Color of Night
Dir: Richard Rush
1994
*
Color of Night was sold as a sexy erotic thriller but the truth is that it was more like a clumsy cartoon that knew nothing about its subject matter - with nipples. It's got a great cast of some of my favorite actors including Bruce Willis, Brad Dourif, Lance Henriksen, Kevin J. O'Connor and Scott Bakula, none of whom make up for what is possibly the stupidest films I've ever seen. Color of Night is essentially a 'Who dunnit' murder mystery with psychobabble. The group of suspects/victims are connected by the fact they all attend the same therapy group, their therapist being the victim they're all suspected of killing. Writer Billy Ray has come leaps and bound since his debut but in 1994 it was evident he knew nothing about suspense, intrigue or indeed, psychology. The conclusion was obvious within the first 10 minutes of the film, thanks to what is possibly the worst bit of make-up in the history of cinema. Overblown sets, a really horrible script and more pointless sub-plots you can shake a stick at, make for one truly puzzling thriller. Puzzling that any of the actors acted again, puzzling that Billy Ray worked again and puzzling it was ever green-lit in the first place.