Marilyn Schreffler Movies

"Fatal attraction" has become a household term for love turned to murderous obsession, thanks to the success of Adrian Lyne's 1987 movie. Dan (Michael Douglas) is a family man whose one-night affair with Alex (Glenn Close) turns into a nightmare when she insists on continuing the relationship, claiming to be carrying his baby. Alex systematically terrorizes Dan, even temporarily kidnapping his daughter, in her attempts to win back his affection. Douglas' besieged family man guiltily tries to preserve his marriage and family from the consequences of his own indiscretion. Close's performance as the love-struck psycho-siren remains her signature role: She conveys the buried feminist message of the film in her challenge to Dan to take responsibility for his sexual behavior. Though many critics acknowlegded the film's striking similarities to Clint Eastwood's 1971 film Play Misty for Me, Fatal Attraction spawned numerous other movies about middle-class families besieged by a lone psychotic intent on infiltrating and destroying the fabric of the family unit, including The Stepfather (1987), Pacific Heights (1990), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), and Fear (1996). ~ Laura Abraham, Rovi

Eddie Murphy followed up his Beverly Hills Cop success with this fantasy adventure that plops him right into the land of Ray Harryhausen and Indiana Jones. The plot revolves around a God-like youngster (J.L. Reate) known as a "golden child," who has been sent to Tibet to bring the gift of compassion to humanity. But the devil isn't idle, sending his emissary, Sardo Numspa (Charles Dance) to kidnap the golden child. Sardo absconds with the child and takes off to Los Angeles. In L.A., a beautiful Tibetan priestess named Kee Nang (Charlotte Lewis) seeks out Chandler Jarrell (Eddie Murphy), a social worker and self-styled "finder of lost children." She tells Chandler he has been chosen to rescue the magical child from the devil and save the world from evil. Before Chandler can let go of his first riposte, he finds himself holding a magic dagger, following a sacred parakeet, and under-going several trials by fire. He also falls in love with Kee Nang, who at one point in the film has to be brought back from the dead. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi