{"id":11492,"date":"2025-03-22T19:11:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T23:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=11492"},"modified":"2025-03-22T19:11:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T23:11:14","slug":"fatal-charm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2025\/03\/22\/fatal-charm\/","title":{"rendered":"Fatal Charm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Fatal Charm<\/strong> (1990)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Academy Entertainment\/Suspense-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 90 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (sexuality, nudity, violence, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Fritz Kiersch (as \u201cAlan Smithee\u201d)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Nicholas Niciphor\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: James Donnellan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Steve Grass\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: February 22, 1992 (US, cable TV)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Christopher Atkins, Amanda Peterson, Mary Frann, James Remar, Peggy Lipton, Andrew Robinson, Lar Park Lincoln, Robert Walker Jr., Shelley Smith, Andrew Lowery, Barbara McNair, Jane Kean, Ned Bellamy, Ken Foree, Kevin Brophy, Trent Dolan, Dennis Stewart, Peter Wise, Brent Fraser, Colleen Dion, Lee Anthony, J. Trevor Edmond, Bobby Fite, Patrick Thomas, Christopher Anthony Young, Maria Bradley, Ellyn Stern, Carol Higgins Clark.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: N\/A<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0When Fatal Attraction and Fatal Beauty came out about a month apart in fall 1987, I decided to run through the rest of the alphabet and come up with titles for additional Fatal movies. The first title I came up with was Fatal Charm. It seemed like a natural. Ted Bundy had it, didn\u2019t he? Now is it possible somebody was reading my mind as I sat in biology class (in community college) doing this instead of paying attention to the teacher? It must be because somebody came up with Fatal Charm <\/strong>a few years later. It\u2019s not exactly what I had in mind, but it\u2019s close enough.<\/p>\n

Fatal Charm<\/strong> was a troubled production from the get-go. The original director Peter Medak (The Changeling) was replaced by Fritz Kiersch (Children of the Corn) who would ultimately disown the film as evidenced by \u201cAlan Smithee\u201d being credited as director. It was filmed in 1989 and set for a theatrical release in 1990. It never happened, at least not here in the US. Apparently, it came out on video overseas before making its American debut on Showtime in Feb. \u201992. It hit US video stores in \u201993. To be honest, Fatal Charm<\/strong> has the look and feel of a straight-to-cable film. It\u2019s not very cinematic.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The late Amanda Peterson, who charmed the hell out of audiences in the teen rom-com Can\u2019t Buy Me Love just a few years earlier, stars as Valerie, a high school student whose home life is far from idyllic. Her divorced mother Susan (Frann, Newhart) is seeing Louis (Remar, 48 Hrs.), a first-rate creep with a tendency to make drunken passes at her when Mom isn\u2019t looking. That\u2019s on top of him being a married man on the verge of divorcing his wife. That\u2019s what they all say.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Valerie develops a crush on a celebrity. That\u2019s normal, you say? Wait until you hear this. The celebrity in question is Adam Brenner (Atkins, A Night in Heaven), a charming and handsome guy who happens to be on trial for multiple counts of rape and murder. There\u2019s no way he could possibly be guilty, Valerie says (\u201cWhy would anybody that gorgeous need to rape someone?\u201d). She starts writing to him and often skips school to attend his trial. She has violent sexual fantasies about him. Knowing that nobody will understand, she keeps her pen pal a secret from everybody including her best friend Sandy (Lincoln, Friday the 13th<\/sup> Part VII: The New Blood) who tries to fix her up with a nice boy (Lowery, My Boyfriend\u2019s Back).<\/p>\n

