Movie

Tick Tock (2000)

Most films in the 1990s and 2000s that featured lesbians had them be villainesses, and this twisty thriller is no exception. Tick Tock has a novel storytelling mechanic: a plot twist, time rewinds to an earlier point, and we witness events from another character’s perspective. The result is a cleverly evolving story set in Bakersfield, California.

Rachel Avery is a trophy wife to the domineering Holden (David Dukes), and her best friend and lover Carla is a scheming photographer. Initially, the theme appears to be blackmail, as Carla sets Rachel up with a guy named Travis Brewer (Linden Ashby). He demands money to keep the kinky snapshots secret, but doesn’t realise the two women are in cahoots to murder Holden and frame Travis for the crime.

Extra players are revealed through flashbacks, including a private detective whom Holden hires to follow Rachel and identify her secret lover. This is a ploy by the scheming women, who use the PI to create an alibi for Rachel while Carla commits the murder. She does the deed fully nude except for surgical gloves, which is an inventive way to keep blood off her clothes. The unusual murder weapon is an ivory tusk Rachel tricks Travis into handling.

The detective has an appointment at Holden’s place, where he’s supposed to discover the body. Rachel and Carla gloat in the restroom over successfully duping the two men. But like all brilliant plans, the diabolical murder plot comes apart in the middle act.

Villainesses

Rachel Avery (Megan Ward), Carla (Kristin Minter)

Carla is the planner and drives the most important events. Rachel is more reluctant, even though she will inherit her husband’s money. When the detective misses his intended appointment and Travis discovers Holden’s body, the fall guy cleans up the murder scene. Carla repeatedly claims, “This is even better than we planned” every time something goes wrong. And a lot does, so get ready to hear those words a lot.

Rachel and Carla have a narrow miss when they recover the corpse and get pulled over by a deputy sheriff. Rachel passes an alcohol test with Carla watching – in true smoking, femme fatale fashion – and the lovers keep the faulty trunk closed. Unfortunately for them, their joy is short-lived when they find the Avery residence occupied by Holden’s daughter Anne, who’s introduced by… another time rewind.

Rachel becomes increasingly stressed and angry as the plan falls apart. She abandons the frame-up plot when she sees Carla seduce Travis at a remote cabin. Then, an enraged Rachel knocks Travis out with a shovel. Things go downhill when Carla finds the dead body has fallen out of the trunk. Who said murder was easy?

While Rachel finds the missing cadaver, she runs into the private detective – now hired by Anne to investigate Holden’s disappearance – and he detains her. Carla comes racing to the rescue and runs down the pesky PI at high speed.

When the schemers attempt to frame Travis again, he’s ready and waiting with a revolver. Carla feigns an argument to gain the advantage, but Rachel’s patience with her co-conspirator runs out and she shoots Carla fatally in the chest. The finale has Rachel escorting the handcuffed Travis through the woods at gunpoint, only to find the gun she stole from the detective is faulty.

After a chase and struggle, Rachel bashes Travis’ head in with a shovel. However, the dying man freed himself from the handcuffs and secured her ankle to his wrist. Thus, the conniving murderess dies alone in a secluded woodland area. The epilogue features a news report that names Travis as a suspect in Rachel’s kidnapping. Months – or maybe years – later, the last shot shows undiscovered skeletal remains.

Honourable Mentions: Lesbians

Hourglass (1995) – Dara Jensen (Sofia Shinas), Kami (Colette O’Connell)

Another psycho-lesbian pairing, Dara and Kami are the highlight of this terrible thriller. C. Thomas Howell plays fashion mogul Michael Jardine (no connection to the detective from the Scottish TV series Taggart), who’s as unlikable as they come. Not good when we have to cope with his insane rants and crass attitude for the entire duration. Trust me – you’ll root for the mysterious villainess who murders everyone in his life.

The film borders on unwatchable with dull boardroom segments, difficult to follow dialogue, and bizarre sequences. This includes a house party where people dance around Jardine’s father as he sleeps on a life-support machine.

Dara is a scheming murderess skilled in martial arts, with a varied wig collection that comes in handy for her many disguises. Highlights include her sparring with Jardine in a health centre, the opening strangulation of his wife during sex at the beach, and a knife attack on a business associate. Jardine’s brother is also on Dara’s list, but that murder happens off screen.

