Single White FemaleYear: 1992 Director: Barbet Schroeder Written by: Don Roos Threat: Psychopath Weapon of Choice: Shoe Based upon: Novel - SWF Seeks Same - John Lutz |
Other movies in this series:
None
Rish's Reviews
I know what you're going to say: Single White Female is a Thriller, not
a horror movie!" Oh boy, is it time for that talk again? Sit down, son. You're
mother and I have been thinking, and we've decided it's time for you to know
some basics about life. First, there's no such thing as a Thriller. There's simply
Horror and non-Horror. "Thriller" is just a word conservatives made up to
justify seeing genre movies they normal frown upon. Secondly, whatever we
say is a horror movie is, and that's that. Thirdly, you were adopted.
With that in mind, Single White Female isn't tremendously Horror-ific.
It tells the story of a pretty young thing (Bridget Fonda) living in a posh New
York apartment who breaks up with her boyfriend (Steven Weber) for your
basic annoying girl reasons. Then, needing a roommate, she places an ad in the
newspaper, and it's answered by what looks like the perfect girl: plain and timid
Hedra (Jennifer Jason Leigh). The girls get along great at first, but before long,
it becomes clear that one of them is a complete nutcase, obsessing about the
other in a kind of smothering, dangerous way.
Whether it belongs on the Horror Film Compendium or not, I enjoyed this film
quite a bit. It was pretty well-written, had interesting character dynamics, and
used neat lighting. I never saw it when it was initially released, but it must have
been pretty successful, since I'd seen it parodied countless times. Bridget Fonda
hasn't done a lot of roles I've liked her in, but she sure is button-cute. I've always
liked Steven Weber, who is best known for his stint on "Wings," but is no stranger
to Horror. Jennifer Jason Leigh is brilliant and multi-faceted (she's really one of
our generation's less-appreciated actresses), who the filmmakers tried to make
ugly, but didn't entirely succeed at (they also showed her naked a lot, which is a
bit hypocritical, if you ask me). Bizarrely, both actresses get naked (especially
surprising, since I pegged Fonda as a no nudity-type gal).
I'd Recommend It: To people interested in the premise, who haven't seen it already.
I do have to recommend it, though, if only for the scene where a character is killed
by a high-heeled shoe.
Total Skulls: 10
Sequel | ||
Sequel setup | ||
Rips off earlier film | ||
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie | ||
Future celebrity appears | ||
Former celebrity appears | ||
Bad title | ||
Bad premise | ||
Bad acting | ||
Bad dialogue | ||
Bad execution | ||
MTV Editing | ||
OTS | ||
Girl unnecessarily gets naked | ||
Wanton sex | ||
Death associated with sex | ||
Unfulfilled promise of nudity | ||
Characters forget about threat | ||
Secluded location | ||
Power is cut | ||
Phone lines are cut | ||
Someone investigates a strange noise | ||
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door | ||
Camera is the killer | ||
Victims cower in front of a window/door | ||
Victim locks self in with killer | ||
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls | ||
Toilet stall scene | ||
Shower/bath scene | ||
Car stalls or won't start | ||
Cat jumps out | ||
Fake scare | ||
Laughable scare | ||
Stupid discovery of corpse | ||
Dream sequence | ||
Hallucination/Vision | ||
No one believes only witness | ||
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth | ||
Warning goes unheeded | ||
Music detracts from scene | ||
Death in first five minutes | ||
x years before/later | ||
Flashback sequence | ||
Dark and stormy night | ||
Killer doesn't stay dead | ||
Killer wears a mask | ||
Killer is in closet | ||
Killer is in car with victim | ||
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes | ||
Unscary villain/monster | ||
Beheading | ||
Blood fountain | ||
Blood spatters camera/wall/other | ||
Poor death effect | ||
Excessive gore | ||
No one dies at all | ||
Virgin survives | ||
Geek/Nerd survives | ||
Little kid lamely survives | ||
Dog/Pet miraculously survives | ||
Unresolved subplots | ||
"It was all a dream" ending | ||
Unbelievably happy ending | ||
Unbelievably crappy ending | ||
What the hell? |