\u00a0To nobody\u2019s surprise, Adam is found guilty on all counts despite his continuous claims of innocence. He tries to put it on his conveniently MIA roommate, but that defense goes out the window when his dead body washes up on the beach. He\u2019s sent to San Quentin to await execution. Meanwhile, Louis reads one of Adam\u2019s letters to Valerie and immediately tells Susan who has a total s*** fit. She tries everything in her power to break Adam\u2019s sway over her innocent teenage daughter. She even takes her to see the local sheriff (Robinson, Dirty Harry) who tries to scare her straight by showing her gruesome photos of Adam\u2019s handiwork. It doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Meanwhile on Death Row, Adam is an instant hit with his new neighbors. Black gang leader Willy (Foree, Dawn of the Dead) wants to kill and castrate him (\u201cI\u2019m gonna cut your dick off and shove it down your throat!\u201d). A slimeball named Adolph (Romero, House IV) wants to make Adam his bitch. Needless to say, the newbie is scared out of his mind. Luck comes his way after he\u2019s stabbed during a big skirmish in the weight room. While awaiting transfer in a temporary holding facility, he manages to escape with a little help from the two guys who engineered the breakout. From there, it\u2019s off to meet Valerie face to face for the first (and last) time, but not before he jacks a van and kills the rightful owner in the middle of a bj from his gf.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In a move more at home in a dopey rom-com, Valerie sends Adam a picture of Sandy instead of herself. Maybe she was self-conscious about her looks? Or maybe she had some reservations about the convicted killer? Who knows? In any event, it doesn\u2019t lead to a set of hilarious misunderstandings. Instead, Adam creeps Sandy out when he approaches her at a diner thinking she\u2019s Valerie. She manages to get away from him that time. I can\u2019t say what happens after he follows her to some nighttime event at the high school. Her fate is left unknown.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Fatal Charm<\/strong> isn\u2019t too bad. It\u2019s decent for a film one might take home on 2-for1 night at the local Mom & Pop video shop. Peterson, who died at 43 of an accidental overdose in 2015, deserved more of a career than she got. Nothing much happened for her after Can\u2019t Buy Me Love. Her only other major film credit was co-starring with Kirk Cameron in the 1989 teen drama Listen to Me about a college debate team. She puts her whole self into the role of an already troubled teen blinded by love and obsession. The story arc concerning her and Louis goes underdeveloped. It\u2019s reduced to one scene where Sharon slaps the girl and accuses her of lying when she tells her about the abuse. Even worse, Sharon later asks him to keep an eye on her when she has to work late. Hello, Mother of the Year!<\/p>\n

\u00a0The most interesting thing about Fatal Charm<\/strong> is the cast. There are some awesome B-movie actors in it! In addition to the ones already mentioned, it also has Peggy Lipton (The Mod Squad) as the prosecutor, Robert Walker Jr. (Beware! The Blob) as the defense attorney, Barbara McNair (Change of Habit) as Valerie\u2019s English teacher, Kevin Brophy (Hell Night) as a deputy, Bobby Fite (Silver Spoons) as a classmate and Dennis Stewart (Grease 1 & 2) as one of the lockup escapees. Also, actress Shelley Smith (National Lampoon\u2019s Class Reunion) and Carol Higgins Clark (daughter of author Mary Higgins Clark) show up as reporters.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t talk about Christopher Atkins\u2019 bad acting. The guy is all looks and no talent. He was easily outacted by Brooke Shields in his film debut The Blue Lagoon (1980). He was a little better in one of my guilty pleasures, the 1982 comedy-musical The Pirate Movie. A Night in Heaven (1983), a bad movie classic, is his crowning achievement. The former teen heartthrob overacts terribly in Fatal Charm<\/strong>. His performance consists mostly of bug eyes and intense camera stares. If his character wasn\u2019t so vile, I\u2019d swear he\u2019s the movie\u2019s comic relief.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The screenplay by Nicholas Niciphor (Deathsport) is scattershot and unfocused. It introduces multiple story threads only to leave a few of them dangling when the end credits come up. It would have been nice to know the fates of certain characters like the best friend. Kiersch, whose resume also includes Tuff Turf (1985), Winners Take All (1987), Gor (1987), Under the Boardwalk (1988), Into the Sun (1991) and The Stranger (1995), imbues Fatal Charm<\/strong> with a reasonable amount of suspense. Sadly, it\u2019s a rather formulaic and predictable thriller that basically peters out at the end. It\u2019s not a satisfactory conclusion. We need more closure than it gives us.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I had fun watching Fatal Charm<\/strong> even though it\u2019s not that great a movie. It\u2019s fine for what it is, a straight-to-cable thriller made to be enjoyed by teens. Now that I\u2019ve watched and reviewed this Fatality, it\u2019s on to D. Is there a movie called Fatal Desire?\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fatal Charm (1990)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Academy Entertainment\/Suspense-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 90 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (sexuality, nudity, violence, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Fritz Kiersch (as \u201cAlan Smithee\u201d)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Nicholas Niciphor\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: James Donnellan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Steve Grass\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: February 22, 1992 (US, cable TV)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Christopher Atkins, Amanda Peterson, Mary Frann, James Remar, Peggy Lipton, Andrew Robinson, Lar Park Lincoln, Robert Walker […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-suspense-thrillers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Fatal-Charm-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11492"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11538,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11492\/revisions\/11538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}