Perfect Strangers

source: Perfect Strangers

My review was written in June 1985 after watching the movie on Embassy video cassette. "Perfect Strangers" is a dull suspense thriller shot in New York under the title "Blind Alley" two years ago by indie filmmaker Larry Cohen, before his recent pics "Special Effects" and "The Stuff". Film was released briefly in Indianapolis last November by distrib New Line and now is entering the home video market. Anne Carlisle (of cult hit "Liquid Sky") toplines as Sally, mother of two-year-old Matthew (Matthew Stockley), who refuses to help the police when her infant witnesses a gangland slaying in an alley near their Greenwich Village apartment. The killer is Johnny (Brad Rijn, male lead in "Smithereens"), a young guy with no criminal record who works for an organized crime syndicate. Johnny introduces himself to Sally and convinces himself the kid doesn't recognize him, but his crime bosses insist he kill the child to avoid the chance that the police will be able to use psychologists (as happened in a real-life case in the Midwest) to have the kid help create a positive identification. Johnny refuses, instead becoming romantically involved with Sally and even seemingly protects the child from its father, her estranged husband Fred (John Woehrle). Pic climaxes in Johnny kidnapping the child and having a fatal confrontation with Sally. Low-budget picture suffers from bland, inexpressive acting and routine development of its premise (there never is any indication that the kid could actually finger the killer). In particular, Carlisle is styled as very plain, with a most unbecoming hairdo, resulting in none of the allure of her dual role debut in "Liquid Sky".

Hit-man Johnny (well played with brooding intensity by Brad Rijn) carves up a guy in an alley way. Two-year-old boy Matthew (a remarkably good portrayal by the adorable Matthew Stockley) witness the rub out. Johnny befriends Matthew's spunky and self-reliant single mom Sally (a fine and sympathetic performance by Anne Carlise of "Liquid Sky" fame) and plans on eventually killing Matthew. Cult writer/director Larry Cohen makes vivid and inspired use of the dingy New York City locations, firmly grounds the story in a totally plausible everyday reality populated by complex and credible true-to-life characters, and wrings plenty of white-knuckle suspense from the absorbing premise (a scene with Johnny and Matthew on a swing in an empty public park is truly harrowing). Rijn's Johnny makes for a fascinatingly conflicted main character: While his capacity for savage violence is genuinely frightening, Johnny's smooth charm, handsome looks, and anguished struggle with his own conscience ensure that he's nonetheless still a likable guy. The sound acting from a tip-top cast qualifies as a major asset: Rijn and Carlise do sterling work in the lead roles, with excellent support from John Woehrle as Sally's jerky ex-husband Fred, Stephen Lack as meddlesome detective Lieutenant Burns, Ann Magnuson as Sally's angry man-hating radical feminist friend Malda, and Zachary Hains as wise old Mafia capo Moletti. Paul Glickman's slick cinematography gives the picture a nice bright look. Dwight Dixon's moody'n'jazzy score also does the trick. An unjustly neglected and underrated sleeper.

New York filmmaker Larry Cohen has certainly made some memorable movies in his career, but "Perfect Strangers" has to be considered a considerable lesser effort by him. It gets off to a promising start, setting up the situation and characters in just a few minutes. Elsewhere in the movie, there are some moments of interesting direction that give the movie an almost documentary-like feeling. However, the majority of the movie is a letdown. After the intriguing beginning, the movie abruptly slows down to a snail-like pace where little to nothing of significance is happening. The relationship between the Brad Rijn and Anne Carlisle is also weak, with too little time showing the growing relationship between the two. (It also doesn't help that each character is each off-screen for a significant amount of time.) The low budget also sinks the movie, with poor cinematography and threadbare production values, including a very dated and cheesy musical score. I got the sense that Cohen's heart really wasn't in this project, despite being the writer as well as director. Skip it.