One of Hollywood’s favorite bad guys is, in fact, a woman….usually mentally unbalanced, unstable – you know, CRAZY!
Here are three great examples of crazy ladies in action!
Fatal Attraction
The “Citizen Kane” of crazy lady movies, it is easy to forget how effective this movie is as a thriller! And before you scoff, remember that “Fatal Attraction” was nominated for Best Picture of the Year, and Glenn Close was nominated for Best Actress. It was the second highest grossing film of 1987, and Alex and I can watch it over and over and over…because Glenn Close is so good, and Michael Douglas is so stupid!
“Are you….discreet?”
Happily married New York lawyer Dan Callagher has an affair with his colleague Alex, and the two enjoy a wild weekend of sex while Dan’s wife and kid are out of town.
Of course, Michael Douglas sees it as just a bit of fun, but an increasingly unhinged Alex will not let go of him, and she will stop at nothing to have him for herself. Cue the bunny…
There is a ton of great trivia from the website IMDB – really fun stuff. Lots of great trivia can also be found on the special edition of the film on DVD, which offers the original ending, the audience reaction on audio to the ending, lots of reflections and trivia….a great set to own.
Alex Forrest: You must have to be discreet.
Dan Gallagher: Oh, god yeah.
Alex Forrest: Are you?
Dan Gallagher: Am I what?
Alex Forrest: Discreet?
Dan Gallagher: Yes, I’m discreet.
Alex Forrest: Me, too.
Dan Gallagher: [to Alex] This has got to stop.
Alex Forrest: [to Dan] This is not gonna stop. It keeps going on and on.
Dan Gallagher: You’re so sad. You know that, Alex? Lonely and very sad.
Alex Forrest: Don’t you ever pity me, you smug bastard.
Dan Gallagher: I’ll pity you… I’ll pity you. I’ll pity you because you’re sick.
Alex Forrest: Why? Because I won’t allow you treat me like some slut you can just bang a couple of times and throw in the garbage?
</aAlex Forrest: [to Dan] Well, what am I supposed to do? You won't answer my calls, you change your number. I mean, I'm not gonna be ignored, Dan!
"Fatal Attraction" is a movie full of great dialogue, terrific action, and it is, of course, a perfect thriller as well – with Glenn Close playing a modern, sexual woman – much like Sharon Stone did in this notorious thriller:
Basic Instinct
Without a doubt the most controversial movie of 1992, and one of the most notorious Hollywood films of the last 30 years – you know, because of THIS scene:
Sharon Stone cemented her place in Hollywood history with this memorable “show and tell” during her police interrogation…immediately turning the cops into a bunch of drooling idiots…
AND THE LEGEND GROWS!
According to Sharon Stone, director Paul Verhoeven asked her to remove her underwear for the leg-crossing scene, as he said they were too bright and reflected at the camera. Stone agreed to do so under the assumption that her genitals weren’t visible. It was only at an early preview that Stone discovered Verhoeven chose to use this specific shot. Stone was mainly cross with Verhoeven for not discussing the matter with her beforehand, but decided to let the scene go without changes, as she felt this conformed with her movie character.
However, Verhoeven’s version of the conflict is that he told Stone beforehand about the leg-crossing shot, as it was important for showing Catherine Tramell’s free-spirited nature and her constant drive to toy with people. Stone was reportedly excited about the idea and shot the scene. However, during the early preview, her agents supposedly disproved of the scene, fearing it would harm her future career. According to Verhoeven, Stone radically changed her mind about the shot and demanded that he remove it, which he ultimately refused.
While appearing on Inside the Actors Studio, Sharon Stone claimed that she had no idea that Paul Verhoeven was filming up her dress during the interrogation scene. She also claims that when she saw the rushes, she slapped the director across the face and ordered him to remove the shot. Verhoeven denies this.
Regardless of where the truth lies, it remains one of Hollywood’s most memorable scenes. And “Basic Instinct” was one of the most controversial films as well. A former rock star, Johnny Boz, is brutally killed during sex, and the case is assigned to detective Nick Curran of the SFPD. Michael Douglas is perfect as the cop with a secret past who is also sex-obsessed…
During the investigation, Nick meets Catherine Tramell, a crime novelist who was Boz’s girlfriend when he died. Catherine proves to be a very clever and manipulative woman, and though Nick is more or less convinced that she murdered Boz, he is unable to find any evidence.
Later, when Nilsen, Nick’s rival in the police, is killed, Nick suspects of Catherine’s involvement in it. He then starts to play a dangerous lust-filled mind game with Catherine.
Gay rights activists were against the way the gay characters were portrayed that they blocked the set numerous times while in San Francisco. Director Paul Verhoeven had to issue fake call sheets to trick the protesters into blocking unused locations. When the movie was released, the activists paraded around San Francisco theaters handing out flyers saying “Catherine did it” to ruin the plot for moviegoers. This didn’t seem to impact at all as the movie opened #1 on that same weekend and went on to become one of the highest grossing movies of the year.
So choreographed were the sex scenes that Sharon Stone referred to herself and Michael Douglas as “the horizontal Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of the ’90s”.
“Basic Instinct” also included some of the most ludicrous Joe Ezterhas dialogue ever captured on film!
Gus: “You got goddamned Tweety Birds flutterin’ around your head, that’s what you got! You think you can fuck like minks, raise rugrats, and live happily ever after? Aw, man!”
Aw man, indeed! Now, time for a crazy lady who just, well, wants to be like her roommate:
Single White Female
Talk about a great idea for a movie! When a ‘Single White Female’ places an ad in the press for a similar woman to rent a room (to replace the boyfriend she’s just left), all the applicants seem weird. Then along comes a level headed woman who seems to be just right.
Oh, just one problem: the new “single white female” has a secret past which haunts her.
For the scene where Jennifer Jason Leigh seduces Bridget Fonda’s boyfriend, without him realizing at first that she isn’t who he thinks she is, Leigh was still having her make-up applied so the scene was shot with Bridget Fonda playing her own double. It was only the first part of the scene where the woman gets into bed (shot from the back) which Fonda did, as Leigh’s character, as Fonda’s character.
Allison Jones: I know you weren’t yourself when you did this, Hedy.
Hedra Carlson: I know. I was YOU.
Hedra Carlson: Well, he will cheat on you again – that’s a promise. And when he does, don’t come crying to me, because… I’ve had it with you. You’re so FUCKING weak!
Hedra Carlson: You know, identical twins are never really identical. There’s always one whose prettier… and the one whose not, does all the work… She used me, then she left me – just like you.
“Single White Female” is a terrific thriller, a great “this woman is crazy” movie, with great performances all around, especially by Jennifer Jason Leigh!
Categories: Awards, Movies, Revenge Movies, Sexploitation Movies, Uncategorized
Great article love how you’ve blended the three together as it shows the similarities and traits they both share.
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Thanks for reading and responding!
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I like this article, and also, I just found out today that the Japanese have a special word for this type of crazy lady: “Yandere.” I don’t know if I realized that Fatal Attraction was up for best picture, and I definitely didn’t know about Fonda doubling herself in SWF.
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Love the japanese word, thank you for sharing!
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