The "From Hell" Thriller Craze Was Really About AIDS

"I'm not gonna be ignored!" Photo courtesty of thegrindstone.com. #film #movies #thriller #horror

At times, a film is released that’s so influential, it defines an era and sparks an avalanche of imitations. One such film is Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968), which touched off a torrent of Satanic-themed films that glutted small and large screens from the late 60s through the late 70s.

Another in this category is the 1987 thriller directed by Adrian Lyne, Fatal Attraction, in which a successful Manhattan lawyer, played by Michael Douglas (Basic Instinct), hooks up with Alex Forrest (Glenn Close, The Natural), aka The One-Night Stand From Hell.

A smash hit, Fatal Attraction was nominated for six Oscars and became an instant pop culture touchstone. Inevitably, it also inspired a seemingly endless stream of copycat films, most featuring virtually the same plot.

This plot always gave us a charming stranger who infiltrates the world of an unsuspecting Everyman/Everywoman and then proceeds to stalk and terrorize this hapless target (and often their loved ones.) The genre was dubbed the “From Hell” thriller by some critics and fans.

The From Hell craze ruled theater box offices from the release of Fatal Attraction to about the mid-90s, when it mostly petered out. However, it remains an occasional staple of the thriller genre, with later films such as 2009’s Chloe and the Beyoncé vehicle,Obsessed, from the same year.

Why did this style of thriller capture the public’s fancy so strongly in that particular time period? The idea wasn’t really a new concept; it had been featured in Clint Eastwood’s excellent debut film as a director, Play Misty For Me (1971), which is very similar in plot to Fatal Attraction. Another early example of the genre is Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1952), in which a professional tennis player makes a “joke” murder pact with a casual stranger who turns out to be a raving psycho. But neither of those fine films had anywhere near the cultural impact of Fatal Attraction. Perhaps that’s because neither the 50s nor the 70s had something that was very top-of-mind in the late 80s and early 90s: AIDS.

As Rosemary’s Baby, a film about the literal birth of the Antichrist, offered a cathartic experience to audiences unnerved by the youth revolt of the late 60s, so the From Hell film appealed to a public that was freaking out about the AIDS crisis. Tellingly, these films typically featured heavy sexual content, usually involving the charming stranger, so much so that they were sometimes marketed as “sexual thrillers” or “erotic thrillers.”

The message of the genre is very clear: sex equals danger, and it’s easy to make a fatal mistake if you chose the wrong person. But it can all be made right again when The Stranger From Hell—i.e., the metaphorical AIDS virus—is defeated by his or her victim, often by singularly violent means (a safety flare to the face, a nail-gun to the forehead.)

The ending of Fatal Attraction set the tone for the typical From Hell violent final confrontation between victim and victimizer. Originally, the Lyne film had an alternative ending, which was quickly abandoned because test audiences hated it. That ending had Alex Forrest commit suicide after framing Dan Gallagher, her obsessive love object, for her murder. That wasn’t enough for audiences of the era, however; they wanted to see her die violently at the hands of those she stalked and victimized.

The substitute ending featured Alex being choked and partially drowned in a bathtub by Gallagher, and then shot by Gallagher’s wronged wife, Beth. Audiences clapped and cheered when Alex finally expired; I viewed it in first release at a theater and heard it for myself.

By the late 90s, the Golden Age of the From Hell thriller had disappeared, probably not coincidentally with the introduction of the first effective AIDS drugs.

However, if you missed the prolific From Hell genre at its height--or just want to revisit it--here are ten of the best.

10. The Stepfather (1987), directed by Joseph Ruben; starring Terry O’Quinn, Shelley Hack and Jill Schoelen; from a screenplay by Donald E. Westlake, based on a story by Westlake, Carolyn Lefcourt, and Brian Garfield. The Stepfather premiered several months before Fatal Attraction, so technically, it’s actually the first of the era’s From Hell films. However, at the time it was marketed as a slasher film, so audiences saw it in the same light as the endless iterations of Friday the 13th and Halloween. While The Stepfather does have much in common with a typical slasher film, it also features the classic tropes of the From Hell genre: a naïve target, a charming stranger with creepy, obsessive tendencies, and a suspicious friend or relative who doesn’t buy the charming stranger’s act. This film features Terry O’Quinn (John Locke from the Lost television series) as Jerry Blake, a man in search of the perfect family. His practice is to woo and marry unsuspecting widows or divorcees with children, so that he always has a ready-made family to step right into. Unfortunately, his new families never seem to live up to his expectations, and he has his own peculiarly violent ways of letting them know it. His latest target, Susan (Hack), is a lonely single mother to teenage Stephanie (Schoelen). At first, Susan thinks that Jerry’s the perfect husband and surrogate dad, but eventually finds out that her white knight is actually The Stepfather From Hell. O’Quinn is incredibly creepy as Jerry and Hack and Schoelen are fine as the family that he targets. This film was popular enough to spawn several sequels and a 2009 remake.

