Malicious

(1995) Malicious PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

"Leave Her To Heaven",(1947)"Possessed" starring Van Heflin, "Play Misty For Me", "Fatal Attraction","Swimfan","Sleeping with the Enemy" "Obsession", "The Other Woman", "The Crush", "Fear" perhaps "Misery" and then add "Malicious" to this list of movies that involves girls/ women becoming obsessed over their male counterparts with the only difference in this case is that it has actress Molly Ringwald becoming the stalker after an one nighter. Molly plays Melissa who becomes infatuated with baseball player Doug (Patrick McGaw) who won't take "no" for an answer, nor will she allow anything to get in the way, even if it involves murder. And we even get to know more about her toward the end which is not much of a surprise. I must admit, back in the heydays when actress Molly Ringwald was starring in many popular teen movies such as "Sixteen Candles", "the Breakfast Club" and "Pretty In Pink" to name a few, many of my peers were wondering if she'll ever have a nude scene in a movie since there may have been a time when she did have a no-nudity clause on her contract. And I guess when her movie career wasn't as good as much as she wanted it to be, she started to agree to do different movie projects such as this simplistic stalking movie, and then voila- her breasts are shown. Just when everyone think she's sticking to those teenage innocent roles, she does one that is not exactly what people are accustomed to seeing her, which is alright if you've never seen a stalking movie before, or if you still have the hots for actress Molly Ringwald. And because internet has become much more prevalent these days, viewers don't even need to watch the entire movie anymore to see their favorite celebrities naked anymore because it is there on the internet for the entire world to see, why would anyone need to see the movie anymore. It's definitely not what it used to be. And although this movie is well made, I've pretty much seen this done before but with different actresses. I mean, do I really have to see this again regardless who plays the 'stalker' role.

While MALICIOUS is of the tribe of FATAL ATTRACTION, I think other commentators here have overlooked its obvious progenitor. The scenario of the final section -- the psycho becomes the girlfriend's roommate under an assumed name -- is a direct lift from PLAY "MISTY" FOR ME. In this version, though, there are two huge improbabilities: A). Melissa is a notorious fugitive of wealthy background who did in her own dad -- it is incredible that Laura has never seen her picture; and B.) when our hero learns Melissa is in Laura's apartment, instead of calling the police immediately, he goes hurling across San Francisco on a motorcycle, unarmed, in the rain. I hope I never need him to rescue me.

I was startled that this film has been ripped so mercilessly apart here, because I've always found it quite engaging. Years after it was released another filmmaker liked it enough to put huge chunks of it in "Swim Fan," which doesn't hold a candle to this original. I found Molly Ringwald quite chilling and felt that Patrick McGaw, playing a true innocent, broke my heart. Indeed, I think that McGaw almost singlehandedly SAVES this movie, because at least SOME of us care about him and the mess he ends up in after having hot (but oh so foolish) sex in Ringwald's car with her. Alas, she's a master manipulator and knows precisely which buttons to press to get what she wants, and later when McGaw's character suddenly gets a spine and begins to fight back, it becomes a race to see if he and his sweet girlfriend will survive Ringwald's lethal lunacy. I jumped at the chance to replace my VHS copy of this with the DVD and have never regretted it.

It's FATAL ATTRACTION among the college set. Patrick McGaw is a star college baseball player being scouted by the pro teams. After a one-night stand with Molly Ringwald, she starts stalking him, which his girlfriend, Sarah Lassez, doesn't care for. Mimi Kuzyk plays McGaw's mom, John Vernon the cop who tells him that Ringwald has a restraining order against him.

Ringwald plays the maniac okay, but there's no real dazzle in her performance, possible because McGaw never really brings any sense of outrage to the role; he's just trying to get through the events until he gets that big contract. In the entire cast, only Vernon manages anything on the mark, listening to McGaw without offering anything that he's just doing his job and doesn't believe or disbelieve anything people say. Ian Corson directs efficiently, without raising any real sense of madness among the characters. It's a desultory potboiler, bringing no sense that anyone was interested in more than a paycheck.

I knew nothing about this movie before I saw it, but it didn't take long for me to think of "Fatal Attraction", which was quite disturbing but better executed.

Yes, this is kind of scary, but it's not a classic movie or anything like that. In fact, it borders on comedy, mainly early.

I don't recall any outstanding performances, but the quality of this movie depends a lot on Molly Ringwald. She's quite good-looking and delivers a fine performance when she is acting normal. She's just a little too normal at times, though. I am reminded of someone's comment about Anthony Hopkins in "Silence of the Lambs". After all those weirdos, we see this calm man also in a cage. And THAT'S scary. So one possible interpretation is that Ringwald is too calm and therefore scary because you know she should be more disturbing. And it could also be mediocre acting. One thing is certain, though. When she looks at Doug or anyone else disapprovingly, she is quite intimidating.

This isn't excessively violent but there is some blood, and one really disturbing scene. I don't recommend this as family viewing.

Laura is pretty but I found the scene where she got out of bed in just a t-shirt and underwear disappointing.

Not a great movie, but an opportunity to see the cute Molly Ringwald not so cute.