After a terrible accident, Carla develops a debilitating fear of heights. She joins a counseling group headed by Dr Paul Sadowski, an unconventional therapist who presses people to confront their fears. However, his methods come into question when his patients begin to suffer mysterious accidents.
Reviews
Like most people who viewed this movie I suspect, I picked up this movie because Wes Craven's name was listed prominently on the cover, in the credits on the back, etc. Lo and behold, this is not directed, written, nor overseen by Mr. Craven, but only produced by him. A sad case of marketing over matter. Well, who cares, right? I do, because what lay inside the DVD case was a fairly mediocre movie that doesn't seem to know if it's a psycho-thriller or a character study or a murder mystery. Kinney's take as the psychologist is the only really good acting here (the heroine is particularly dull in her delivery) and the cinematography, which should make us vertiginous, just feels static. There was a bit here to work with, script and plot wise, but it's been done (Diabolique, Vertigo, Mousetrap) before, and done better. C-.
*NO SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION*This movie was like something you'd see on the Lifetime TV network. Not really a horror movie at all as advertised on the rental box. I'm all for a good Lifetime TV movie every once in a while (woman in jeopardy and afflicted with psychological trauma trying to set things right while being stalked by some sort of unknown evil that you know is closing in on her...). It contains nothing to merit an R or even PG-13 rating and, actually, I'd be surprised if it didn't air on Lifetime at some point. Just know what you are getting.MAJOR SPOILER IN NEXT SECTION *BE WARNED*From the beginning I thought it had a Lifetime feel to it, and that suspicion was only confirmed at the end of the movie when you found out who the villain really was. Those evil husbands...
Seeing the name Wes Craven here, I was expecting far more in the way of horror if not suspense. Disappointed on both accounts. In a word, silly. The acting was extremely bad with second rate, basically unknown, actors. I'm undecided as if it was the story that was lacking and Meryl Streep could have made it quite interesting, or if it was just a terrible plot and an uninspired director. Either way, don't say you haven't been warned. Better to spend those 2 hours of your life rewatching one of your favorite movies. Try Alfred Hitchcock.
When I first started watching this film, I thought "oh no, not another low budget, waste of time", but actually I changed my mind after about ten minutes. It was a good story (although very predictable), but one that you have to watch right till the end, just to confirm what you have already figured out. However, I do have to say that although I predicted everything about this film, much to my dad and sisters' annoyance, I thought the ending was good.
