Bad Influence (1990)    Triumph/Suspense-Thriller    RT: 100 minutes    Rated R (sexual content, nudity, language, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, sociopathic behavior)    Director: Curtis Hanson    Screenplay: David Koepp    Music: Trevor Jones    Cinematography: Robert Elswit    Release date: March 9, 1990 (US)    Cast: Rob Lowe, James Spader, Lisa Zane, Christian Clemenson, Kathleen Wilhoite, Marcia Cross, Tony Maggio, Grand L. Bush.    Box Office: $12.6M (US)

Rating: ***

 If you’ve ever wondered what is meant by bad timing, let me tell you about the thriller Bad Influence starring Rob Lowe and James Spader. It came out around the same time Lowe’s infamous sex tape went public. There’s a scene in the movie involving a sex tape made by Lowe’s character. Viewers no doubt thought of the real life scandal, one that torpedoed his image as a teen idol, while watching Bad Influence, his first movie since the incident. If I’m being honest, I thought of it too. But I didn’t let it diminish my enjoyment of this stylish, suspenseful thriller that owes a debt to Strangers on a Train.

 Spader (Tuff Turf) plays Michael, a too-passive financial analyst who lets everybody push him around from the office prick who hides three months’ worth of important from him to a fiancee (Cross, Melrose Place) pushing him into a marriage he’s not sure he wants. He can’t even have a drink at a bar without some musclehead giving him a hard time. Thankfully (?), Alex (Lowe, Youngblood) shows up in the nick of time to threaten said musclehead with a broken beer bottle. He leaves before Michael can thank him but being the kind of movie it is, they bump into each again and form an instant friendship. Did I say instant? I meant toxic. You see, Alex is a sadistic sociopath.

 It starts by Alex telling Michael how to deal with his conniving co-worker which he does. Afterwards, he feels exhilarated. He then introduces Michael to the hedonistic lifestyle of the underground club scene in nighttime L.A. where he meets Claire (Zane, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare). Alex records them having sex and uses the tape to break the unwanted engagement. Specifically, he shows it at the engagement party thrown by the fiancée’s wealthy parents. Things escalate after this with Alex getting Michael involved in serious crimes- e.g. armed robbery, aggravated assault and murder. When Michael tries to end the friendship, Alex comes after him with a vengeance.

 Bad Influence is directed by the late Curtis Hanson who shows a real flair for the genre. He previously made The Bedroom Window and would go to helm The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The River Wild and L.A. Confidential (his masterpiece). You can see where he was influenced by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 masterpiece starring Robert Walker and Farley Granger. Walker was the bad influence in that movie; it was he who proposed the idea of murdering each other’s enemies. Like Walker before him, Lowe is slick and charming and definitely dangerous. He presents himself as a friend but you just know there’s something sinister behind it. By the time, Michael realizes what he’s really about, it’s too late. He’s trapped in some kind of sick game that he can’t possibly win unless he starts thinking like the game master.

 Lowe successfully sheds his Brat Pack persona to play a truly twisted character. He embodies sociopathy in a genuinely unsettling way. On the surface, he’s a charmer. People like him. Men want to be his buddy. Women want to have sex with him. He assumes different identities in different situations. He insinuates himself into Michael’s life to a disturbing degree even driving a wedge between him and his older brother (Clemenson, CSI: Miami), an ex-con and recovering addict who can’t seem to get his act together. We don’t learn any personal details about Alex. Hell, his name isn’t even Alex. We never find out what his real name is either. He remains a frightening enigma. The only thing about him we know is real is that he’s dangerous.

 I never realized how good an actor Lowe can be until I saw him here. Spader is also great as the doormat that learns to assert himself. We can see the joy he derives from getting revenge on his colleague with whom he’s vying for a promotion. We also see the way he takes to his new lifestyle although one is left to wonder how he can party all night and still go to work early in the morning fresh and clean as a daisy. Is he impervious to hangovers or what? ANYWAY, Spader is quite good in the role. He and Lowe have great chemistry together.

 I’m particularly impressed by the production design in Bad Influence. This is the kind of movie where everybody lives in a swanky apartment or house. Even the brother’s place is pretty nice. It’s a slick, handsome production that takes the viewer to dark places in both the city of angels and the human psyche. The script by David Koepp, who also wrote Apartment Zero which explores similar themes, is tense, intelligent and this side of lurid. Okay, so it descends into a routine cat-and-mouse scenario in its final act but I expected that. In the capable hands of Hanson, it works. It helps that the cat and mouse are played by two engaging actors.

I like the idea of calling attention to movies that people have either forgotten or never heard of. This is why I do what I do. I don’t know if anybody remembers Bad Influence, but it’s a movie that’s worth seeing. Even better, it still holds up pretty well after 30 years. Nicely done, Curtis. You are missed.