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Just what I expected

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

This has something of the feel of being a TV movie and I see that is where most of this lady directors work is shown, though this was a straight to video feature. The big difference is that this has moments of sex and violence and particularly language that would not have endeared it to TV in the 80s. Set I believe in Pittsburg, we see a fair amount of the city and if the story surrounding a window dresser and the stalking it attracts is not particularly original this certainly has a decent edge to it with SM inspired arrangements of the mannequins. We are led to believe that it is this element that prompts Woods' character to become so obsessed but as a gay seeming married with daughter guy, this is never properly dealt with or exploited. Diane Lane acts her socks off and sheds everything else as well, several times while Michael Woods poses about the place rather moodily and never until the end with much conviction. Revenge is sweet, but it takes a long, long time here, though it has to be admitted there is some decent suspense and thrills along the way, again particularly towards the end. If I'm making this sound rather dull, I'm afraid that's because largely it is, despite the potential offered by the visuals and the frightening situation we are presented with. (80s music doesn't help!)

I actually saw this film as a kid in the Wakulla Motel, while waiting for a space shuttle blast. We all learned to bodyboard and watched this film late at night while our minders went to bed. Having searched for 25 years for this film, I can honestly say that it is FREAKING AWESOME!!! It's the adult version of the Kim Cattrall film "Mannequin". No, Really, it is. The story is that a hot girl dresses up windows, complete with "Hollywood" as played by Meshach Taylor and a boyriend as played by John Cusack. This film represents everything that was awesome about the 1980's. Diane Lane is hot without being gratuitous. Lots of ridiculous panty shots (Diane gets home after getting her job and strips down to a satin teddy) but you so buy the character that it dosen't seem outlandish. Believe me, I have actually known girls in Austin that behave exactly this way. The whole film is a warning to women who feel liberated enough to display their sexuality in public. You may very well pick up a guy like this.

I found this film disturbing, but extremely watchable. I've always admired Diane Lane and it's great that her career is back on track. LADY BEWARE is a bit ahead of its time, just before the crime of stalking became, sadly, an all too common offense. What I really enjoyed about the movie is how Lane's character Katya turns the tables on her sicko stalker Jack (the very creepy Michael Woods) in the climax, letting him know how it feels to be trapped. And there are some funny moments with her department store coworker Lionel (who is obviously gay) and Froggie, the teeth happy Doberman. Katya's life and home becomes a prison of fear because her privacy and life has been so invaded by this psycho. Her boyfriend Mac (Cotter Smith) disappears from the scene as her life spins more and more out of control (what happened to him?). One of the attitudes prevalent in cases such as these is, "Did she invite this person into her life? Did she ask for it?" Because of Katya's window-dressing, provocative and unique, it seems that many of the viewers at the time and the other characters may have thought so, there was absolutely nothing that she did to make her a victim. It seems that the victims of this crime are the ones that are punished, and Katya is no exception. She has to bar her windows, change her telephone number, stay inside all the time for fear of something happening to her, give up family and friends, and most of all, her sense of security. This is the sad and harsh reality of what stalking victims face. But the turning of the tables is what makes this movie. I recommend this to people who want a different view of stalking and feminism. I love the feminist slant!!! Worthwhile viewing, but don't watch it at night or alone, and be glad there are now anti-stalking laws, because at the time the film was shot, there wasn't. Don't pass up "LADY BEWARE".

Diane Lane finally gets a solid part in a pretty good picture; so often, Lane is stuck in unsuitable parts in rather lousy movies ("The Cotton Club", "Streets Of Fire"), so much so that her career nearly evaporated after a promising start. She's first-rate here playing big-city career girl dressing windows for a department store, intriguing a married man who becomes obsessed with her. Surprisingly subtle B-movie overcomes the minimal budget with smart writing and direction, good performances by all in the cast. Lane's converted warehouse digs uncomfortably reminds one of "Flashdance", but the revenge-angle in the second-half is clever and well-done; nicely attuned climax too, making its point without going over-the-top. **1/2 from ****