Stalked by My Doctor: Patient's Revenge

Sonuvabitch, they open up the film with some yadda yadda bullshit about how Dr. Al Beck was acquitted of all charges from the events of the previous installments.  Turns out the kidnapping, torture, assault, stealing of a corpse, attempted murder, actual murder (I guess no one found the body since it was dissolved in acid), attempted rape, fleeing the scene of a crime, evading the police, it was a misunderstanding.  Who knew?  And forget that he was in prison at the end of the last film.  Whatever, he’s now a college professor in Arizona teaching cardiology.  Meanwhile Sophie from the first movie decides to enact revenge by confronting Beck head on at the school.  She puts up flyers denouncing him as a pervert and getting over a thousand students to sign a petition to have him removed.  Of course Sophie’s not wrong in her accusations because we were all there with her to witness the crimes Beck committed.  But Beck’s boss and one student in particular, Melissa (Anna Marie Dobbins), come to his defense.  Sophie orchestrates a series of attacks while Beck and Melissa’s relationship become more intense.

This sequel is certainly more entertaining than the last one but it’s also way dumber.  Here are a couple of examples.  To show Sophie’s turned dark and ruthless they give her bangs, dark eye shadow, dark lipstick, she sports a black leather jacket, Doc Martens and scowls a helluva lot.  Her car’s black too.  Beck’s been a maniac from the get go but his psychosis gets worse with each film.  In this one he sees and talks to a version of himself, his conscience I think, dressed in Hawaiian shirts sipping tropical cocktails.  Different shirt, different drink each time.  And at one point he fantasizes about doing a full on song and dance routine with Melissa that’s an homage/rip off of La La Land.  Definitely the worst and most jarring section of the whole series to date.

As far as the fun crazy stuff goes they got that too.  Like Beck spikes Sophie’s food with fentanyl so she becomes very sick and he just so happens to be there to save her life in front of the entire school.  Now he can hold it over her that he’s saved her life twice.  What a fuckin’ dirty play!  Melissa devises a plot to murder Sophie and it takes very little convincing to get Beck on board.  I find it amusing that Beck’s weapon of choice is a syringe filled with some sort of toxin (we never find out what).  Whatever situation he walks into he doesn’t consider any other type of defense.

Additionally, Sophie’s grand scheme is comically overly complicated but that’s part and parcel to this type of thriller.  It also becomes painfully obvious about a third of the way through what the twist ending will be but don’t worry I’ll keep it a secret in case you decide to dive into this universe.

Stalked by My Doctor: The Return

Unfortunately the sequel is nowhere near as entertaining as it’s predecessor.  Sure Eric Roberts is still fun as Beck and he even pulls some real bastard moves like making his new teenage target think her boyfriend gave her genital herpes so she’ll break up with him.  Oh and there’s the attempted rape too.  But while the first film could squeak by as a real Hollywood type movie this one has a more low budget made for TV production feel.

Honestly, it's kinda boring.  Albert Beck, now going by Victor Slauson, is still hiding out in Mexico trying to pick up broads by feeding them a pack of lies.  No success so far.  An opportunity presents itself though when he saves an American teenage girl (Claire Blackwelder) from drowning at the beach.  He follows her and her mother back to San Diego and smooches up to them to infiltrate their lives.  Beck has learned from his mistakes so he plays the long game by planning to marry the mother so he can really move in on the daughter.  In other words, we got Lolita.

In real life it’s scarier for a stranger to pretend to be a reserved normal guy when he’s a psychopath underneath but in this case I would’ve preferred Beck go the other way and act crazier and more desperate in attempting to land a victim.  We don’t get great lines like “thank you for that enlightened analysis…you fat ass bitch!” or grossly sensually applying ointment to a surgery scar here.  However, there’s a part where Beck goes to inject someone with a syringe full of cartoonish neon blue liquid and later when he disposes of a body he produces two huge containers out of nowhere labeled “hydrochloric acid” so that’s something.

While this isn’t that terrible really it doesn’t have quite the same eccentricities or, magic is taking it too far, enjoyable silliness (?) of the first.

