Director: Noel Black Starring: Michael Biehn, Madolyn Smith, Cloris Leachman Certificate: 18 (UK), - (USA)
"Trial by terror"
Plot
Katherine, a naïve young woman, meets and quickly falls for medical student Charles Raynor. Thinking he is the perfect man, they marry and have a baby but it becomes clear there is another side to Charles as he begins to mentally and physically torment her.
SPOILERS AHEAD...
It's hard to believe that Michael Biehn was making TV movies after The Terminator. In my mind, his agent's phone should have been ringing off the hook, but I guess The Terminator was a slow burner and remained underappreciated until years later.
Despite its TV movie tag and coming years before working in TV was considered cool, Deadly Intentions is a really watchable and gripping thriller. If you enjoyed Michael's performance as Douglas Breen in The Fan, then you should undoubtedly check out this movie; it's like someone took Douglas, stuck a rocket up his arse and cranked him up to eleven because the character of Charles Raynor takes evil and sadistic and completely re-defines it.
Upon its original broadcast on ABC in 1985, Deadly Intentions was split into two separate parts. With ads taken out of the equation, the length is a little over three hours and is evenly paced, meaning you won't get bored despite the length. Put it this way, within two minutes, Charles is already aggressively driving his car at students; this movie does not waste time cranking up the crazy.
Part one sets us up nicely. We meet the young, pretty couple Charles and Katherine (Madolyn Smith) and watch their burgeoning relationship leading to marriage and a baby. We also meet Charles's equally callous mother played brilliantly by the recently departed Cloris Leachman. She almost makes you feel sorry for Charles in the scenes they share... almost.
Charles is clearly unhinged from the very beginning. Upon consummating their marriage, Katherine remarks on his manner: "It's almost as if you're two different people" - understatement of the century there. Before long he's writing strict schedules for Katherine, limiting her spending, flinging their pet cat across the bedroom and excitedly taking photos of her whilst she tries to escape being eaten alive by an alligator! However, Katherine sticks by her man and they go on to have a baby son.
There are some uncomfortable scenes ahead when Charles decides he won't let their baby come between them and targets the newborn instead. First, he traps the baby in its blanket in the middle of the night; he later attempts to poison him. At this point, Katherine finally realises it's time to leave. What follows are some genuinely tense moments in which Katherine tries to get away before Charles finds out.
Part two begins three years down the line, Katherine has successfully escaped Charles and is now living happily in a different state with her parents. Charles has other ideas though as he dons a ridiculous disguise that seems to turn him into a young Rolf Harris (Google it Americans) and boards a plane to track Katherine down in an attempt to murder her. It's all very creepy and nail-biting; NO-ONE is watching this movie and cheering on Charles.
There is a slight lull in proceedings during the mid-section of the second part; the best moments in this movie are when we see Katherine and Charles together and as such scenes without them interacting are definitely the weakest. However, the end is courtroom based with Charles standing trial for attempted murder so we do get to see the two interact once more. The ending is satisfying and concludes the story well; I came away feeling like I had watched a well rounded and exciting thriller.
Some scenes and dialogue feel a bit 'soapy'. Still, it quickly pulls itself back whenever it starts to steers towards melodrama. These rare weaker scenes are the only thing that gives this away as a TV movie rather than something that could play out on the big screen. The leading cast are all excellent, Madolyn Smith plays the role of the terrified wife really well and does a great shocked look which is just as well as she appears to hold this expression on her face 80% of the time! As mentioned previously, Michael and Cloris Leachman's characters are both horrific and not the kind of people you would ever want to meet. Overall, Deadly Intentions can be a harrowing watch but it's definitely worth braving if you can.
Conclusion
If you are a fan of crime thrillers then this is a great one to track down. Powerful cast performances and a strong story hold the movie together despite the length and keep the pace flowing well. Michael Biehn plays an absolutely deplorable character with no redeeming features but also turns on the charm when needed and he plays it perfectly. I must admit I'm always a sucker for when he plays the antagonist and I normally fall for the bad guy in movies, but in this, I couldn't even imagine it and that is definitely a testament to his performance.
Deadly Intentions is available on VHS and DVD but seems impossible to track down. Luckily someone has uploaded both parts to YouTube. Part one can be found here and part two here. (Warning the picture quality is pretty poop).
I never seem to find anyone else who has seen this movie so if you have, drop me a comment below and let me know what you thought.
IMDB: 7.1/10 (As of October 2021)
Dies? / Villain?
ALIVE! But he's going to jail for a very long time. He's probably gonna be someone's bitch with a pretty face like that. / A horrible piece of work, this is one of his ultimate villains.
What Did This Movie Teach Me?
It's always worth double-checking the attic from time to time as you never know what you might find.
Bizarre wig/goatee disguises suit nobody however pretty you are.
Anything Else?
Shockingly Deadly Intentions is based on the true story of Christina Belios who married Dr Patrick Henry and was then subjected to much of the torment seen in the movie. Henry was charged with attempted murder and imprisoned in 1979. There is a book detailing the case in more detail written by one of the prosecutors William Randolph Stevens.
There is a totally unnecessary 1991 sequel hilariously entitled 'Deadly Intentions... Again?' which I've not seen and doesn't feature any of the original cast. The reviews online don't seem too positive either so I'd suggest maybe giving that one a miss.
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