Movie

Exposure (2001)

Quite a few direct-to-video movies made my list, including this one with Alexandra Paul (of Baywatch fame) in a supporting role. Photographer Gary Whitford (Ron Silver) sets off a deadly chain of events when he discovers a beautiful woman sheltering on his property. She’s wrapped in orange fishnet, which triggers flashbacks to Gary’s dark past as a war correspondent. Back then, a brutal military regime executed his lover and left her body wrapped up in… take a guess.

The trespasser is Elaine Drury, a legal secretary played by Susan Pari. Yes, the same actress as the villainess. This is one of those “evil twin” twists to fool the audience and cut down on expenditure. The reveal in this film works better than most, since the bad sister remains a constant threat throughout.

Before the well-choreographed encounters between Gary and the mysterious hooded psycho, there’s an intriguing setup where he and his friend Paul persuade Elaine to become a fashion model. For extra spice, Gary has an intimate history with Paul’s wife, Jackie (Alexandra Paul’s character). Do thriller heroes ever have normal relationships?

After someone murders Elaine and leaves a message in blood referring to the “Holy Trinity”, Gary finds himself targeted by the psycho who clearly didn’t approve of the victim’s modelling career. The dead woman’s boyfriend, Brad, serves as a red herring, though it’s obvious he doesn’t fit the religious angle. Evil twin reveal incoming.

Villainess

Anne (Susan Pari)

Keeping with the religious theme, a mysterious woman leaves a note in a Catholic confession booth. Then the preachy lunatic murders Paul in his office and makes several attempts on Gary’s life. The best of the bunch is a knife attack in a deserted parking garage.

The villainess targets Jackie, and after a lengthy fight, the killer is unmasked as Elaine’s twin sister, Anne. The devout Christian’s parents disowned her after Elaine’s picture appeared on an advertising billboard, and the deranged Anne became convinced it was the devil’s work. Which led to her killing spree.

After the priest recounts the story to Gary and Jackie, he becomes expendable, so it’s no surprise the psycho slasher kills him moments later. The contrived finale has the stalked couple split up for no reason other than dramatic tension. Like all worthy villainesses, Anne proves difficult to defeat. There’s a fantastic moonlit lake encounter where Jackie thinks she’s drowned the murderer, only for her to resurface and resume the attack.

Anne tracks Gary to the same shed where he found Elaine, and the villainess becomes the third woman in this movie to get wrapped in a fishnet. Talk about telegraphing the outcome. With Anne entangled and weighed down, Gary pushes her into the lake. No miraculous recovery this time.

Honourable Mentions: Knife Attacks

Primal Doubt (2007) – Marianne Thorne (Jamie Rose)

Another movie with a masked, knife-wielding psycho, but a few decent moments weren’t enough to earn it a ranking slot. Yet another story where an unhappily married woman arranges an ill-fated date, a plot any Lifetime devotee will know only too well. The outcome is more unpredictable than normal, as the guy isn’t the villain. Instead, someone slits his throat, and it appears the cancelled date was the motive.

While the angry husband is an obvious suspect, the opening murder featured a hooded figure who looked distinctly feminine. After the assailant slices up the best friend in an office (seen as silhouettes through a murky glass door, arguably the best kill scene), the only genuine candidate is the heroine’s psychiatrist, Dr Marianne Thorne.

Other than that, the movie is average. It doesn’t help that the main character is so unlikable and refuses to admit she was cheating. The villainess’ reveal is a mess, too. The masked Marianne murders an assistant, only to appear unmasked in a different outfit a minute later.

To add insult to injury, it’s clearly not Jamie Rose under the balaclava. Differences in eye colour and skin complexion suggest a stunt double took her place. The ending is a clichéd stinker, with the police coming to the rescue at the last moment.

Ultimate Desire (1993) – Adrienne (Mary Stavin)

In a new review for this compilation, I first watched this movie back when Channel 5 (UK) aired uncut erotic thrillers on Friday nights. Unfortunately, the sexy villainess times are long gone.

Restored in wide-screen format for streaming services, the film is far tamer than I remember. A serial killer stabs topless, blindfolded women and douses their bodies in expensive perfume named Desire. The exotic MO provides a novel twist, but the murders are bland and bloodless, with the psychotic slasher reduced to a shadow on the wall.

Perfume magnate Grace Lantel (Deborah Shelton) isn’t happy some lunatic is tarnishing her brand, but fortunately her security consultant Lauren (Kate Hodge) is an ex-cop. The prime suspect is Gordon Lewis (Martin Kemp) who has a revenge motive, British accent, and a letter opener that resembles the murder weapon. Lauren’s police liaison thinks he’s guilty, but it’s too obvious, surely?

The actual murderer is a shop assistant who appeared in three quick scenes. Her nonsensical motive: she was a former employee of Grace and loved her. After Adrienne stabs her ex-boss, she attacks Lauren. A decent climatic catfight, demise, and stunt balcony fall. Compared to the low-budget tripe that infests TV movies today, that merits an honourable mention.