Fatal Attraction
FATAL ATTRACTIONÂ (18)
D:Â Adrian Lyne
Paramount (Stanley R. Jaffe & Sherry
Lansing)
USA 🇺🇸 1987
119 mins
Â
Thriller
Â
W: James Dearden [based on his
teleplay "Diversion"]
DP: Howard Atherton
Ed:Â Michael Kahn & Peter E.
Berger
Mus: Maurice Jarre
PD: Mel Bourne
Â
Michael Douglas (Dan Gallagher), Glenn
Close (Alex Forrest), Anne Archer (Beth Gallagher), Ellen Hamilton Latzen (Ellen Gallagher), Stuart Pankin (Jimmy), Ellen Foley (Hildy), Fred Gwynne
(Arthur)
Â
Any man contemplating a one night stand would
think twice after watching this, the film which inspired the terminology "bunny boiler".
Screenwriter James Dearden adapted his own little
known TV movie for one of the most iconic and successful films of the 1980's. Michael Douglas plays a married New York attorney who has a weekend of infidelity with a colleague, who,
angered by his insensitive chauvinism after their tryst, becomes increasingly manic, progressing from incessant phone calls to stalking his family, even going as far as cooking the
family pet in a spiteful show of revenge.
The formula has since become an overused cliche in
the girlfriend/housemate/neighbour-from-hell market, but for the mid 1980's this had tremendous impact. Adrian Lyne's thriller builds the tension well from an inauspicious beginning
and owes much to Glenn Close's chillingly believable performance. Credit must also go to Anne Archer, who gives life to a shamefully underwritten picket fence wife.
Definitely not a film for Valentine's
Day.
8/10
Â
