Torment (1986 film)

Last updated
Torment
Torment 1986 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
  • Samson Aslanian
  • John Hopkins
Written by
  • Samson Aslanian
  • John Hopkins
Produced by
  • Samson Aslanian
  • John Hopkins
Starring
Cinematography Stephen Carpenter
Edited by
Music by Christopher Young
Distributed by New World Pictures
Release date
  • April 18, 1986 (1986-04-18) [1]
Running time
85 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$160,000

Torment is a 1986 American psychological horror film directed by Samson Aslanian and John Hopkins, and starring Taylor Gilbert, William Witt, and Eve Brenner. Its plot follows a young woman in San Francisco who is stalked by a sadistic killer while visiting the estate of her future mother-in-law. Released in the spring of 1986 by New World Pictures, the film received moderate critical praise, with numerous critics esteeming the intelligence of its screenplay, and several comparing it positively to Halloween (1978).

Contents

Plot

Bob, a lascivious middle-aged man, arrives in San Francisco and begins a string of serial killings, targeting young women. The first is Diane, whom he meets at a bar. When she rejects him, he breaks into her house and shoots her and her boyfriend Barry to death. A short time later, a second victim's corpse is found floating in the San Francisco Bay. Detective Michael Courtland begins investigating the series of killings, which he suspects are related. Obsessed with solving the case, Michael decides to postpone his impending marriage to his fiancée, Jennifer, by two weeks.

Jennifer is invited to stay with Michael's wheelchair-using mother in the interim at her spacious mansion outside the city. Jennifer is apprehensive initially, but takes the opportunity to get to know Mrs. Courtland better. Unbeknownst to them, Bob has been casing the home. On Jennifer's first night there, he breaks in and watches her sleep before entering Mrs. Courtland's room. Mrs. Courtland awakens Jennifer, screaming, claiming someone was in her room. Jennifer dismisses this as a nightmare given that Mrs. Courtland had suffered a break-in some years prior. A paranoid Mrs. Courtland calls the police, but they find no evidence of a trespasser. It soon becomes clear to Jennifer that Mrs. Courtland is obsessive about protecting her home, compulsively checking that all doors and windows are locked.

In the morning, the housekeeper Helen arrives on the property, and is stabbed to death by Bob moments after entering the house. While Jennifer takes the car to run errands, Mrs. Courtland is attacked by Bob, who threatens her with a pistol. Mrs. Courtland slashes his wrist with a butcher knife, causing him to drop the pistol in her lap. Armed with the gun, she barricades herself in the study and fires the gun at him through the door. She attempts to call police from another room, but Bob leaves the entryway phone off the hook, preventing her from doing so.

Jennifer returns at nightfall to find a disheveled Mrs. Courtland, and dismisses her claim of being attacked. Bob appears at the front door, and a surprised Jennifer goes to greet him—he is her father. When she asks why he is there, he says he has arrived for her wedding, which she explains has been postponed. A shocked Mrs. Courtland claims Bob is the man who tried to attack her, but Bob assures Jennifer it was a mere misunderstanding, and that Mrs. Courtland wrongly assumed him an intruder. Jennifer offers her father dinner, during which he vaguely tells her he is "in trouble." Meanwhile, Mrs. Courtland phones the police from upstairs, but they dismiss her claim.

Jennifer becomes suspicious of her father when she notices that a kitchen window has been shattered, corroborating the story Mrs. Courtland told her. Bob lays out a series of photographs on the table of young women—each his victims—before revealing a forensic police sketch of him made by law enforcement. Revealing himself as the serial killer Michael is after, Bob pleads for Jennifer to help him evade authorities. He grows enraged when she attempts to call Michael, and violently drags Jennifer out of the house, but is stopped by Mrs. Courtland, who shoots him in the shoulder with a shotgun. Injured but still alive, Bob disables electricity to the house, and begins stalking Jennifer and Mrs. Courtland in the dark. Jennifer attempts to start the car in the garage, but finds it dismantled.

Upon returning inside, Jennifer finds her father with Mrs. Courtland, having overpowered her. While holding Jennifer at gunpoint, he is stabbed in the leg by Mrs. Courtland. Jennifer attempts to flee upstairs with Mrs. Courtland, pulling her up the staircase while fighting Bob off. Bogartis, a local officer summoned to the home by Michael, who received a panicked call from his mother, is hacked to death by Bob outside with an axe. Cornered in an upstairs room, Mrs. Courtland pleads with Jennifer to help her kill Bob, who forces his way in with an axe. As more police arrive, Bob begins strangling Mrs. Courtland, despite Jennifer threatening to shoot him. Just before he is able to kill Mrs. Courtland, police enter and fatally shoot Bob to death.

