Product Description

ART, A BRILLIANT SERIAL KILLER, USES HIS CHAMELEON, LOKE CHARMTO BEFRIEND SIBLINGS, KATE AND MIKE. POSING AS THE ENGLISHPROFESSOR HE MURDERED, HE SEDUCES KATE WHO FALLS FOR THECHARISMATIC AND HANDSOME STRANGER UNTIL HIS TRUE IDENTITY ISREVEALED.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #122350 in DVD
• Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
• Released on: 2002-04-30
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 100 minutes

Customer Reviews

Steer Away from This "Thriller" without Thrill
This is a Canadian film with an alternative title "Watchtower," starring Tom Berenger, who is best known as a tough senior soldier in Oliver Stone's "Platoon." But that film about the Vietnam War, which gave him an Oscar nomination, was made years ago.

And this film came, starring Tom Berenger as a mystrious stranger, who happens to come to a small seaside town in Oregon (actually, hte film is shot in British Columbia). Claiming himself as a teacher at university, he says he is here to write a book. Getting a job at an old watchtower by the sea, he is befriended with the local sister and brother Kate and Mike. As Kate, owner of a fishing boat gets closer to him, Mike, living without purpose, finds a kind of father figure in him. But this guy, coming from nowhere, seems to have some secrets behind his face.

Sounds interesting? Maybe. But the film uses the idea so awfully that you keep on pushing a fast-foward button to the end. First of all, don't expect any suspense. There is none. The "secrets" are revealed in the first 10 minutes, and you know the face of the serial killer from the first. But that would not be damaging the film if it holds some dramatic tension between this stranger in town and those sister-brother characters, in order to develop the initial idea about the bond between this murderer and the kid, or his sister. No. The film is all about ordinary love scenes with cheesy dialogues and self-indulgent, extended guitar play as its soundtrack.

I don't tell you anything about the ending because it is simply terrible. The "clues" leading to the finale are given in the most awkward fashion which makes you literally gasp. Tom Berenger's acting might gain some praise from fans, but I wasn't impressed at all, probably because the characters surrounding him are so awfully drawn that there's no way to compare him with the others. At least, he deserves much better material. Dull at its best.

Strange and waayyyy too lonnngggg....
The only word to describe this movie is strange. Also, it drags in so many places that you want to fast-forward to the end which is completely anti-climactic and extremely far-fetched.

The one and only bright spot in this film is the performance by the villain. He is wonderful in his part, and you get the idea that his talents are being wasted by making this turkey. At times, his acting talents are amazing. The others in the film are mediocre at best. There are better ways to spend a couple of hours.

Slow but not boring
In many ways this is an interesting movie. It explores the thinking and doings of a serial killer and allows for most of it's running time to go deeply into what makes him tick. In that approach lies also it's flaws. It's simply to slow. A better director whould have kept it flowing at a more reasonable pace and maybe even added some spice to many scenes, which seem at best half-complete. Tom Berenger is very good as the killer and, in my opinion, deserves better projects in the near future. The rest of the cast don't come off well.