9. Dream Lover (1993), directed by Nicholas Kazan from his own script; starring James Spader, Madchen Amick, Fredric Lehne, Bess Armstrong, and Kathleen York. Amick plays The Wife From Hell in this underrated, 1993 entry to the genre. Spader, the quintessential late 80s/early 90s “yuppie,” plays Ray, a rich and successful architect, who’s recovering from a messy divorce to his first wife (York). Caught on the rebound, he foolishly marries Lena Mathers, a gorgeous woman he barely knows. At first Lena seems like the perfect wife and mother, but then odd things start happening that point to the idea that Lena isn’t really Lena. First, a fellow diner mistakes her for another woman, “Sissy from Texas,” while the couple is dining at a fancy restaurant. Then, Lena begins disappearing for long hours and returning with odd bruises on her body. Ray investigates and turns up her parents and an ex-husband in Texas; the latter warns him that Sissy-Lena is a vicious, ruthless schemer. Eventually, Lena frames Ray for domestic abuse and gets him committed to an asylum, so that she can get control of his money. With the help of his lawyer (Bess Armstrong), he plots his revenge. This is a somewhat uneven effort with some dreamy, almost supernatural elements, but which remains compelling because of Amick’s fantastic performance as the scheming, beautiful Lena.

8. Single White Female (1992), directed by Barbet Schroeder from a screenplay by John Roos, based on a novel by John Lutz; starring Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Steven Weber. Schroeder gives this From Hell film a definite Continental European gloss, setting it somewhat apart from other offerings of its kind. Meanwhile, former 80s "It Girl" Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) gives a kick-ass performance as The Roommate From Hell, who terrorizes glamorous career girl Allison (Fonda, Point of No Return). Allison is a fashionable software designer in need of a new roommate for her fancy Manhattan pad, after kicking out her live-in boyfriend (Steven Weber, from the 90s TV series Wings) for cheating on her. She interviews a cast of urban oddballs before settling on Hedra "Hedy" Carlson (Leigh), a shy, frumpy young woman who exudes a palpable air of pathos. Of course, Allison tells Hedy to just move on in without checking references; otherwise it would be a much different film. Things go well at first and the two women become fast friends, although little details keep popping up that suggest Hedy is hiding a few things about her past. Then Allison decides to let her boyfriend move back in, and Hedy, who has developed an obsessive girl crush on Allison, gets very jealous--with extremely unpleasant consequences for the boyfriend. One of the unintended flaws of this film is that Leigh is so good at making the audience feel sorry for her that viewers almost don't know whom to root for when Allison and Hedy inevitably fight. This film is watchable mainly for the stylish direction; some great, atmospheric views of the famous Edwardian-era Ansonia apartment building; and Leigh's performance. Although Single White Female has its share of vocal haters, it was popular enough to spawn a sequel in 2005.

7. Dead Calm (1989), directed by Aussie Philip Noyce (Rabbit Proof Fence) from a script by Terry Hayes, based on a novel by Charles Williams; starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman, and Billy Zane. Zane (Titanic) is one of those actors who can always be counted upon to give good psycho (see also: Ray Liotta, Michael Madsen, John Malkovich). In this notable Aussie entry to the From Hell canon, Zane memorably plays Hughie, a castaway from a disabled yacht who’s fished out of the open seas by a married couple, Rae (Kidman, in her break-out role) and John (Neill), who are piloting their own boat around the Great Barrier Reef. Hughie is one sexy, dangerous-looking Castaway From Hell, and Rae flirts with him mildly, although John, a former Aussie army officer, isn’t as taken in. Hughie tells them that he’s the only survivor of a food poisoning plague that wiped out the other passengers on the disabled yacht. John foolishly takes a dinghy over to the other boat to investigate, leaving Rae and Hughie alone, and discovers the awful truth: Hughie is a psycho who killed the other passengers and filmed it for fun. In the end, Hughie is inevitably dispatched by John in a somewhat farcical, over-the-top way, which mars an otherwise terrific film.

