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To me, this movie is perfection.

Thanks for the memories!

Crappy film

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A sexual assault victim manages to escape from her attacker, but leaves her purse behind. Worried that he may finish what he started, she contacts the police but they are unable to help.Her worst fears are realised when, alone in the house, her attacker visits and attempts to assault her once more. Circumstances allow her not only to resist the attack, but to turn the tables and lock him away. And this is where the situation really begins to escalate. Does she release him and risk another attack, or does she go for the eye for an eye route....Based on a stage play (and clearly shows) the film tries hard to get a message across, but I feel that a stage production would carry the message a little further.Fawcett and Russo are great in their respective roles, but as soon as the secondary characters become involved, it turns almost farcical with it's narrative.One starts drinking heavily and becomes the whiner of the pack, the other tries to play doctor, but only escalates the situation, and the element of the terrible dilemma that is placed on the three becomes almost laughable.If it was just Fawcett and Russo in one setting, this could have been one of the most tense thrillers to be released in 1986, instead it feels more like a late night edition of one of your favourite soaps.It's not a terrible film by any means, it's just that the third act takes any intensity away that the first two did...

As a stage play, one can imagine how shocked audiences were when they stepped into William Mastrosimone's "Extremities." Having to watch a woman on stage being brutalized in her own home by a stranger is not an experience I imagine to be fun. But it is a fascinating and utterly compelling story that leads into some very unexpected directions. In 1986, "Extremities" became a movie, adapted by Mastrosimone himself. With the incredible performances of Farrah Fawcett and James Russo, some very believable fight choreography, and a tightly woven script, "Extremities" goes to new extremes as a film.Alone in her car one night, innocent Marjorie is threatened by a man with a knife. Just before he attempts to rape her, she escapes. The bad news is the cops aren't helpful and the criminal has her credentials. He knows where she lives. A week later, Marjorie is home alone while her friends, the attractive Terry and social worker Pat, are away at work. Out of the blue, a man waltzes right into the house and asks Marjorie if a guy named Joe lives there. No matter how many times she tells him "No Joe lives here," it becomes evident that this is the man that attacked Marjorie the other night. He beats her, tries to smother her with a pillow, and then tries to rape her again. But he doesn't get away with it when Marjorie sprays him in the face with insect repellent, ties him up, and jails him in the fireplace. But when Terry and Pat come home and there's no proof that the attacker laid a hand on her, Marjorie's only safety net is to keep him locked up until he confesses his sins. If he doesn't, she'll kill him.Ariel Dorfman's "Death and the Maiden" bears remarkable similarities to "Extremities," but Mastrosimone's story works exceptionally well as a film knowing the decade that the film was released in. The same decade produced such crime movies as "The Accused" and TV's stunner "The Burning Bed," another Farrah Fawcett feature. This was when women took hold of their sexuality and wouldn't allow themselves to be exploited by men. Keeping that in mind will allow the viewer of "Extremities" to connect to the plot, whether they're male or female.The movie also raises several questions about where the line is drawn in terms of justice. If a man rapes or beats a woman, does the victim have a right to physically hurt the other person? Worse: if there's no proof of rape, what can the victim do to save herself? Marjorie pulls no punches. She is dead serious about keeping the police out of it and killing this home invader. But with his word against hers, she could go to jail for life. Though she is fully aware of the consequences, she can't allow him to walk away. "Extremities" is controversial, and gives the viewer plenty to talk about when the movie's over.However, I find it impossible to avoid the movie's rather typical opening, which begins differently from the play. The opening is almost like a B-grade 80's slasher movie, and I'm sure that's not what Mastrosimone was aiming for. But things get much better once we're isolated with Marjorie and the rapist in the house. When he walks through the front door, the guy easily gives us the creeps. We know he's up to something. The tension grows and grows as he commits more embarrassing and painful acts towards Marjorie. When she takes control, the suspense goes together perfectly with the drama, a classy combination for a movie so gritty and violent.In terms of casting, Mastrosimone and director Robert M. Young picked up two of the stage production's regulars: the beautiful Farrah Fawcett and the alarmingly intimidating James Russo. Fawcett was just breaking free from her "Charlie's Angels" reputation, and this movie put her on the map. Marjorie is not at all an easy role to play, but Fawcett gladly accepts the challenge. Her performance is booming and simmering with a quiet anger. She makes Marjorie a very sympathetic and frail woman at first. Notice how her voice breaks every time she's about to cry. And when she throws the rapist in the fireplace and threatens him with a shovel, you understand her pain. Fawcett turns Marjorie into a force not to be messed with. How she walked away without an Oscar nomination proves that this woman was one of the most underrated actresses of her time. James Russo is absolutely spine-tingling as the rapist. His beady eyes and twisted smile make your skin crawl every time he's on screen, which is for the majority of the film. He, too, deserves more praise. Alfre Woodard is decent as Pat, but Diana Scarwid's performance as Terry is flawed. It is basically too over-the-top. She cries too much, and her dialog is delivered too unbelievably, her worst case being a monologue about a past encounter with a rapist. What translated so effectively on stage to the public has changed here, and the way Scarwid portrays it, it comes off more as forced subtext than being related to Marjorie's troubles.Does "Extremities" have its minor quibbles? Of course. Most movies do. But this is a film that plays most of its cards correctly and aims its darts close to the bullseye. If it weren't performed so believably by its leads, the movie wouldn't have nearly as much impact as the play. Movies like this are always more frightening when you realize that it can happen. Mastrosimone's story feels very real, which helps "Extremities" to be a powerful adaptation.

