Movie

Basic Instinct (1992)

A familiar story: Michael Douglas gets involved with a dangerous woman. He ought to know better by now. His character this time is Nick Curran, a San Francisco detective with a dark side. Basic Instinct is a modern film noir, with sets designed for stylish camera angles and composition rather than authenticity. The 1990s were a golden age for erotic thrillers, so expect nudity, mystery, and plot twists.

The movie opens with – what else? – sex and murder, when a rock star is stabbed repeatedly by a naked blonde wielding an ice pick. Before the kill, the mysterious beauty ties his wrists to the bedposts with a silk scarf. If this sounds like fiction, that’s because the MO is based on a novel by Catherine Tramell. As she was also the victim’s boyfriend, the police have a prime suspect, and the key question is “Did she do it?”

The killer is clearly a woman, and other suspects include Roxy (Leilani Sarelle) – in a lesbian relationship with Catherine – and Dr Beth Garner (Jeanne Tripplehorn). She enjoys passionate sex and argues with Curran in her spare time. Against the constant backdrop of dangerous romance, Stone’s character is the most mysterious. From her first appearance, where she rides with Curran and his partner Gus (George Dzundza), she toys with the police.

Next up is the infamous interview scene where Tramell crosses her legs in front of an all-male team of detectives. Are suspects allowed to smoke? It adds to the ambiance, anyway. The femme fatale passes a lie detector test, but she invents stories for a living. By this point, Curran is in deep and at odds with his fellow officers, someone whom Catherine can easily manipulate.

Villainess

Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone)

Catherine researches Curran’s background, allegedly to research her latest novel, where a detective dies at the end. When Curran learns Dr Garner gave his file to an internal affairs cop, an assault follows. Not long after that, the guy turns up with a bullet hole in his head. Then it’s the detective in the hot seat being interviewed by his unsympathetic colleagues, with earlier dialogue repeated. Yes, Catherine has got well and truly under Curran’s skin.

The relationship with Beth – if there was one – falls apart as the suspended detective gets dangerously close to the suspect. If conversations about an ice pick weren’t provocative, the two have steamy sex and Catherine re-enacts the murder (minus the actual killing). Tension builds when someone tries to run Curran over. After a high-speed chase through the streets of San Francisco and a fatal crash, it’s revealed to be Roxy behind the wheel. No surprise, given their earlier encounters, when she claimed Catherine was her girl.

The novelist grieves, though this is forgotten when she has more sex with her latest lover. Catherine rejects his suggestion that the fictional detective in her novel should live, saying someone has to die. Curran should probably take the hint (and Gus’ advice) and get the hell away from this woman, but of course he doesn’t. When it’s revealed that Catherine spends time with convicted murderers and Beth is a former college acquaintance who changed her name, Curran has a new angle.

With Roxy dead, there are only two plausible suspects. When Curran and Gus meet an informant in a deserted office building, things are inevitably going to end badly. This murder occurs on screen, as a cloaked psycho armed with an ice pick attacks Gus. Curran races to the rescue, but arrives too late to save his partner. Beth shows up and reaches for something in her pocket. Not wise when a tense cop has a weapon trained on her, and he opens fire after Beth ignores his warnings.

Police find all the clues: an SFPD jacket, a blonde wig, an ice pick, the gun used to murder the internal affairs cop, and research on Catherine. The deceased Beth looks guilty, but she was nowhere near manipulative enough to be the true killer. Savvy viewers will expect a last-minute reveal, which comes with Curran and Catherine in bed. She reaches for an ice pick but doesn’t use it. Is there something between them? Or is the murderess planning to frame someone else?

Honourable Mentions: Sharon Stone

Calendar Girl Murders (1984) – Cassie Bascomb (Sharon Stone)

Sharon Stone played a female villain early in her career, though this TV movie role had her billed behind Tom Skerritt as Lieutenant Dan Stoner. As the title suggests, calendar girl models are getting bumped off, and Stoner must identify the killer. Suspects include a crazy stalker, an ex-lover with gambling debts, and a shady magazine editor. Naturally, none of them did it, and the old principle of “the least suspicious major character is guilty” applies.

The DVD transfer of this 1980s thriller isn’t great, with many dark scenes, including the first murder where Miss January is thrown from a balcony. Soon after that, Miss February (Claudia Christian in her movie debut) is stabbed in a kitchen, and the police are after a serial killer. The deaths are blood-free with no nudity, but the setting is an excuse to feature glamorous women in skimpy outfits.

The highlight is a water volleyball game at a luxury estate, where the killer arranges a blackout and almost drowns Miss March in the swimming pool. That’s the most inventive part of this pedestrian affair, with little action in the second half. To keep the audience awake, there’s a vehicle chase, and a witness ends up in hospital only for the black-gloved killer to see him off. Then it’s a bad-tempered interview with the red-herring lover before the true culprit is revealed.

Cassie Bascomb is a former model and daughter of the editor, and revenge provides a flimsy motive for murder. She and Stoner have a romantic fling, a filler subplot that’s a precursor to Basic Instinct without the raciness. In a slow-motion sequence that lasts a full minute, a sexy model in red spandex swings a fire axe on a garage movie set.

As for the anticlimax, Stoner’s wife is a photographer who develops incriminating photos of the murderer. The detective interrupts Cassie before she kills the wife in a fake arson attack, and the suddenly repentant murderess breaks down in tears. It’s impossible to make this sound any more exciting because it isn’t.

Basic Instinct 2 (2006) – Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone)

San Francisco is swapped for London in this sequel, where Catherine Tramell is again suspected of killing a celebrity lover. Instead of a detective, the femme fatale ensnares psychologist Dr Michael Glass (David Morrissey) in a game of cat and mouse.

Glass suspects Tramell but still ends up in a relationship, including a provocative scene where Catherine splits her legs while sitting on a chair. This time, the backrest hides the explicit parts of Sharon Stone’s anatomy. Pretty soon, people in Glass’ life die, including an inquisitive journalist and his ex-wife Denise. Catherine’s latest novel is about a shrink, with the characters and events mirroring real life. Talk about recycling a plot.

As a result, everything feels tired, and while Stone does her best (and succeeds to some extent), the film is underwhelming. The resolution has Tramell manipulate Glass into shooting a police officer, and the trauma lands him in a mental institution. We’re shown flashbacks of him committing the murders, but it’s not clear whether he did or these are more lies spun by Catherine. Her smirk suggests she’s a villainess, but this is another example where the original is better.