6. Pacific Heights (1990), directed by John Schlesinger from a script by John Pyne; starring Michael Keaton, Melanie Griffith, Matthew Modine, Dorian Harewood and Laurie Metcalf. Keaton was coming off his double triumphs of Batman (1989) and Beetlejuice (1988), when he chose to play Carter Hayes, The Apartment Tenant From Hell. Carter is a single man looking for lodging in notoriously housing-starved San Francisco; eventually he rents a granny flat in a wickedly expensive but dilapidate Victorian mansion that belongs to Patty (Griffith, Working Girl) and Drake (Matthew Modine, Stranger Things), a professional couple who are doing much of the restoration work on the house themselves. Like all From Hell psychos, Keaton is not what he appears to be; he’s actually a professional house-wrecker, a fraudster who deliberately trashes expensive properties and drives out their owners, so that he can purchase them for a song. He knows tenancy law cold and successfully resists all efforts to have him evicted while he terrorizes his landlords. In a clear nod to Hitchcock’s Rear Window, kinky Carter also likes to spy on Patty and Drake in intimate moments. Helpless before the law, the couple eventually turns the tables on Carter, successfully employing the same sneaky, underhanded tactics that he used on them. A somewhat typical From Hell film very competently helmed by veteran A-lister Schlesinger, Pacific Heights features many homages to Hitchcock’s Northern California films, including the casting of the former Hitchcock Blonde, Tippi Hedren (Marnie, The Birds -- Melanie Griffith’s mother), in a cameo role.

5. The Good Son (1993), directed by Joseph Ruben from a script by Ian McEwan, based on a novel by Todd Strasser; starring Macaulay Culkin, Elijah Wood, Wendy Crewson, Daniel Hugh-Kelly and David Morse. Ruben of The Stepfather delivers another stand-out in the genre with this twisted tale featuring Culkin as The First Cousin From Hell. A young Wood (Lord of the Rings) plays Mark, a 12-year-old boy traumatized by the early death of his mother. Mark is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Maine (Crewson and Hugh-Kelly) when his father (Morse) leaves for an extended business trip to Japan. Like Mark, the aunt and uncle are also suffering from prolonged grief due to the recent drowning death of their younger son, Richard. Their two surviving kids include Henry (Culkin), a boy the same age as Mark, and Connie, Henry’s adorable little sister. Henry and Mark become fast friends, until Mark is exposed to Henry’s idea of “fun”: stalking animals and playing dangerous pranks on commuters. When Mark begins to draw away, Henry turns his diabolical plots against his cousin. Mark begins to suspect that Richard’s death wasn’t accidental — and also that little Connie is next on Henry’s list. Although slick and somewhat formulaic, this film is worth watching for the outstanding performance of Culkin as the cunning, amoral Henry.

4. Bad Influence (1990), directed by Curtis Hanson from a script by David Koepp; starring Rob Lowe, James Spader, Marcia Cross, and Lisa Zane. In the jargon of nightlife clubbing, a “wingman” is a buddy who helps his pal pick up hot chicks. Rob Lowe as “Alex” seems at first like the perfect wingman to Michael (James Spader, The Blacklist), but later, he turns out to be The Wingman From Hell. Handsome, uber-confident and glib, Alex rescues Michael from a bar fight and then worms his way into Michael’s life. He teaches Michael how to deal with a back-stabbing co-worker and helps him ditch his boring fiancé (Marcia Cross, Desperate Housewives) for a sexier, more interesting girl (Lisa Zane, sister of Billy.) But when Alex displays violent tendencies, Michael wants out--enraging Alex so much that he commits a brutal murder and frames Michael for the crime (yes, this plot borrows heavily from Strangers on a Train.) Stylishly directed by Hanson (L. A. Confidential), the interiors, soundtrack, costumes, and art direction are so faithful to the hip, early 90s aesthetic that this film could be used as a time capsule. And that’s even without the inclusion of Spader, who played the quintessential late 80s/early 90s “yuppie” (young urban professional) again and again throughout the era.

