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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Starz / Anchor Bay
Salesrank: 13465
Released: March 19, 2002 |
| Our Price: $3.97 |
| Used Price: $3.67 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
The sordid tale of a sinister street-corner preacher & his affair with a stunningly beautiful prostitute. Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 04/07/2009 Starring: Kathleen Turner Annie Potts Director: Ken Russell
Description of Crimes of Passion:
The crazy man of British film, Ken Russell (Women in Love, Whore), hit the apex of guilty-pleasure absurdity with Crimes of Passion, a dark if pointed (and ultimately poignant) walk on the wild side. Although this schizophrenic, neon-blurred traipse through the red-light district of Los Angeles, courtesy of hooker and guide China Blue (Kathleen Turner), never made much money at the box office, it still managed to eke out a cult following. Barry Sandler's script felt a lot like a play with its rather stilted (but furiously funny) dialogue between Turner and Anthony Perkins, who plays an obsessed and crazed stalker/reverend who believes he is China Blue's savior. Their story is contrasted against that of Bobby Grady (John Laughlin), who is married to the materialistic Amy (Annie Potts). After taking a second job as a private investigator for a dress manufacturer who thinks his lead designer, Joanna Crane (Turner again), is selling patterns to a rival, Bobby becomes mired in a netherworld he never imagined. But it's Bobby who becomes Joanna/China Blue's true savior; it seems Joanna's husband cheated on her and she created the alter ego, China Blue, in order to control her world by making men dependent on her sexuality. The facade cracks after Bobby hits the scene. Russell's film is bawdy and even daring, and the unrated version on DVD features a couple of scenes (one with China Blue, a cop, and his nightstick, as well as some flashes of pornography) that were not included in the film's original release. Also for die-hard fans, Sandler originally ended the script at a more ambiguous place in the climactic scene in Joanna's apartment. An "epitaph" with Bobby at an encounter group was added to appease the distributor, who wanted a more upbeat, "Hollywood" conclusion. Sandler's original idea gave the film a real wallop, but despite the change, Crimes of Passion remains an original camp classic. --Paula Nechak
Crimes of Passion Reviews:
Ken Russell in top form 
2009-09-29 - After having some big problems with his movie Valentino, which he considered a piece of trash, Ken Russell made two of his most fascinating films for the United States. The first was Altered States and the other Crimes of Passion. In Crimes of Passion, it definitely is, like a precedent reviewer said, a plea for honesty as we witness an art designer spending several night hours as a prostitute called China Blue. Then as she meets a dangerous minister and falls in love with one of her clients, her secret identity starts to shatter.
Though I do not want to reveal more of the story, I can say that the soundtrack, composed by Rick Wakeman the keyboardist of the british group YES, really does an amazing job adapting and remixing Dvorak's "New World" symphony. Not only does it reminds of Ken Russell's trademark of using famous classical music for his movies, it also, adds on to Ken Russell's movie which denounces the hypocrisy of the American Society and breaks its idyllic illusion.
A great job from all the cast and the crew. One dvd Ken Russell's fans must see for it is in its uncut and uncensored director's version.
crime
2009-09-12 - Ho Hum nowhere as good as it could have been. I really can't recommend this one.
Horrible 
2008-07-02 - I bought this movie because I like Kathleen Turner. Wow, she's got to be embarrassed looking back on this clunker. Did some high school senior write and direct this thing? It's clumsy, has no real storyline, and it's not even erotic. The acting is mediocre, too, by today's standards. About a half hour into the movie I got the idea that it was not going to get any better, and I had to force myself to watch it to the end. At least the video was crisp, which brings me to another point. Somebody goes to the trouble to clean up this piece of crap, yet there are good movies out there (All of Me, Roxanne, Cabaret, Another Woman, to name a few off the top of my head) that deserve remastering, yet are not. I don't get it.
Some movies don't age well 
2007-11-24 - I recently watched the movie "Chinatown". The movie is truly a classic. As much of a pleasure to see now as it was when I originally saw it in the theater.
While not in the same class as Chinatown, I also recently saw "Bodyheat" with Kathleen Turner. Turner's beauty and the classic noir nature of this film make it ageless.
Unfortunately "Crimes of Passion" didn't age well for me. I found that the film felt dated and sexist in the way Turner's character is portrayed. Some people who have reviewed the film here found the film's "analysis" of relationships fascinating. I found it depressing and naive. The idea that a prostitute is going to fall in love with a client because of he has passionate sex with her is sophmoric.
I wanted to rent this film, but I couldn't find it at the local Blockbuster. After buying it, I've put in the box for the used bookstore (which also sells used DVDs).
Strange Movie....
2007-01-03 - Very bizzare movie! Not for kids or anyone who is prudish!
Can be an erotic movie if you choose to see through the bizzare nature of it.
