The Voyeur (1997)

Directed by: Deborah Shames | 80 minutes | eroticism | Actors: Kim Dawson, Joseph Schuster, Nathaniel Roberts, Karen Racanelli, Belinda Farrell, Sheila Krooler, Lenore Andriel, Frank Lionheart, Al Sapienza, Deborah Shames, Suzi Peru, Madilyn Gavin, Sean Abbananto, David Fear, Gwen Somers, Ele Barnes, Kevin M. Moore

‘The Voyeur’ is an erotic film with very limited entertainment value, in which eroticism is hard to find. The story, of course you have to conclude, is just as little about the body as the protagonists. Although “players” may be too heavy a term in this regard, because all the actors really manage to do is say their sentences terribly miserable and supposedly frolic through the image with excitement. The film actually has some thoughtful design, when Brenda (Kim Dawson) is picked up at the office by her husband James (Al Sapienza). Their marriage is extinguished and they share, in Brenda’s words, “only the fridge”. At that point, she was already thinking about how fond they were of ten years ago. This flashback to ten years earlier is unintentionally quite comical, because hardly any effort has been made to set the time ten years back in sets, clothing, et cetera. For example, Brenda’s parents are really too young to really be her parents. Of course Brenda and James also look exactly the same, although the Brenda wears glasses these days (standard feature, it seems, which is only intended to look sultry over it or to turn it off almost sensually).

To get the hang of their relationship, Brenda — who relies heavily on the advice of her free-spirited aunt Lydia (Lenore Andriel) — decides to go on a second honeymoon with James on her advice. Lydia then takes care of the (never seen) children of Brenda and James. Lydia has already secretly put some exciting underwear in Brenda’s suitcase to spice things up a bit. Arrived at the hotel “Country Inn”, an extensive session in front of the mirror (for the viewer of course) follows in which Brenda tries out all kinds of clothing combinations. In the end, she opts for a see-through dress over her sexy underwear, which leaves so little to the imagination that any self-respecting hotel would ask her to wear something different. That doesn’t happen when she bumps into the manager of the hotel, Christopher (Sean Abbanto). She fantasizes about him on the spot that he is naked. The viewer will then involuntarily look at the clock on the DVD player and realize with a sigh that the film has only been running for twenty minutes.

In short, it’s a long one. The film takes a bizarre turn when James reveals that he suspected Brenda was dating colleague Desmond (Joseph Schuster), before switching to a 1940s film noir setting where the two actually get along. build. Meanwhile, in a raincoat and fedora hat, James watches them from a maximum distance of two meters with binoculars. Hence the title ‘The Voyeur’. It is better left unmentioned that he would have seen better without binoculars what happened. The fact that the film still scores 1.5 stars is mainly due to a really successful comedic moment, in which the actors break the “fourth wall” and involve the audience in their joke.

The rest of the movie is predictable (apart from a weird chambermaid). Fantasy scenes in sepia or pastel tones, wooden acting and many moments when Dawson’s body can be admired in all its glory. It doesn’t want to be really exciting, especially because the actors work so little convincingly through the choreographed punches, movements and twists. Strategically draped sheets prevent overly explicit shots of intimate areas – and at the same time obscure the fact that it’s all fake. As if that wasn’t clear enough already. Dawson made many such soft-erotic tidbits before and after, so you may not expect too much from her. However, Sapienza has at least built up a decent career, usually in the role of a police officer or gangster (as in “The Sopranos”) and with minor or larger supporting roles in various other TV series such as “Brotherhood”, “CSI” , “24” and “Prison Break”. Presumably the casting directors of those series have never watched this film, which may be regarded as a blemish on his blazon.