Back of Box:
MICHAEL MORIARTY stars as Dr. Craig Mannings, a successful physician with a vision...a horrifying vision of himself, killing
an aging woman. When the nightmare repeats itself, he believes that what he's seeing is really happening. A search
into his past reveals a Siamese twin that was separated from him at birth, and sent away to live with another family.
Sensing that his brother is committing the grisly murders he's seeing, Craig goes looking for his long-lost twin to
discover the horrifying truth.
It's a blood-chilling tale of murder, deception and intrigue. This is more
than just sibling rivalry, this is BLOOD LINK!
Plot: I've always enjoyed
the idea of Siamese twins in horror films. There's a certain good versus evil theme that only this subject matter could
achieve. This film actually manages to use that theme and keep it interesting. It pieces itself together like
a good murder mystery, and the "visions" add a nice clairvoyant touch.
Acting: Michael Moriarty
takes on the roles of both Craig and Keith Mannings. As Craig, Moriarty gives a very soft and gentle (Yet pretty
boring) performance. On the other hand, as Keith, Moriarty delivers a sly, smooth, and psychotic performance.
A double-edged sword. Sarah Langenfeld handles the part of Christine Webb decently enough and Inspector Hessinger (Robert
K. Olszewski) adds a very nice presence. The best performance (For me) comes from Penelope Milford. Her
portrayal of Craig's conflicted love interest, Julie, completely won me over. Her powerful performance just took over
the screen every time she entered the room.
Gore: Body Count (10) Sorry,
nothing going for this film here. A little blood shed here and there, but no real on screen violence. A couple
of aftermaths, nothing to go crazy for. Yep, that's about it.
Suspense: Some of the "visions"
manage to muster a little atmosphere. There's a "sparring" scene that generates some "anticipation" suspense, but
the music drowns any chance it has. There is one worthy scene. I'm not going to give it away, I'll just
call it the "scissors" scene.
Directing: I like the way
the "visions" scenes were shot. The blurry, very dreamlike style worked great. Along with that we get a lot
of nice P.O.V. I also want to add that I like De Martino's effective and creative use of reflections throughout the
film.
Tech: The soundtrack
has it's moments, but melodramatics and an annoying alarm clock noise run rampant throughout. The sound did
exactly what it needed to do. Also, I like the way the lighting really tied into things. All sorts of good
stuff, but my favorite lighting is during the final confrontation. It was just fun to see the lights play with the shadows.
Other: First of all,
I want to apologize for the over use of quotations in the Suspense section, it's just the way I had it written down.
I like the killer's weapon of choice, a switchblade has always done the trick for me. I want to comment on
the script, well written with tolerable dialogue. Oh, sex. This film gets pretty intense, but most of the
sex scenes end up being a little ridiculous.
Final Word: I'm not crazy about it, but it's
works well on a very plot driven basis. What it lacks in gore it makes up for in nudity. Plus, it looks
great, if you can stand the soundtrack. Yeah...if you can get it for cheap, I'd say go for it. Otherwise don't
worry about it.
