Traces of Red

Last updated
Traces of Red
Traces of Red poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Andy Wolk
Written by Jim Piddock
Produced by Mark Gordon
David V. Picker
Starring
Cinematography Tim Suhrstedt
Edited byTrudy Ship
Music by Graeme Revell
Distributed by The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Release date
  • November 13, 1992 (1992-11-13)
Running time
105 min
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3,206,714

Traces of Red is a 1992 neo noir erotic thriller film, directed by Andy Wolk and starring James Belushi, Lorraine Bracco and Tony Goldwyn. The film was released theatrically by The Samuel Goldwyn Company on November 13, 1992. After the limited theatrical release in the United States, the film became a surprise hit in the United States Home Video market; the film made 224.8% more revenue on home video than it did in theaters. [1]

Contents

Lorraine Bracco used a body double for the nude scene. [2] Her performance in the film earned her a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress.

Plot

The film begins with Jack Dobson, a homicide detective from Palm Beach, flat on his back with a bullet in his chest. It is then told in flashback form, leading up to the events that led him to this fate.

Jack has been receiving threatening letters. He and his partner Steve Frayn conclude that the source must be a mob figure whom Jack is about to testify against in court. But another possibility is that someone could be causing trouble for Jack's brother, Michael, who is in an election campaign for public office.

Women begin turning up dead with lipstick traces left by the killer. A woman Jack has begun seeing, Ellen Schofield, could be involved. But when Ellen sees Jack leave a restaurant with a woman who soon becomes a victim, suspicion is cast toward Jack himself as the killer. Jack eventually reveals that he was raped as a child by his former 1st grade teacher, Gloria Wurtz. While speaking with Michael, Steve learns that it was by his own mother who raped Jack. Steve decides to go forward with his own investigation but, in the process, winds up having sex with Ellen, much to his wife's (who he earlier celebrated his seventh wedding anniversary with) and Jack's (who now sees him as a traitor) dismay. After Ellen turns up dead, Jack decides to take Beth (Steve's wife) with him to a secluded getaway home, immediately following Steve confiding in Jack that he trusted him. After finding evidence that Jack is indeed the killer, Steve and Michael rush to the getaway home where Jack and Beth are. Jack is holding Beth and is seemingly about to strangle her when Steve yells at Jack to freeze. Jack pushes Beth aside and draws his gun, but is shot by Steve before he can get off a shot. Then, Jack (in narrative form) says "I guess you probably thought that I was some kind of hero when you first saw me laying there, at the beginning. Wrong. But the story wasn't over ...... not yet." Eventually, Michael is revealed to be the real killer. Jack's murder was faked, as he wanted to give Michael a false sense of security that he was dead, and responsible for the murdered women. Michael is set up to seemingly be alone with a woman in a hotel room. After he attempts to strangle the woman, Steve bursts into the room with his gun drawn, and tells Michael to freeze. It is then revealed that Jack is not dead, much to Michael's shock. Jack tells Steven and the woman to leave the room, so that he can talk to his brother alone. As they are embracing, Michael manages to take Jack's gun. Michael then commits suicide by shooting himself in the temple. The movie concludes with Steve asking Jack if he's ready (after his brother's funeral), to which Jack replies, "I will be."

Cast

Related Research Articles

The Boston Strangler is the name given to the murderer of 13 women in Greater Boston during the early 1960s. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, on details revealed in court during a separate case, and DNA evidence linking him to the final victim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Belushi</span> American actor (born 1954)

James Adam Belushi is an American actor. His television roles include the title role in According to Jim (2001–2009), Saturday Night Live (1983–1985), and Twin Peaks (2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorraine Bracco</span> American actress (born 1954)

Lorraine Bracco is an American actress best known for her performances as psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi on the HBO crime drama series The Sopranos (1999–2007) and for her breakthrough role portraying Karen Hill in the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas (1990). Bracco began her career modeling in France and appeared in Italian-language films in the 1980s. Her English-language debut came in The Pick-up Artist (1987), which was followed by roles in Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Sing (1989), and The Dream Team (1989). She has been nominated for an Academy Award, four Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.

<i>Sea of Love</i> (film) 1989 film

Sea of Love is a 1989 American neo-noir thriller film directed by Harold Becker, written by Richard Price and starring Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin and John Goodman. The story concerns a New York City detective trying to catch a serial killer who finds victims through the singles column in a newspaper.

<i>Tightrope</i> (film) 1984 film by Richard Tuggle

Tightrope is a 1984 American neo-noir psychological mystery crime thriller film directed and written by Richard Tuggle and produced by and starring Clint Eastwood.

<i>Wired</i> (film) 1989 film by Larry Peerce

Wired is a 1989 American biographical film of comedian and actor John Belushi, directed by Larry Peerce. It was based on the 1984 book of the same name by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, and adapted for the screen by Buckaroo Banzai creator Earl Mac Rauch. It stars Michael Chiklis in his film debut as Belushi. Wired was both a critical and a commercial failure. The film has yet to be released on DVD or Blu-ray, and the videocassette originally released by International Video Entertainment is out of print.