EXTREMITIES is the disturbing, yet riveting screen version of a play by William Mastriosimone (who adapted his own play for the screen) about a woman who is attacked in her car one night by a would-be rapist on her way home and is terrified when she realizes the man got her purse and knows where she lives. After her roommates leave for work the next day, the guy shows up at her home and attempts to rape her. The story takes a surprising twist when, at one point, the woman turns the tables on the man and is able to overpower him; but when she realizes there is no way that attempted rape can be proved and if the man is arrested, he will just get off, she decides to keep him prisoner in the house until she can get a confession out of him. Far-fetched? Maybe. Disturbing? Definitely, but there's a wonderfully claustrophobic feel about this film, especially the middle with just the woman and her attacker, that you can't help but feel completely a part of what's going on. I did not see the play on Broadway, but I would imagine a piece like this works better onstage, but that doesn't make this film any less riveting an experience. Farrah Fawcett, one of the last actresses to do the role on Broadway, was awarded the role of Marjorie in the film version and delivers a taut and deeply moving performance as the victim who refuses to be a victim. Many critics found Fawcett's performance to be one-note, but for me, Marjorie is a woman completely numbed by what she has been through and the performance works for me. James Russo, in the performance of his career, is slimy and menacing as the would-be rapist who finds Marjorie to be much more of a challenge than he assumed. Alfre Woodard and Diana Scarwid co-star as Marjorie's roommates, who come home after Marjorie has overpowered the guy and has him tied up and stuffed in their fireplace upon their arrival. And it's the arrival of the roommates that take the story to an unexpected level because they didn't see what we saw Marjorie go through and therefore, think she should call the police and let them handle the guy. Not for the faint of heart, but if you can stand it, a gripping film experience anchored by a lead performance that will surprise you.

Having looked at some of the other comments here, I have a main complaint with this presentation. The two primary characters are attractive in their own ways - the beautiful "victim," and the handsome, obviously extremely "off-center," blue-collar protagonist (if just short of "totally-deranged") - take turns beating the hell out of each other, sort of like a Caucasian Kabuki scenario.This is all right, and this is, of course, mainly a "turning-the-tables" story. However, my referenced complaint is that I believe the director got caught-up in his desire to display Farrah's well-known and obvious physical attributes. Beginning with her being enticingly clad in a thin robe, and with a number of scenes displaying more than needed for any dramatic effect - while immensely pleasing to the eyes, these distract from the poignancy level of the drama.Her roommates I'm certain give performances as written and directed - however, their respective skepticism and histrionic babbling and sobbing, don't ring true -- based upon Farrah's previous experience with this guy, the obvious evidence of his having come to their premises with only the worst of intentions, and that she would have absolutely no grounds to be exaggerating what has occurred.But this is a film and story, compelling as much in spite of, as because of, the director's work.