Vomitron_G

Really, one wonderfully flimsy effort, this film, which in my country was released on DVD under the title 'A Killing Obsession'. And I might add that fans of John Savage and John Saxon will have some terrible fun with it (although I can't guarantee you won't shake your head in shame on several occasions). John Savage plays Albert, a mentally deranged thirty-something who spent most of his adult life in a mental health hospital. Released - as in: proclaimed "cured" - at the beginning of the story, because of the government cutting budgets, John Saxon repeats himself from the start to everyone (not) willing to listen that Albert is not sane after all and will kill again. And again. And again. Saxon is simply so funny, taking his role very serious while going through the motions (often also sporting tremendously over-sized glasses).

But the real star, of course, is John Savage. Within the first ten minutes, he already manages to stab two people to death, steal a whole bunch of cash and a getaway car. And he's clearly not going to stop, because he's got a killing obsession. We know from the get-go that he's determined to find a certain Annie Smith, a girl he once sickly loved when she was a mere nubile teenager. The thought that she's now a fully matured woman in her early thirties, doesn't cross his mind, of course.

What does he do? He picks up a phone book and heads off to pay a visit to every single Annie Smith listed in it. So, this film is pretty much 'Terminator' with John Savage replacing Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of course, this modus operandi will have Albert encountering many disappointments on his path, so he mostly ends up killing the Annie Smiths that don't fit the bill. I don't think I've ever seen John Savage act so weird in a film before. He pulls off some exquisite berserk grimaces throughout the film and his dialogue mainly consists of repeating the lines "You are not my Annie" and "You're a whore."

While Savage is already on a roll within the first ten minutes of the film, we're also treated to at least two women bearing their breasts in the following twenty minutes (attractive leading lady Kimberly Chase included). And just like Albert, writer/director Paul Leder isn't going to stop repeating this whole cocktail we're treated to in the first act already. Plus, during the last twenty minutes or so, Albert suddenly decides to take the plot of the film into a different direction, leading us towards a laughably underwhelming finale.

Add to that some lousy sound design and incompetent audio recording (the cuts between scenes with phone calls on different locations will have you noticing zooming refrigerators all of the sudden, and other scenes feature annoyingly squeaky stairs or shuffling sofas). The cheap synthesizer score is an entertaining hoot as well and the cinematography and directing, while perhaps not the worst you'll ever encounter, is as bland as it gets. But, surprisingly so, I would be lying if I'd say I didn't have fun watching this ridiculous attempt at a 'psychological thriller' for the various reasons mentioned above.

Apparently, I must have seen the cut-down version of 'Bella Mafia' - running time: 113 minutes - because like every fifteen minutes there was a time leap into the future (sometimes only months, sometimes years). I just didn't have time to get into the story that way. Also, it had this artificial drama feel to it and the same sappy score to go with it. Now, I understand this way of film making, but I don't exactly approve of it. But than, at the 1-hour mark, a lot of people suddenly get killed in two simultaneous scenes and this made-for-TV movie promptly becomes very, very interesting. And during the next 50 minutes, it totally redeems itself from the flaws of the first half. The ending is marvelous, especially when you've come to learn a lot about the characters' background. Nastassja Kinski's role is the pillar of all the drama & intrigues in 'Bella Maffia' and the best part of it all is that nobody knows about it (except for one person at the very end). There seems to be a two-part mini-series of this film (with a lot of extra scenes, I imagine - 2x105 minutes). So if you're interested in seeing 'Bella Mafia', I could advice you to watch the full mini-series. You'll probably get more out of it. Oh, and there's quite a few shocking scenes in this movie, especially considering it was made for TV. Not bad at all. Just be sure to be persistent biting your way through that first hour.

Not exactly recommendable for die-hard horror fans, since the film offers a tame mixture of drama & thriller, with only the added supernatural element occasionally venturing into horror territory. Little Lisa (Aemilia Robinson) has, just like her mother Ellen Downey (Cheryl Ladd), psychic abilities. We're talking communication with the dead here. Her contacts with the other side will lead the good guys onto the trail of a very bad serial killer. Performances aren't too bad, but the whole film is just unremarkable, boosted by some very cheap special (editing) effects. A by-the-numbers supernatural-tinted affair for bored housewives from the nineties as its target audience.