There was a glut of these horror/thriller movies in the early 90s, probably spawned by the success of "Fatal Attraction" and "The Stepfather." I know "Play Misty For Me" is the forebearer for the genre but I stuck with late 80s-mid 90s cycle for the poll.
Had to pick The Stepfather as well. One of my favorite pieces of movie dialog: "Wait a minute. Who am I here?"
I love FATAL ATTRACTION and THE STEPFATHER, but I voted for SINGLE WHITE FEMALE because it makes me so happy when it's on!
Perfect timing for this poll as I just watched Play Misty for Me a couple of nights ago after having not seen it for many years. Jessica Walter is amazing. But since we're leaving that out of the poll, does Captain Ron count? Just saw a little Aussie movie a few weeks ago called The Plumber that was totally bananas. Really enjoyed it.
Funny because SWF was on yesterday and what inspired me to create the poll. My vote would probably go for "The Stepfather" as well but I also really love "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle." Rebecca DeMornay is awesomely evil in that one. Nice to see other titles popping up because I knew there must be others from the era I was forgetting. Funny that the trend spread to comedies as well as thrillers.
I voted for The Paperboy, such an underrated little movie! USA network used to air it constantly. I even still have the video store poster for it (pic attached below). I also think The Temp is pretty underrated, glad to see that included. One of the rare "... from hell" thrillers that is actually a whodunit. Surprised The Good Son didn't make the cut though, otherwise I think you got most of the big ones. Another good one that rarely anyone has seen is The Companion from 1994, which can only be described as the "sex robot from hell". Yes, you read that correctly. Bruce Greenwood plays said sex robot, who also beats up a pre-Breaking Bad Bryan Cranston in front of the Jarvis house from Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter. It's also set in the not-too-distant future of 2015, so it pretty much commands to be viewed sometime this year.
Other for me. I prefer Play Misty For Me to Fatal Attraction and all the other flicks named in the poll. I understand you have to suspend disbelief to enjoy a lot of movies. But asking me to accept that a dude married to Anne Archer would cheat with Glenn Close is too much. Starcrash seems grounded and credible by comparison.
Single White Female for me. I tried to rewatch Fatal Attraction a while ago and it didn't hold up too well.
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. Falls short of being horror, but it's a near perfect suspense film with a great cast. De Mornay was gorgeous back then as well. The Crush would be a distant runner-up, while Unlawful Entry certainly had its moments as well. Ray Liotta was great in that one, as was Madeleine Stowe.
I think that was my problem with Fatal Attraction as well. I have tried multiple times to watch and try to understand the praise heaped upon it but just don't get it. Good point, about Archer versus Glenn Close. That's one step short of comparing Michell Pfeiffer to Bea Arthur in my book.
This list makes me frown. I went with Fatal Attraction, because it's a classic. Most of these other movies are not. The Tie That Binds wasn't awful. That one surprised me. Fear fucking suuuucccckkkkssss!!!!