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1982 - 104m.

I remember reading somewhere that nearly every associated with this movie has distanced themselves from it due to embarrassment. I don't understand why because I thought it was a fun little thriller that had a nice pace, a great villain, and a beautiful lead actress that was very easy on the eyes. In fact, my main memory of this flick is that it was the movie that created the subgenre that is largely responsible for the careers of Shannon Tweed and Shannon Whirry and to a lesser extent Fred Olen Ray, Jim Wynorski, and Tanya Roberts. I don't see how that can be a bad thing.

Morgan Fairchild stars as Jamie Douglas, a news anchorwoman in Los Angeles who works in an office with a terrible orange carpet and has an unhealthy admirer named Derek (Andrew Stevens). You see, Derek has developed an obsession towards Jamie and wants her to be his girlfriend. In between spying on her through a telescopic lens, Derek sends Jamie gifts and phones her relentlessly at home, at work, and at her friend's house. The phone calls and mysterious gifts are quickly not enough and Derek eventually presents himself in person to Jamie only to have her reject him. As Derek will not take no for an answer, the situation quickly escalates and Jamie and her boyfriend Brandon (Michael Sarrazin) try to enlist the help of the police only to find that the cops cannot do anything for them other than give them the friendly advice to buy a gun. They take this very seriously and rather than buy a simple handgun, Brandon presents Jamie with a pump-action shotgun(!) to protect herself with. As Derek becomes more and more creepy and invasive, Jamie tries to figure out a way to diffuse the problem and feel safe again.

I had no complaints with this movie at all. Fairchild was good as the terrorized TV star and wasn't shy about skinny dipping in her pool or taking baths. Stevens was suitably twisted as the tormented voyeur who stops at nothing to win the object of his affection. He also bought a sense of vulnerability to the character as you could tell that he didn't really want to hurt Jamie, he just wanted her to see how much he loved her. Sarrazin was also fine as Jamie's lover although at times he did have a look on his face like he didn't really want to be in the movie and his make-out scene in the hot tub with Fairchild was a bit awkward. It looked like they were trying to suck each others lips off! Some of the other supporting cast includes Vince Edwards (Return To Horror High) as a cop, Colleen Camp (Ebony, Ivory, and Jade) as Jamie's friend, and Kevin Brophy (Hell Night) as Jamie's assistant.

Although The Seduction may not have been the A-list hit that the filmmakers wanted, it is still an important and relevant part of B-movie history. When Sarrazin's character spouts lines like "strong don't mean jack shit when you're dealing with crazy", you know that this is a movie that isn't going to be ignored by fans of cult movies. Add to that the fact that Stevens went on to star in and produce the extremely popular Night Eyes series in the next decade and you realize that this was a milestone the history of the erotic thriller. If only Night Eyes Security had existed at this time, maybe Jamie would have clued into the fact that she could have hired a personal security firm rather than become a vigilante. Director of photography Mac Ahlberg went on to work on a number of classic horror films including much of Stuart Gordon's early output like Re-Animator and From Beyond. Composer Lalo Schifrin scored the Dirty Harry movies, Class of 1984, and many more great films. Director David Schmoeller previously did Tourist Trap and went on to make Puppet Master with Charles Band. Another notable crew member was future director Frank Darabont (The Mist) who was the transport captain on this movie. (Josh Pasnak, 8/3/08)

Directed By: David Schmoeller.
Written By: David Schmoeller.

Starring: Morgan Fairchild, Andrew Stevens, Michael Sarrazin, Vince Edwards.