Review of Perfect Strangers (1984) by Allan C — 19 Jul 2011

Larry Cohen is a fabulously underrated writer and directer and this is another of his little gems. This is not one of his more celebrated films, like "Black Caesar", "It's Alive", or "Q The Winged Serpent", but it still delivers Cohen's trademark smart concepts with exploitation sensibilities.

This time it involves hitman who has a 3 year old witness one of his hits. The crux of the film is whether or not the hitman will kill the child to keep himself in the clear. With Cohen, you really do not know how the film is going to end and that's where the film gets it's strength.

There are no real stars in the film, but the always great Ann Magnuson has a nice supporting role and I could have sworn I fleetingly saw Illeana Douglas. Well worth watching low budget film. Oh, and Dobber/Patrick Starfish Bill Fagerbakke also plays a mafia thug in the film.