Review of Fatal Attraction (1987) by Darius M — 24 Sep 2010

A horror film that understands the dread that seeps from the guilty conscience. In this film, nothing is scarier than the sound of a phone ring or a door knock, or a look or a gesture. A phone on its own, ringing or not, creates enough tension to melt the ceiling. The theatrical ending delays the inevitable like a fun game, heightening the terror, and when it does come, itâ??s terrifying and itâ??s shot and cut (ha) with as much skill and style and imagination as any of the equivalent by Hitchcock or Clouzot or DePalma, but itâ??s also audience- responsive and itâ??s disposable and derivative and it lacks credibility while the original ending (which is only available as a special feature on the DVD) ends the film like the beautiful opera; sad and understated and existential and refreshingly anti-climatic, but mostly ideally.

Turn the DVD off after 1:41:00 minutes and switch to the extra.