"Mayham" is the 68th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the third of the show's sixth season. Written by Matthew Weiner and directed by Jack Bender, it originally aired on March 26, 2006.

<i>Switch</i> (1991 film) 1991 film by Blake Edwards

Switch is a 1991 American fantasy comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards. Based on George Axelrod's 1959 play Goodbye Charlie, the film stars Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, JoBeth Williams, and Lorraine Bracco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Cottingham</span> American serial killer (born 1946)

Richard Francis Cottingham is an American serial killer and rapist who murdered at least eighteen young women and girls in New York and New Jersey between 1967 and 1980. He was nicknamed by media as the New York Ripper, the Torso Killer and the Times Square Killer, since he was convicted of three murders that occurred there that included mutilation.

<i>Someone to Watch Over Me</i> (film) 1987 American film

Someone to Watch Over Me is a 1987 American neo-noir romantic thriller film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Howard Franklin. It stars Tom Berenger as a police detective who has to protect a wealthy woman, who is a key witness in a murder trial. The film's soundtrack includes the George and Ira Gershwin song from which the film takes its title, recorded by Sting, and Vangelis' "Memories of Green", originally from Scott's Blade Runner (1982).

<i>Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu</i> Novel by Lee Goldberg

Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu is the third novel by writer Lee Goldberg based on the television series Monk. In this novel, in response to a blue flu, the mayor of San Francisco reinstates several police officers who suffer from debilitating mental issues, including Adrian Monk. The squad of half-crazy detectives must contend not only with each other's eccentricities and a series of murders linked only by missing left shoes and shared birth dates, but their former friends on the other side of the labor dispute. Like the previous two books, the book is narrated by Natalie Teeger, Monk's assistant.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a 1998 American television crime thriller film directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá and starring Edward James Olmos. It is a television adaptation of the novel of the same name by Morton Freedgood, and is a remake of the 1974 film adaptation. It was followed by a 2009 remake.

<i>A Perfect Getaway</i> 2009 film by David Twohy

A Perfect Getaway is a 2009 American thriller film written and directed by David Twohy and starring Timothy Olyphant, Milla Jovovich, Kiele Sanchez, and Steve Zahn. Olyphant, Jovovich, Sanchez, and Zahn portray a group of vacationing couples in Hawaii who find their lives in danger when murders begin to occur on the island, leading to suspicions over one of the couples being the killers.

<i>Brooklyns Finest</i> 2009 film by Antoine Fuqua

Brooklyn's Finest is a 2009 American crime drama film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Michael C. Martin. The film stars Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, and Wesley Snipes. Brooklyn's Finest had its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on January 16, 2009 and was released theatrically in the United States on March 5, 2010.

<i>Fuzz</i> (film) 1972 film by Richard A. Colla

Fuzz is a 1972 American action comedy film directed by Richard A. Colla and starring Burt Reynolds, Yul Brynner, Raquel Welch, Tom Skerritt and Jack Weston.

<i>The Strangler</i> 1964 film by Burt Topper

The Strangler is a 1964 American psychological thriller film directed by Burt Topper and starring Victor Buono, David McLean, Davey Davison, and Ellen Corby, with a screenplay by Bill S. Ballinger. It follows a disturbed lab technician who embarks on a serial killing spree of young female victims. The film was inspired by the Boston Strangler, a serial killer who murdered several women in the 1960s, and went into production while police were still attempting to solve the crimes.

<i>Number One with a Bullet</i> (film) 1987 film by Jack Smight

Number One with a Bullet is a 1987 American action comedy film directed by Jack Smight and starring Robert Carradine, Billy Dee Williams, Valerie Bertinelli, Peter Graves, Doris Roberts, Bobby Di Cicco, Ray Girardin, Barry Sattels, Mykelti Williamson, Alex Rebar and Jon Gries.

<i>Dont Answer the Phone!</i> 1980 film

Don't Answer the Phone! is a 1980 American psychological horror film co-written and directed by Robert Hammer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Kibbe</span> American serial killer (1939–2021)

Roger Reece Kibbe was an American serial killer and rapist known as the "I-5 Strangler". Kibbe found all but one of his victims on freeways around Sacramento, California. In 1991 he was sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment for the death of Darcie Frackenpohl.

<i>Hangman</i> (2017 film) 2017 American film

Hangman is a 2017 American crime thriller film directed by Johnny Martin and written by Charles Huttinger and Michael Caissie. The film stars Al Pacino, Karl Urban, Joe Anderson, Sarah Shahi, and Brittany Snow. The film follows a detective who tries to track down a serial killer who bases his murders on Hangman, the children's guessing game. It was released on December 22, 2017, and was panned by critics.

References

  1. GEORGE T. CHRONIS and LISA ROBINSON, "Hallmark Launches Its Own Home Video Label Forms Hallmark Home Entertainment division with Steven Beeks as president", Video Store Magazine , January 1, 1995
  2. "Traces of Red". Timeout.com. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2022.