Propelled initially by the lurid story of a shrink sexually obsessed by a patient, BODY OF INFLUENCE 2 goes on a twisted psycho-sexual journey that suffers from an incomprehensible plot thanks to shoddy direction and editing.
Dr. Thomas Benson's (Daniel Anderson) mysterious blonde patient Leza (Jodie Fisher) tells him about her dreams, involving leather-masked sex and her own death. Disturbed by his interest and his own sordid sexual visions, he recommends Leza see another shrink, but she plays a sympathy card with a
tale of her vicious older husband Walter. The doctor and Leza become intimate, but the smitten Benson can't locate Leza outside the office because all her records have been faked. He eventually finds her at a kinky sex club. Leza warns that Walter must never find out about their liaison. Almost
immediately, Walter (Pat Brennan) the husband--contrary to Leza's description, a young man--turns up and tells Benson he knows about the affair.
Benson's brother Rick (Jonathan Goldstein), a private detective, suspects that Leza wants Benson to kill her husband, and he investigates. He discovers that Leza has a master's degree in psychology and her husband has a $10 million life insurance policy. Leza begins to play Benson against his
brother by claiming Rick raped her years ago, but Rick shows him photographs of Leza and her young, virile husband having sex. Rick goes snooping around Leza's estate and is beaten. Benson gets a call from Leza that is interrupted by a scream. He calls the police and rushes over to find a bloodied
Leza, apparently dead. He grabs a bloody knife and is holding it when the cops rush in and arrest him for murder. Leza is alive and claims Benson killed both her husband and Rick in a jealous rage. She even has photographs of her sleeping with Rick.
Filled with sex scenes that are either sordid or intensely boring, BODY OF EVIDENCE 2 is long and confusing. The editing, which director Brian J. Smith may have intended as enhancement to the "mystery" here, blurs points of view, so it's hard to tell whether we are watching Benson's sexual
fantasies, or Leza's, or Benson's interpretation of Leza's fantasies. There are unexplained story lines--including one involving Benson's rough sex past--but the greatest enigma is why Leza has chosen to victimize Benson with this clever frame-up finale. It's just one of many unanswered questions
in a movie filled with holes. (Nudity, sexual situations, adult situations.) leave a comment