The Worst Film Ever

Sadly Over-hyped

Absolutely the worst movie.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Forget Hitchcock, and enjoy this film on its own merits. Never mind that it has elements of other films since...Color of Night, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Fatal Attraction, et al. Even a little of Play Misty for Me. You're going to be manipulated, you're going to know that you are being manipulated, and you go along for the ride anyway, thinking she did it, but then maybe that's what I'm supposed to think so maybe she didn't do it...but then they'll think I'm going to think that so maybe she did do it after all..and in the end you decide just to wait and see.Roy Scheider is brilliant in just about everything he does, and Meryl...well, she literally takes your breath away when she walks through the door for the first time. I've never seen her looking more beautiful. And she plays it with the same qualities of Tippi Hedren in both The Birds and Marnie, the same qualities she had in Kramer vs Kramer...nervous, flawed, a bit bewildered, an innocence that is belied by past guilt. Roy's character finds himself atttracted to her even though he's afraid of what he might discover as he digs deeper.Joe Grifasi isn't as clueless as other reviewers have indicated, but you're pretty certain you know what happens to him, if you've seen Fatal Attraction.So...think about all of the Hitchcock elements, all of the afore-mentioned movies after you've watched it, or better yet, watch it again and look for them.It's a nice little psychological thriller, much like others, but still very enjoyable.

This is a homage to Alfred Hitchcock, but they forgot the main ingredient of the master's, and that's suspense. As a reviewer pointed out, almost every single scene is filmed in the dark, and at night. I can't really recall one daylight scene. I think they thought it would make it more suspenseful, but it backfired. It also has many nods to Hitchcock classics. I'll give them credit with the tribute to Vertigo. Roy Scheider stalking Meryl Streep was quite well done, and had an eerie feel. I guess my main problem with this movie was, despite that it was watchable, it's rather gloomy, and unexciting. I was watching this late at night, and there is an auction scene that seems to go on forever. I almost fell asleep. It tries to coast along with the strength of its two major stars, but that merely makes it watchable, in lieu of being successful. It's pretty cold and unlikable as well. It's quite difficult to garner empathy from either of the two leads. Roy Scheider tries to pull a James Stewart, but can't quite pull it off. He certainly has presence, and can make anything watchable, but he seems unsure on how to tackle the roll. I felt he was a bit too subdued at times. He's one of my favorite actors, but this is one of his more forgettable performances. I would have like to see his obsession with Streep go a little bit further, and add a little more angst. Meryl Streep is rather stilted in her performance. She has moments where she is outstanding, and others where her performance feels stilted. It was a bit inconsistent. One thing I'll mention is how gorgeous she was, when she was younger. You won't see beauty like that very often. Her chemistry with Scheider was disappointing. Her mysterious character wasn't explored enough for my liking. Jessica Tandy is solid as Roy's mother, but she is barely in this movie, and doesn't have nearly enough screen time. The conclusion was alright, but didn't have enough Oomph.Final Thoughts: Scheider & Streep are always watchable, but they are not at their best here. As a homage to Hitchock, this movie fails. As a time passer, you could do a lot worse than this. It's worth a watch, but don't expect too much. 5.5/10

This is exactly the kind of movie I most often try to catch from the few movie channels I subscribe to. 70's and 80's movies, which I was too young to see when they came out. I wouldn't necessarily buy or rent a DVD in case it was available and it's too unknown to be shown on national channels, but still well made and enjoyable. This was a perfect nostalgia trip to time when they made movies for adults. A thriller with very little action or violence.The plot is fairly simple and very much a homage to Hitchcock. A man falls for a "dangerous" blonde lady. In fact the biggest problem with the movie is that it's so obviously a Hitchcock homage that it's difficult to take it as a movie of it's own. For this kind of who dunnit, it might have also been nicer to have a bit more flesh around the bones, now the story is fairly short and they don't give away too many clues or herrings. At least not that I noticed.That being said, it is nicely stylish and 80's in a good way. All actors do a good job, especially Streep has a couple of very good scenes.One thing that picks the eye is that there is a lot of smoking in this movie. In this day and age it's pretty difficult to swallow, even tho I feel smoking is a way to create atmosphere in certain types of movies and it's not that much out of place here.If you are into movies which are not larger than life, this might be for you. It's a nice and slow little thriller which in the end is pretty forgettable, but enjoyable to watch.

It seems inconceivable that Robert Benton should become a filmmaker without a sense of humor. His earlier screenplays co-written with David Newman, not to mention "The Late Show" (Benton's prickly, funny private-eye comedy from 1977), were filled with little bits of clever homage and dry wit. "Still of the Night" is just that: still. It's an old-fashioned murder mystery which follows the pattern of familiar noirs and thrillers from the past, but it fails without any personality from Benton or his actors. There's nothing tangible going on in Meryl Streep's performance as an auction-house employee in New York City whom everyone thinks is a killer; she's aloof and unreal, only connecting with the audience in the two or three instances where she cracks a smile. Roy Scheider plays a psychiatrist who may be marked for murder, and he falls for Streep's mystery woman despite the signs that she's unstable. The picture creaks and groans until the last act, where Benton suddenly livens up and brings the thing to a commendable conclusion. A talky, impersonal piece of work overall, and not worth the trouble except for Streep-completists. *1/2 from ****