If this antihero jerk weren’t so busy scolding his associates, he might spot the obvious killers in his midst. Assistant Kami reveals her treachery during the denouement, and Dara beats up her enemy while she taunts him about all the people she’s killed. The choreography is amateurish, but the scene is interesting enough to include as an honourable mention.

Jardine takes out Kami by throwing her off a balcony, but Dara survives, and he ends up in prison plotting revenge. Hard to feel any sympathy for the guy, so her Pyrrhic victory is welcome.

Listen (1996) – Krista Barron (Sarah Buxton)

Only one lesbian psycho this time, though any 1990s movie buff will suspect Krista for that reason alone. She’s the friend and on/off lover of Sarah Ross (Brooke Langton), a woman who enjoys listening to phone sex conversations via crossed telephone wires. Then she discovers one man she’s been eavesdropping on lives in her apartment building, and local women are being murdered. The serial killer collects earrings from the victims and could be someone in Sarah’s life.

Suspects include a sinister co-tenant named Randy Wilkes and her boyfriend, Jake Taft. Wilkes threatens Sarah after she shares her suspicions with the police, and Jake watches violent videos in a seedy screening room. He’s really into female mutilation, and waves his hands like an orchestra conductor as classical music plays for added effect. There’s also the weird apartment manager who has photos of women plastered over his bedroom wall… but he commits suicide after being falsely accused.

The finale is a double dose of fake suspect reveals and fatal shootings. Wilkes attacks Sarah and refuses to stop, even when the police show up. Then Jake acts all threatening, only for Krista to blow him away. This is part of the villainess’ frame-up plot, and she plants evidence to incriminate the dead boyfriend. With the competition all deceased, Krista now how Sarah to herself.

Compulsion (2024) – Evie (Anna-Maria Sieklucka), Diana (Charlotte Kirk)

Two dangerous women in love, while a female psycho slices up male victims. Is there a connection? Set in sunny Malta and directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent), this steamy thriller has a poor reputation, but earns an extended honourable mention for its gory murders, stylish masked killer, and an insane action-packed finale.

The opening scene sets the tone. An intruder breaks into a luxury home by climbing a drainpipe and slashes a naked man taking a shower. Dubbed the “Maltese Phantom” (get it?), the leather-clad killer in a lace hood leaves no forensic traces.

Two female neighbours come under police suspicion. Evie despises her wealthy stepfather, but is happy to live in his house with hi-tech security systems and a collection of Japanese swords. Diana befriends her to get close while she plans a heist and double-cross with her boyfriend, Reese (Zach McGowan). The opening half is slow-going and dialogue-heavy, with awkward voyeurism and uninspired erotica. Then the Phantom stabs a taxi driver who sexually harassed Evie… through the mouth with a katana.

Desperate for money, Reese gets aggressive with Diana, who stabs him with scissors. Her girlfriend enters the fray with a kitchen knife, and they attack together. A chaotic scene unfolds over five minutes, with over thirty attacks on the unarmed but resilient male. It’s almost comical as he crawls along the floor, refusing to die. When Reese finally goes down, Diana pauses for a smoke. Except he’s not dead, so the blood-drenched women continue their frenzied assault.

To dispose of the evidence, the murderers burn their clothes, strip naked, and bathe. A crude excuse for lesbian sex, and the women don’t seem worried by the brutal murder they committed. We get it: they’re psychos.

A pool attendant sees the couple dump the body, so he blackmails them. A stupid idea, and the killer slits his throat in a nightclub toilet. We learn Diana is a copycat who killed the cabbie to get Evie arrested and lure the rich stepfather to the island. Then she finds a severed female head in her fall girl’s luggage. Because Evie is the real Maltese Phantom, who wore a red wig at the club to frame Diana. Convoluted, but with two female assassins in leather, who’s complaining?

In a frantic climax, the treacherous women fight each other. Black-garbed Evie is an agile killer, dodging gun and sword attacks. She doesn’t hesitate to kill her stepfather, who chose this unfortunate moment to arrive. Diana needs his retina scan to unlock a hidden safe. Actually, she only needs his eyeball, which she cuts out. In the aftermath, crazy Evie ends up in hospital, while Diana sails off with the stolen money.