3. Unlawful Entry (1992), directed by Jonathan Kaplan, from a screenplay by Lewis Colick, based on a story by Colick, George Putnam and John Katchmer; starring Ray Liotta, Kurt Russell, Madeleine Stowe and Roger E. Mosley. As noted earlier, Ray Liotta (Goodfellas) always gives good psycho. In this film by Kaplan (The Accused), Liotta creates one of the best From Hell villains since Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction. As Officer Pete Davis, The Cop From Hell, he stalks affluent L.A. couple Michael and Karen Carr, played by Kurt Russell (Escape from New York) and the radiantly beautiful Madeleine Stowe (Last of the Mohicans.) The Carrs meet Officer Davis after an intruder burgles their posh residence and briefly holds Karen hostage. Pete quickly ingratiates himself with the couple; he’s impressed with their glittery lifestyle and especially with the beautiful Karen. Michael, in turn, feels guilty that he couldn’t protect his fragile wife from a traumatic experience and admires Pete’s macho, tough-guy confidence. But Pete shows a dark side when he invites Michael on a “ride-along” in his squad car and allows him to watch while Pete beats up the burglar who invaded the Carrs’s home. Alarmed, the Carrs shut Pete out of their lives, but he retaliates by framing Michael for a drug violation, which clears the way for Pete to start stalking Karen. Like the best From Hell films, this film invites an element of sympathy for the villain, in the way it highlights the pathos of the working-class cop who desperately wants access to the top-drawer world inhabited by the Carrs.

2. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), directed by Curtis Hanson from a script by Amanda Silver; starring Rebecca De Mornay, Annabella Sciorra, Matt McCoy, Julianne Moore, and Ernie Hudson. By 1992, the From Hell film craze had been running for a solid five years. Audiences were getting a little jaded by the by-now familiar formula, but then they got Rebecca De Mornay (Risky Business) as Peyton Flanders, The Nanny From Hell, a villain so deliciously hateful and insane that she gave the genre a whole new shot in the arm. (It’s got to be the performance of De Mornay’s career. ) This is the second From Hell film directed by Curtis Hanson, after Bad Influence, and it was a roaring box-office success. Peyton Flanders is a woman with a past who gets a job as a nanny with an affluent family headed by Annabella Sciorra (The Sopranos) as Claire, an asthmatic housewife, and her husband, Michael, played by Matt McCoy (Silicon Valley). At first, Peyton appears to be the perfect household help--kind, efficient, modest, and loyal—who is adored by Claire’s children, an eight-year-old girl and a newborn infant boy. (She downplays her stunning beauty by dressing like a schoolmarm with a Land’s End credit card.) Underneath the calm and sweet demeanor, however, Peyton is actually seething with hatred for her new employer. Unbeknownst to Claire, she’s determined to get revenge for a series of traumas that Claire unwittingly caused her to suffer. Peyton is a force of nature all by herself, and the audience just can’t look away from her train wreck of a personality, even if they do know that The Hand that Rocks the Cradle will eventually end like all of the other From Hell films.

1. Fatal Attraction (1987), directed by Adrian Lyne from a script by James Dearden; starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer, Fred Gwynne, and Ellen Latzen. The one that created the mold deserves the top slot on this list, and it’s still among the best. Douglas’s Manhattan lawyer, Dan Gallagher, has it all: a lucrative professional career, a pretty, loving wife (Archer, Body of Evidence), a beautiful house in a leafy suburb, and an adorable child (Latzen, of National Lampoon’s Family Vacation). While his wife is out of town, Dan succumbs to carnal temptation and hooks up with Alex (Close), a sexy publishing executive in her mid-30s, who works for one of his firm’s clients. Alex presents herself as a strong, independent woman who lives for her career and is uninterested in a permanent relationship, and Dan thinks “why not?” In reality, Alex is an emotionally fragile nutcase with a loudly ticking biological clock, aka The One-Night Stand From Hell. She won’t let Dan go, and becomes increasingly violent as she stalks him and his family; at one point she screeches one of the most famous lines of dialogue from 80s cinema: “I’m not gonna be ignored!” Things end very badly for Alex, and the chastened Dan probably never strays again.