Double Obsession

Claire (Maryam D'Abo) and her little daughter are being followed by Heather (Hemingway), which prompts Claire to recall their relationship as college roommates at Freudville University in 1981. In flashbacks, Heather, a latent lesbian, becomes increasingly erratic and possessive; Claire seeks help from psychology professor Dr. Harkness (Frederic Forrest), who ends up sleeping with Heather. Claire finally drops Heather when she falls for Steve (Scott Valentine), whom she later marries. In the present, Heather kidnaps and tortures Freudville student Sherry (Beth Fisher) because of her resemblance to Claire, and Detective Bennett (Jamie Horton) turns to Claire for help in tracking Heather down. Heather kills both Harkness and Bennett before Claire manages to find her, rescuing Sherry from a deep pit located somewhere in a university building. The non-ending has Sherry taking a gun from Bennett (who, although dead, orders her to "kill the bitch") and firing at Heather, who is pulled out of the way and into a freeze-frame by a screaming Claire.

DOUBLE OBSESSION is that rare movie in which absolutely nothing works. The screenplay, by R.J. Marx and director Eduardo Montes, fails to establish even the barest outline of a plausible story; the flashback structure is unwieldy and ineptly handled, resulting not so much in continuity lapses as in utter confusion. The film may very well have been conceived as a comedy (why else "Freudville University"?); if so, all that remains is the unfunny bumbling of the detective. Left unexplained by the picture are odd little details like Heather's fascination with William Blake's poetry and American Indian paraphernalia. Montes' first-time-out direction is amateurish, and the acting is mostly risible. Hemingway, who's faring worse and worse in her acting projects (INNER SANCTUM, DEADLY RIVALS, etc.), is ludicrous and unbelievable throughout; Forrest appears to be acting entirely on his own wacky whims here, wearing outre leather garments seemingly left over from his turn in FALLING DOWN. D'Abo is not untalented, but she seems increasingly bewildered to be trapped in such a mess. Even for direct-to-video fodder, the film is thoroughly botched--it must be the longest 88-minute movie released in 1994. DOUBLE OBSESSION was shot in 1991, mostly at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and carries a 1992 copyright. (Violence, nudity, sexual situations, profanity.) leave a comment