Jonathan Kaplan directs Kurt Russell, Ray Liotta and Madeline Stowe in this yuppie-in-peril thriller where after a burglary a married couple make the mistake of letting an obsessive cop into their lives.

A trashy favourite from my teen years. This leans into the drama for much of the runtime then turns absolutely nightmarish for the last third. Most yuppie-in-peril potboilers pull their punches but this one goes full thrusters in its glee in obliterating Kurt Russell’s gentile existence. While we are waiting for everything to go to shit there are disturbing yet classy set pieces. The igniting incident is a convincing home invasion. The ride along sequence has shades of the then very contemporary Rodney King assault, so much so they had to edit the violence down. There is a top sex scene that turns creepy on a dime. All this is hard candy to suck on until the main event. Ray Liotta’s cop goes total psycho and it is a demented delight. Exactly how I want to spend my Saturday night, this held up particularly well on revisit.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Blink (1994)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/