Cast

Release

Critical response

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times praised the film as an "ingenious little suspense thriller that deftly upturns the cliches of the lady-in-distress genre," likening it to the Coen brothers's Blood Simple (1984). [2] Malcolm Johnson of the Hartford Courant praised the film as a "gripping" thriller, adding that "as it moves toward its harrowing conclusion, Torment is by turns sad, scary, and darkly amusing." [3]

The Philadelphia Daily News 's Joe Baltake praised the film for its blunt and unfiltered presentation of violence against women, noting: "Borrowing freely from Wait Until Dark , Halloween and any number of Hitchcock thrillers, Torment takes its theme from what was merely implied—hinted at—in other slasher movies, i.e., that the women who get bludgeoned to death deserve it because of their brazen, sexually liberated ways." [4] Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer praised the film, summarizing: "Tautly edited, crisply photographed, Torment takes the standard suspense scenario—waiting for fish in the barrel to be shot—only to reveal that the barrel contains flying fish... I could gripe that all the obvious intelligence it took to make this picture might be better applied to more humanistic endeavors. But then I also have to admit I haven't been so nerve-wracked since Halloween." [5]

Bill Cosford of the Miami Herald was less laudatory of the film, deeming it a "cramped, low-budget thriller" boasting a "shabby" script. [6]

Home media

Scorpion Releasing released the film on Blu-ray on July 21, 2020. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Freeway</i> (1996 film) 1996 film by Matthew Bright

Freeway is a 1996 American black comedy crime thriller film written and directed by Matthew Bright and produced by Oliver Stone. It stars Kiefer Sutherland, Reese Witherspoon and Brooke Shields. The film's plot is a dark take on the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood".

<i>Black Christmas</i> (1974 film) 1974 film by Bob Clark

Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher film produced and directed by Bob Clark, and written by Roy Moore. It stars Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, and John Saxon. The story follows a group of sorority sisters who receive threatening phone calls and are eventually stalked and murdered by a killer during the Christmas season.

<i>Halloween II</i> (1981 film) Film by Rick Rosenthal

Halloween II is a 1981 American slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, in his directorial debut, written and produced by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence, who reprise their respective roles as Laurie Strode and Dr. Sam Loomis. It is the second installment in the Halloween film series and is a continuation sequel to Halloween (1978). The plot picks up directly after the cliffhanger ending of the first film, with Michael Myers following survivor Laurie Strode to the local hospital, while his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis continues his pursuit of him.

<i>Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers</i> 1989 film by Dominique Othenin-Girard

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is a 1989 American slasher film co-written and directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard, and starring Donald Pleasence, Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, Beau Starr, Wendy Kaplan, and Tamara Glynn. The fifth installment in the Halloween series, it follows serial killer Michael Myers who again returns to the town of Haddonfield to murder his traumatized niece, Jamie Lloyd, with whom he now shares a telepathic connection.

<i>Ms .45</i> 1981 film by Abel Ferrara

Ms .45 is a 1981 American exploitation thriller film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Zoë Tamerlis.

<i>Android</i> (film) 1982 science fiction film directed by Aaron Lipstadt

Android is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Aaron Lipstadt and starring Don Keith Opper and Klaus Kinski. The film tells the story of a scientist and his assistant who are working on an illegal android program in their laboratory on a space station in deep space.

<i>The Burning</i> (1981 film) 1981 American slasher film by Tony Maylam

The Burning is a 1981 American slasher film directed by Tony Maylam, and starring Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua, and Lou David. Its plot follows a summer camp caretaker who is horribly burnt from a prank gone wrong, where he seeks vengeance at a nearby summer camp years later. The film marks the debuts of actors Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, and Holly Hunter.

<i>Sorority House Massacre</i> 1986 film

Sorority House Massacre is a 1986 American slasher film written and directed by Carol Frank, and starring Angela O'Neill, Wendy Martel, Pamela Ross, and Nicole Rio. It follows a sorority pledge who experiences déjà vu in the sorority house when a murderer begins killing the residents over Memorial Day weekend. It is the second film in the Massacre franchise and a spin-off set in the same realm as The Slumber Party Massacre trilogy; like its predecessor, it was entirely written and directed by a woman.

<i>Midnight Ride</i> (film) 1990 American film

Midnight Ride is a 1990 American action thriller film with slasher elements directed by Bob Bralver. It stars Michael Dudikoff, Mark Hamill, Savina Geršak, and Robert Mitchum.