Stalked by My Doctor

Two high school teens get in a car wreck due to texting while driving.  The girl, Sophie (Brianna Joy Chomer), is in rough shape and needs surgery on her heart while the boy, Ryan (Carson Boatman), only has a broken leg.  Doctor Albert Beck (Eric Roberts (Grey’s Anatomy)) swoops in to save Sophie’s life while also staring at her awkwardly during the procedure.  Post surgery he sneaks into Sophie’s room and kisses her on the mouth while he’s sedated.  He starts following her, “running into her” at the mall and fantasizing about having sex with her.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect is how normal everyone reacts to Beck’s insane behavior.  It only takes one “chance” encounter at the food court for Sophie to be creeped out and the mother picks up on the guy’s off conduct almost immediately.  The only character who gives Beck the benefit of the doubt for a while is Sophie’s father which also makes sense in the bullshit “oh it’s just guys being guys” defense.  Even Beck’s dates don’t succumb to his grossness who after one encounter cut it off right away.  I’m very impressed with how grounded the characters’ actions feel.

Naturally the real reason to check this film out is to witness Eric Roberts do his thang.  He’s perfect as a disgusting dude trying to hook up with a girl young enough to be his granddaughter potentially and all the strained uncomfortable moments that come with that territory.  Beck can flash a smile at you and seem amiable at first but talk to him for more than two minutes and it becomes obvious that façade is paper thin.  Roberts can turn on a dime into a crazy person and his freakouts are very amusing.  One time he tosses garbage around while yelling “I’m a doctor!” exhausting himself until he collapses into tears.  Another time he buys Sophie a doll as a peace offering and knows she likes them because he broke into her room, saw the dolls, sniffed the whole place (ulgh) and covered himself in her pillows and blankets (ulgh!).  Anyway, she refuses the doll without thinking twice so Beck goes into the bathroom and attempts to tear the thing apart in a rage.  What’s fantastic is the stupid doll is made too well and after clawing at it and stomping on it he can’t make a single dent.  Incredible how that scene was supposed to go versus reality.  Love it.

Years ago this type of picture was a perfectly viable mainstream theatrical release but now (and by that I mean 2015 when it came out) it’s a made for TV movie that gets shat out by Lifetime.  This one’s competently executed though, give or take Roberts’ performance, and doesn’t feel phoned in.  Of course there are limitations due to what I’m sure was a tiny budget (most of which assumingly went to Roberts) but they make shit work.  There are plenty of locations used, very little effects work, totally fine performances, decent cinematography, alright editing, etc.  It’s definitely unintentionally funny at points but that’s also the charm of this one.  It shares good company with the likes of The Stepfathers and The Dentists.

What’s amazing is Lifetime had a hit on their hands so they did what any self-respecting movie producer would, they made a shit load of sequels.  All starring Eric Roberts.  Nice.

The Devil Wears Prada and The Devil's Advocate

The Devil Wears Prada and The Devil’s Advocate started as a fun little double feature.  I thought they would be similar in terms of character, themes and message.  However, it was surprising to find out they’re more or less opposites. 

The Devil Wears Prada stars two women, the main character is not the actual devil, Miranda (Meryl Streep (The River Wild)) is a nasty berating boss who loads up Andy (Anne Hathaway (Serenity (2019))) with countless tasks (some of which are downright impossible to accomplish), Miranda doesn’t give a shit about Andy’s personal life, Andy eventually comes to the realization that she needs to get back to who she originally was to avoid turning into a cutthroat business woman, etc.

The Devil’s Advocate stars two men, the main character is unambiguously the devil, John (Al Pacino (Gigli)) lavishes Kevin (Keanu Reeves (Toy Story 4)) with a large paycheck and anything his heart desires to come work for him, John is very involved in Kevin’s personal life (to the point where he tries to interfere with their marriage), Kevin eventually comes to the realization that he needs to change who he’s been his whole life in order to save his soul, etc.

Pretty interesting.  The Devil’s Advocate is definitely more my cup of tea with all the nefarious behavior, slimy players and a nice thick eerie vibe.  You would think the filmmakers would’ve gone for a more subtle approach with the supernatural shit. You know, leave it up to the jury to decide if the head of a powerful NYC law firm is Satan or not.  But no, they are unequivocal about it.  The finale with Reeves and Pacino duking it out verbally over whether Reeves will partner with the devil is fantastic.  Temptation, philosophy, head games, passionate performances, it’s fucking awesome.  I love this movie.  So if you’re only gonna check out one of these this is it.  They’re completely different pictures though so take that for what you will.

And aside from some dumb movie bullshit Prada does have a decent overall message of saying it’s ok to take on a job you don’t really want to use as a stepping stone to propel you towards a larger career goal.  This is something that many, if not most, folks end up doing in their life and I don’t think you see this done in a straightforward manner very much in film.  Usually it’s all or nothing affairs with more ruthless behavior.  While this picture has it’s share of whimsy and at least one stupid fan theory that I’m pretty sure I don’t agree with (Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend is the real villain of the story?  Sorry, not buying it) it’s, uh, ok.