Color of NightHaunted by the bizarre suicide of a patient, New York psychologist Dr. Bill Capa abandons his successful practice and relocates to L.A., but his encounters there prove as shocking as the chilling event he has run away from, and he immediately finds himself entangled in an explosive sexual relationship with a beautiful but enigmatic woman named Rose, and the investigation into the brutal stabbing murder of a friend and colleague, Dr. Bob Moore. A moth drawn to a flame, Dr. Capa is lured to Rose by his sexual cravings, and he discovers this woman has the power to fulfill his most reckless erotic fantasies. Yet, the more she satisfies him, the more he finds himself enslaved by her manipulation and control. As Capa gets closer to identifying the killer of his patient, Rose becomes an equally tantalizing mystery that he must solve — if he can stay alive long enough to avoid a lunatic murderer who is stalking him.Psychological twists and turns strangle the plot of this disappointing effort from the director of The Stunt Man, Richard Rush. Emotionally damaged psychiatrist Bruce Willis leaves his practice behind and moves to LA when a patient commits suicide in front of him. Out of the goodness of his broken heart, he takes over the practice of a murdered colleague (Scott Bakula). Jane March is the needy but mysterious woman who literally crashes into his life, making sexual advances the good doctor soon reciprocates. What March seems to need most, however, is underwear. The plot and the dialogue vacillate between silly and inane, leaving us with some so-so sex and overblown performances. This could explain why it was the winner of the 1995 Razzie Award for Worst Picture. If you want a more effective thriller that delves into damaged psyches, take another look at Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. –Rochelle O’Gorman
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(out of 90 reviews)
Review by Sandi for Color of Night
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Two lovers. One killer. Five suspects. Bruce Willis is a troubled psychiatrist who quits after a patient commits suicide. But when a colleague is murdered, Willis gets drawn into web of intrigue — and into the arms of a patient (Jane March) who’s also a suspect! The DVD contains 17 minutes of deleted scenes (including Willis in the buff)- That alone is worth the price of the DVD.
Review by for Color of Night
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This one is a jaw dropper and quite the cinematic cocktail. If you are expecting Vertigo or even Fatal Attraction you are hopping the wrong train. This is pure goofball entertainment. The sex scenes are fun(Thank you, Ms.March),the violence is over the top(conceptually cribbed from Italian giallo, no doubt), the dialogue is inane(beautifully so, I think), and the plot and its many twists are plenty outrageous(as in, “oh, come on…WHAT?”). Did I mention the supporting cast? All of your favorite “whatsis names” get a chance to chew the celluloid in an attempt to “out crazy” their costars(BTW, Brad Dourif wins-AGAIN). This is a delirious, trashy, Hollywood mutant of a movie surely deserving of a devoted cult all its own.
Review by Damian Gunn for Color of Night
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I give this movie 4 stars for one reason…skin…Janes and Bruces…I have to say that each of these attractive individuals shows off more than one can chew…Miss March may not be much of an actress but she looks good naked, and while this is not Mr. Willis’s finest performance, he sure had me standing at attention (good god is he hot)…anyways, the plot is good but the script was wack…would have been much much better had the script been tweaked a bit. Bruce is a great actor and I feel did what he could with what he had to work with (which wasn’t much) but the sex scenes were hot and did I mention theres a lot of skin…my only dissapointment with Bruce’s nudity was that his butt cheeks were whiter than white (although he still looks good and you do see a full frontal shot). No complaints about Miss March because she showed alot and was smoking hot the entire movie…noce rack sweetheart…ANyways, if you want a good movie skip this one…if you want to see to extremly hot people having gratuitus sex in a pool in a bed on a table and in a shower with male and female nudity then get this movie…
Review by for Color of Night
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This movie was trashed by the critics. I only saw it (at the cinema) because I needed somewhere to hide for two hours while I avoided an unpleasant social obligation. I found myself liking it, almost feeling guilty for liking it (“But I’m supposed to hate this!”) It’s largely cheap thrills, but I really did enjoy it. The beauty of Jane March didn’t hurt …Well, call me stupid, but I DIDN’T see the surprise ending coming. I liked it.
