

After a young woman (Sharon Stone) is attacked in the elevator she meets her neighbors for the first time. One of them has a secret, the other has a crush on her. Her analyst tries to help her over the attack, but when she is invited to a mysterious apartment things get worse and worse.

Not even Ronny Cox could save this film. While Cox is an incredible actor and an amazing presence, this film has a few too many annoying aspects and tends to run a bit long. Sure, there is some suspense, and you need time to build that suspense, but there is a line that divides suspense and boredom, and I think the director may have crossed that line.

There are things to like about the film (besides Cox). The quirky characters, the menacing music... much of the architecture even makes of a good background. I do not happen to be a big fan of Sharon Stone (although Netflix seems to think so, because it has suggested her films more than once now). Some say this is among her best roles. Maybe, I do not know. A good editor good fix this one up nicely.

Before Sharon Stone hit big with Basic Instinct, she made Scissors - another thriller than gave her what was easily her best role at that time. In it, Stone plays a repressed 26 year old virgin who repairs broken dolls and sees a psychiatrist (Ronny Cox) who keeps trying to free her of her repressed childhood memories. Things take a bizarre turn when she's attacked in the elevator by a red headed man with a beard and she stabs him with a pair of scissors. He leaves, but not before taking her purse and keys. She begins living in fear that, one day, he'll return and finish the job.

Enter a kindly actor neighbor and his invalid creep of a brother who both take a liking to our heroine as her mental stability takes a turn. She's eventually called on to interview for a job at a fancy new loft and ends up locked in, further complicating her already fragile mental state.

There's a lot going on in Scissors and most of it doesn't need to be there. The entire subplot with the two brothers could have been dropped completely since the payoff isn't interesting enough to warrant its inclusion in the first place. Stone is good, especially when she finally starts losing her mind. The final twist is far fetched, but does make some sense in the grand scheme of things. It's just a shame that the movie spends so much time on characters and subplots that feel like they're from a different film entirely.

During the opening credits, creepy music plays. It sounds like a giant music box with an orchestra, giving the impression of a children's story, but with an evil twist.

Angie buys the scissors, a style used to cut fabric (but which can also be used for more sinister purposes). Then she visits Mr. Kramer's thrift shop to buy a doll that needs repairing. She doesn't make a living fixing up dolls, because she needs to get jobs through a temporary agency as well, and she says dolls are only a hobby. Quite a hobby--there are so many in her bedroom it looks eerie, and she says she doesn't have room to sleep there. It is never explained how she can afford an apartment in a nice building, though rich parents are mentioned--by someone who doubts they are real.

When she gets back to her building, Angie is greeted by the security guard. A lot of good he does: Angie gets on the elevator and is nearly raped. She stabs the attacker with her scissors, but he leaves with them--and her purse, which has her apartment keys.

Angie goes to her neighbors, who she has never really gotten to know. Alex Morgan is a soap opera actor and really nice. His identical twin brother Cole is a portrait artist and confined to a wheelchair. He seems weird, and so are his paintings, which border on pornography. At one point, Cole confesses that Angie leaves her blinds open.

Throughout the movie, Angie is having difficulty coping with her recent attack. She is already in therapy. Again, someone like her should not be able to afford this. Dr. Carter can do hypnosis and seems like he would be very expensive. Yet Angie sees him a lot and makes very little progress. She is frustrated that he believes she makes up a lot of things.

One day Angie gets a job interview in a building that is mostly under construction. A sign in the elevator directs her to the top floor apartment apparently belonging to the developer. Angie goes in and finds herself trapped inside with no way to communicate (she can't even be heard yelling through the windows, and the two dog walkers who can see her ignore her). That's not all. There's a dead man with what appears to be her scissors in his back, a creepy talking doll, and a bird who keeps saying, "You killed him!" Sharon Stone shows what she is capable of. Angie shows a wide range of emotions, though someone like her wouldn't be expected to experience pure joy or excitement. Not that she couldn't have, but the writers chose to make her mostly troubled.

Steve Railsback does a very good job as well. I didn't realize the brothers were twins, because to me they didn't even look alike. For one thing, Alex wears glasses. But it is Cole that really shows Railsback's talent.

Ronny Cox also does very well as the therapist. And you have to like the folksy Mr. Kramer, who is only in a couple of scenes. And Midnight, Angie's cat, is so sweet and playful!

This isn't really my kind of movie. But it has an interesting mystery and a very strange ending. It's not too violent but almost always slightly on the eerie side. At least the weird music gets replaced with pleasant music in the romantic scenes. I won't say who, but there are several couples and one slightly naughty bedroom scene. Having seen this on broadcast TV, I don't really know how explicit the movie gets.

It's a good thriller for those who like that sort of thing.