Just like 80's action films had guys
like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, horror had icons
throughout the ages like Karloff, Lugosi, Robert Englund and the
innumerable ladies dubbed “Scream Queens” and westerns were
dominated by marquee names like Wayne and Eastwood, the erotic
thriller, too, had its share of icons and genre synonymous names.
Obviously Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone were the two biggest
Hollywood names to be associated with the genre during its 90's
heyday, but the direct-to-video erotic thrillers had its own roster
of reoccurring players. Shannon Tweed, Julie Strain, Tonya Roberts,
Kathy Shower, Monique Parent, Martin Hewitt and Andrew Stevens, all
became very familiar to video store patrons and late night premium
cable viewers and are all deserving of their statuses among the few
who genuinely appreciate these kinds of movies. Two of the top honors
however have to go to Delia Sheppard and Shannon Whirry. Along with
being the best at what they did, both Sheppard and Whirry were also
tremendous assets to Gregory Dark, the best director in the field,
starring in some of Dark's finest films from the period, Whirry in
particular being the driving force behind some benchmark films. After
a small but memorable role in Dark's Secret Games (1992), Sheppard, a
former Penthouse Pet, took center stage in a duel-lead role in the
twin sister-themed Mirror Images, its 1993 sequel being another
Dark/Whirry showcase.
Worlds removed from some of Sheppard's
previous endeavors like Witchcraft II: The Temptress (1989), the
first Mirror Images film is Sheppard's finest hour as twin sisters
Kaitlin and Shauna. Although well off, Kaitlin is terminally bored,
ignored by her husband Jeffery who cares more about his job on the
campaign staff for corrupt businessman and wannabe politician Carter
Sayles. Shauna by contrast is the archetypal free spirit. When
Kaitlin receives an ominous message from Shauna saying she's going
away for a while, Kaitlin suspects something isn't right. After
snooping around Shauna's apartment, Kaitlin beings to assume her
sisters identity and soon finds herself involved in a murderous plot,
uncovering more than just Shauna's secrets.
Mirror Images is a case study in Dark's
ability to slightly subvert a formula while still checking all the
necessary erotic thriller boxes. The potential for the cliché
good/bad twin dilemma was certainly there, but Dark turns it on its
heels by giving both Kaitlin and Shauna plenty of shades of gray.
Kaitlin certainly fits the bill as the archetypal erotic thriller
neglected housewife, but there's an added layer of psychological
depth to Kaitlin with her appropriating her twin sisters identity in
her absence, even playing amateur sleuth while in her twin's guise.
The crime plot that eventually develops even finds Dark treading some
giallo territory, not rare for erotic thrillers, with some pretty
major swerves and reveals. The giallo and even horror influence also
rear their heads in some of the films visuals, most notably in the
form of a strange mask, Dark injecting the film with a few moments of
heroin-induced surreality making the film one of the most visually
accomplished of Dark's erotic thriller cycle. Ultimately though, this
is Sheppard's show to steal. Not simply just a sex bomb, though she
knows it and flaunts it, especially as Shauna, Sheppard balances
both Kaitlin and Shauna's personalities with ease. Speaking to
Psychotronic Video, Dark claimed “My original intention was for one
to be a mean, greedy, angry whore, while the other one was basically
normal. But the distribution company felt her being so vicious was a
little strong. In Mirror Images 2, I tried again and got closer to
that idea.”
By 1993, Shannon Whirry had become
Dark's main softcore muse having become the marquee name of Dark's
Animal Instinct films, starring in the first two as well as Body of
Influence (1993). Like Sheppard in the first film, Whirry really gets
to show off in Mirror Images II as twins Carrie and Terrie, separated
since their teens after Terrie witnessed their father murdering their
mother. Years later, Carrie, though financially well-off, is
repressed and unhappily married to Clete (Ghoulies (1985) director
Luca Bercovici), a philandering, corrupt cop only in the marriage for
the money. Carrie's issues only increase once the resentful and far
more libertine-minded Terrie makes a re-appearance along with a plan
to ruin her estranged sister.
Dark may have side-stepped the good
twin vs. evil twin scenario in the first Mirror Images film but he
dives in head-first with Mirror Images II, more-or-less realizing the
vision he initially had for the first film. Things are pretty
black-and-white from the start, with Terrie established as the
obvious villain, and an pretty unrelenting one at that. Over the top
some might say, though it was clearly intentional as Dark brings his
sardonic sense of humor, usually reserved for his adult films, to
Mirror Images II, giving Whirry (as Terrie) lines like “I have an
overheated everything” and “I want to fuck on her bed so she
smells me on her sheets!” and Bercovici nearly stealing the show
from Whirry as Clete, the most diabolical of all erotic thriller
husbands. The Ghoulies director is responsible for some of the films
more hilarious moments, relishing in his character's horribleness,
outdoing even himself while giving play-by-play color commentary of
the sisters climactic confrontation while listening over a police
radio. Whirry is not to be defeated however, embracing the
outrageousness of Terrie and knowing exactly the type of character she's playing, while at the same time making Carrie an actually fully
rounded character. Dark of course uses the identity theme to craft
some tricky moments, and despite the obvious differences between the
sisters, when the situation requires Whirry's subtlety at juggling
the two personalities does leave things ambiguous, echoing a similar
tactic she and Dark used the same year in Dark's blistering Body of
Influence.
Dark singled out the scene of Bercovici
giving commentary to the sisters confrontation, telling Psychotronic
“Luca Bercovici is just great in that... That was my favorite part
of the film. Yeah, I like things like that... extremes in emotion,
violence... scenes that leave a very strong image, either sexual or
violent, because I think in a sense that's what we do in life: we go
though life collecting certain types of images or experiences, and
then we relive those experiences over and over again. They become our
reality... especially as we get older, then they become a history of
ourselves. So I look for the extremes in these matters as often as I
can, which has occasionally gotten me into some controversy.” Dark
also spoke of getting around having one actress play two characters
in one scene, saying “Technically the Mirror Images films weren't
that difficult to shoot. I didn't use any split screens to show the
twin sisters together. Instead, I just did over-shoulder shots and
reverses. It's really all about eye-lines and sizes... Stuff like
that. It's easy”. Dark also made quality control look easy in 1993,
a being a banner year with Dark helming three of his very best
softcore films alongside Mirror Images II, Body of Influence, Sins of
the Night and Secret Games 2: The Escort, all essential titles in the
genre as are both Mirror Images films.
No comments:
Post a Comment