<i>Silent Scream</i> (1979 film) 1979 horror film

The Silent Scream, popularly released under the truncated title, Silent Scream, is a 1979 American slasher film directed by Denny Harris, and starring Rebecca Balding, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Steele and Yvonne De Carlo. The film follows a college student who finds rooming in a hilltop boarding house where a homicidal killer is on the loose.

<i>Savage Weekend</i> 0000 American film

Savage Weekend is a 1979 American slasher film directed by David Paulsen and starring Christopher Allport, David Gale, William Sanderson, and Caitlin O'Heaney. The film follows a woman who retreats to upstate New York with her wealthy boyfriend, her sister, and friend, only to be stalked by a killer in a disfigured mask.

<i>Halloween</i> (1978 film) 1978 film by John Carpenter

Halloween is a 1978 American independent slasher film directed and scored by John Carpenter, who co-wrote it with its producer Debra Hill. It stars Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, P. J. Soles, and Nancy Loomis. Set mostly in the fictional Illinois town of Haddonfield, the film follows mental patient Michael Myers, who was committed to a sanitarium for murdering his teenage sister one Halloween night during his childhood; he escapes 15 years later and returns to Haddonfield, where he stalks teenage babysitter Laurie Strode and her friends while his psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis pursues him.

<i>Killer Party</i> 1986 Canadian film

Killer Party is a 1986 Canadian supernatural slasher film directed by William Fruet, and starring Martin Hewitt, Ralph Seymour, Elaine Wilkes, Joanna Johnson, Sherry Willis-Burch, and Paul Bartel. It follows a trio of female sorority pledges who unleash a demonic force after participating in an initiation ritual in an abandoned house on their university's campus.

<i>Eyes of a Stranger</i> (1981 film) 1981 American slasher film by Ken Wiederhorn

Eyes of a Stranger is a 1981 American slasher film directed by Ken Wiederhorn, and starring Lauren Tewes and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Its plot follows a newscaster in Miami who suspects that her neighbor may be a local rapist and serial killer. It features makeup effects by Tom Savini.

<i>Macabre</i> (2009 film) 2009 Indonesian slasher film

Macabre is a 2009 Indonesian slasher film by The Mo Brothers. The film tells the story of a group of friends headed to the airport who meet a woman claiming to have been robbed and needs a ride home, which begins a dark turn of events. The film is based on 2007 short film Dara.

<i>Fear in the Night</i> (1972 film) 1972 British film by Jimmy Sangster

Fear in the Night is a 1972 British psychological horror film directed, produced, and co-written by Jimmy Sangster and produced by Hammer Film Productions. The film stars Judy Geeson as a psychologically-fragile woman who, upon relocating to a rural boarding school where her husband has taken a job, finds herself being tormented by a mysterious figure with a prosthetic arm. Peter Cushing and Joan Collins, respectively, also star as the school's mysterious headmaster and his wife.

<i>Straw Dogs</i> (2011 film) 2011 American film

Straw Dogs is a 2011 American action thriller film directed, produced, and written by Rod Lurie. It is a remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 film Straw Dogs, itself based on the Gordon Williams novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm. It stars James Marsden and Kate Bosworth.

<i>I, Madman</i> 1989 American film

I, Madman is a 1989 American supernatural slasher film directed by Tibor Takács and starring Jenny Wright and Clayton Rohner. Its plot follows a Los Angeles bookstore worker who becomes engrossed in a horror novel titled I, Madman, and finds a series of murders resembling those in the book occurring around her. The film's working title was Hardcover, and it was released in some international markets under this name.

<i>Bloodmoon</i> (1990 film) Australian 1990s horror movie

Bloodmoon is a 1990 Australian slasher film directed by Alec Mills and starring Leon Lissek, Christine Amor, Ian Williams, Helen Thomson, and Craig Cronin. It was featured in the documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!.

References

  1. 1 2 "Torment". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute . Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  2. ↑ Thomas, Kevin (April 18, 1986). "MOVIE REVIEW : THE FUN AND TERROR OF 'TORMENT'". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on July 5, 2020.
  3. ↑ Johnson, Malcolm (May 24, 1986). "Low-Budget Thriller Is Gripping". Hartford Courant . p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Baltake, Joe (May 20, 1986). "Slasher Film Takes Sex Out of the Closet". Philadelphia Daily News . p. 65 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Rickey, Carrie (May 17, 1986). "Film: Hack-'em-up puts focus on fear". The Philadelphia Inquirer . p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Cosford, Bill (September 24, 1986). "Spare yourself excruciating 'Torment'". Miami Herald . p. 208 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Sprague, Mike (May 5, 2020). "80s Horror-Thriller TORMENT Hits Blu-ray This July". Dread Central . Archived from the original on July 5, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.