Review by Reviewer for Color of Night
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There’s a good film in here somewhere just aching to get out, but the filmmakers seem more interested in playing Box Office Wheel of Fortune than caring about the quality of the product they’re trying to sell, and it makes “Color of Night,” directed by Richard Rush, one of those movies that makes you shake your head and think, Ah! what could have been if only! And that single “if” makes all the difference in the world with regards to what finally winds up on the screen.When his treatment of a patient fails and ends tragically, leaving him with some pronounced psychological damage of his own, New York psychologist Dr. Bill Capa (Bruce Willis) quits his practice and goes to Los Angeles seeking the solace and, perhaps, the help of an old friend and colleague, Dr. Bob Moore (Scott Bakula). Capa quickly discovers, however, that Moore is having problems of his own, apparently stemming from a weekly group therapy session he has been conducting for some time. Moore, it seems, has recently received some death threats, which he believes are coming from one of the patients of this particular group, though he hasn’t a clue which one, nor any proof of his suspicions. Moore invites Capa to sit in on the next group session, hoping for a fresh perspective and possibly some insights into the matter. At the moment, Capa feels incapable of actively engaging in the practice of his chosen field of endeavor, but in light of the fact that he’s Bob’s house guest, he acquiesces and agrees to observe the group. But it proves to be an inauspicious proposition for all concerned, and subsequent circumstances quickly put Capa at the center of just the kind of situation he left New York to avoid. Once the hand is dealt, however, he has no choice but to play it out to the end.Rush began his career as a director with low budget exploitation films like “Too Soon to Love” in 1960, and ten films later achieved legitimate status with the highly successful black comedy, “The Stunt Man” in 1980, for which he received an Oscar nomination (along with his leading man, Peter O’Toole). He did not direct again until this film, some fourteen years later, and during that hiatus, Rush apparently lost whatever expertise he had accrued by 1980, and his “roots” are clearly showing in this one. The violence of the film is inherent in the story, but Rush makes it unnecessarily graphic; and while this could have been an incisive and insightful character study (and intrinsically more interesting), he takes the low road, fleshing it out instead with scenes of gratuitous sex and nudity, as well as superfluous action (he works in no less than two ridiculous car chases, one culminating in a vehicle being pushed from the top of a high rise parking garage). Furthermore, he ignores motivations and character development almost entirely; the two areas that required the most attention if this film was going to work at all. Rush especially lets his actors down, inasmuch as most of these characters presented real challenges that could have been met much more successfully with the help and guidance of the director. Rush would have served his actors, as well as himself, better had he taken the time to explore these people being portrayed with some depth. He apparently did not, however, and with one exception the performances by one and all suffer for it. In 1994, Bruce Willis simply was not the accomplished actor he is today, and he, especially, could have used some help in finding his character. it was help he obviously did not get, and his Capa ends up being too much John McClane and not enough Malcom Crowe. Willis flounders between the two personalities, creating a kind of schizophrenic characterization that seriously affects the credibility of his portrayal. And it’s the same fate suffered by Scott Bakula here. Even in the scenes which places them in their “professional” setting as psychoanalysts, they are simply not convincing.Making the case of poor directing even stronger are the performances of Lesley Ann Warren (Sondra), Brad Dourif (Clark), Ruben Blades (Lt. Martinez) and Kevin J. O’Connor (Casey). Like Willis, all of them seem to have trouble defining their individual characters, vacillating between any number of personalities and unable to achieve that necessary, final focus. It’s the kind of indecisiveness that is usually resolved during rehearsals, but inexplicably made it to the screen here. The single exception is the performance turned in by Lance Henriksen, as Buck, who unlike his costars, somehow managed to find his character and make him convincing.The odd-”woman”-out of the entire bunch is Jane March, who as Rose has perhaps the most challenging role of all, and when given the opportunity actually displays some talent. Unfortunately, Rush– for the most part– uses her in a way that is demeaning and without merit, and she becomes the object of a sleight-of-hand that is nothing more than a cheap trick Rush pulls out of his hat. And by failing to use her in a more productive way, by not concentrating on developing her character (which is so vital to the story), Rush commits his most critical error of all. The supporting cast includes Eriq La Salle (Detective Anderson), Jeff Corey (Ashland), Kathleen Wilhoite (Michelle), Shirley Knight (Edith Niedelmeyer), John Bower (Medical Examiner) and Andrew Lowrey (Dale Dexter). The high note of this entire project was played before it ever even got off the ground, that being the story itself; but screenwriters Matthew Chapman and Billy Ray proceeded to methodically remove any and all credibility it may have initially contained, and Rush took it from there, taking “Color of Night” straight into that black hole reserved for movies that fail to deliver on their promise. It is not surprising that Rush has not directed a feature film since this one; once the magic is lost, it’s hard to retrieve.