Slasher-Hybrid EXTRA: Crimes of Passion (1984)
Crimes of Passion, a combination of the slasher and erotic thriller genres, is a crazy, sexy trip down skid row with China Blue (Kathleen Turner), the best whore in town. China Blue becomes the object of desire for Bobby (John Laughlin), a sexually frustrated married man, and Rev. Peter Shayne (Anthony Perkins), a deranged street preacher. The fun and (sex) games turn deadly when Shayne decides the only way to save China Blue is by killing her with “Superman”, a giant steel vibrator.
Crimes of Passion exists in a world of peep shows, sex shops, and hookers who promise heaven for only $50. The gutter represents freedom while marriage is a prison guarded by frigid wives who deny their husbands pleasure in any form. All of the men visiting skid row seem to be having a really good time. The married men, on the other hand, are trapped in a slow burning hell on earth. Eventually, the viewer identifies with the scummy characters more because they are much more exciting than the married ones.
Anthony Perkins and Kathleen Turner both give good performances but their scenes together are magical. They use Barry Sandler’s dialogue like a cat-o-nine-tails to whip and slash each other to the quick. When Shayne asks China Blue if she remembers him, China says,”I never forget a face, especially when I sat on it.” During another scene Shayne makes the comment,”You’re the head of your class. Or is it class of your head?” China responds with “Ooo, a man of words. He makes up in diction what he lacks in dick.” Sure some of the scenes are completely over the top, but it doesn’t matter because it’s so much fun to watch these two actors square off against each other.
Behind the scenes, Anthony Perkins was crazier than the character Peter Shayne. Originally, Shayne was a demented psychiatrist posing as a shoe salesman on skid row. Perkins changed the character to a street preacher, picked out his own wardrobe, made Shayne’s necklaces and crown of thorns, and designed the look of the room Shayne uses to peep on China Blue. Perkins also added a little Judy Garland number to a scene and insisted Shayne should wear a dress for another. Between takes Perkins sniffed amyl nitrate to enhance his performance.
Crimes of Passion had trouble earning an R from the MPAA due to the film’s extreme sexual nature. Ken Russell had to submit the film five times before the MPAA finally granted the R. The most notorious scene in the film shows China Blue sodomizing a policeman with his own nightstick while the poor guy is handcuffed to the bedposts. While the censored version of Crimes of Passion bombed at the box office, the unrated version released on video made millions of dollars and helped usher in a new age of daring erotic thrillers for the home video market.
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Would make a nice double-feature with Cruising for a night of
quality-sleaze.
I had that song from this one’s soundtrack stuck in my head
for ages… ,It’s a Lovely Life’..
I’m a major fan of this flick. The script, performances from Perkins, Turner and Annie Potts, and the very atmosphere of the film itself are extraordinary. It’s a Ken Russell flick (I love his stuff), so it’s over-the-top by nature, but it’s also a realistic look at loneliness and a metaphorical look at the stages of relationships in a manner not too dissimilar to that used by Hitchcock in Rear Window. “Heal thyself, pimp shit!”
There’s a lot of humour in Crimes of Passion. It’s also a classic example of a film that looks so specific to its era that it transcends it or even defines it. Body Double has that same stylistic quality that makes it now look as classy and evocative as a film noir.
Perkins is outstanding as the funny, sinister and ultimately tragic Shayne. This and Peggy Sue Got married may be Turner’s best performances. And I’ve always had thing about Annie Potts.
I also have always loved this film. When I was a teenager back in the 80′s, my friend and I rented it because the warnings of explicit sex on the cover. It turned out to be a creepy, slow-burn of a film, and I still love it to this day.