GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Jacomedi A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Michael_Elliott Windows (1980) ** (out of 4) Emily (Talia Shire) walks into her apartment when she is attacked from behind. She is forced onto the ground with a knife where the man threatens to kill her unless she shows him what she has and that she moans in satisfaction so that he can record it. Police detective Luffrono (Joseph Cortese) questions Emily but she has no details of the man. Soon the two of them are striking up a relationship, which doesn't sit well with Emily's former neighbor Andrea (Elizabeth Ashley).WINDOWS is a film that I heard about decades ago when movies like SINGLE WHITE FEMALE and THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE were making big cash at the box office. It seems WINDOWS was pretty much forgotten for the most part yet I always wanted to see it even with the rather negative reviews that it got. I must admit that the film wasn't very good and in fact it's pretty silly when viewed today. The film attempts to be a psychological study of two troubled women but in the end it's basically about a lesbian who can't tell another woman she wants her.It's interesting that this same year also gave us CRUISING. That film was highly controversial and perhaps so much so that this film got away with the idea that a woman could be a nut simply because she was a lesbian and wants another woman. Instead of telling her she orders the woman to be sexually attacked and then she begins to stalk her. All of this should have made for a more interesting film but sadly WINDOWS just never really takes off. The biggest problem is the screenplay, which tries to avoid any real violence or anything all that dramatic and instead we just see the two women as they discuss their situations with the men in their lives. Emily has her cop friend and Andrea has her shrink.I'm not going to sit here and say that the movie doesn't have any good qualities because it does. Shire was very good in her role, although the screenplay doesn't give her too much to do except to act scared at times and at other times to stutter. She's still quite good as the fragile woman as is Ashley, although she's given even less to do. The real standout was Cortese who was excellent in the role of the detective. The film does benefit from some nice cinematography and the New York City locations were great.Some people might find the subject disturbing and some might find the film to be creepy but neither really worked on me. The film is mildly entertaining but it never has any real suspense and that's its real downfall. Gordon Willis was a wonderful cinematographer but it's easy to see why he never really blossomed as a director. The lack of any real energy or suspense kills the film and you just keep waiting for it to take off but it never does.

lazarillo The general opinion of this movie is either that it is terrible, or that it is SO bad, it's actually good. Well, I don't think this movie is really "good" in any sense of the word, but it's not that bad either. It definitely has some good aspects. The cinematography is outstanding, not surprisingly perhaps since it was directed by famed cinematographer Gordon Willis. Visually it was kind of and attempt to update the moody film-noir style of the 40's and 50's to the present day (as of 1980 anyway). It was also filmed in NYC and it captures a lot of the palpably sleazy ambiance of the city in that era that can also be seen in films like "Taxi Driver" or "Dog Day Afternoon".The plot is ridiculous, of course, but that's not necessarily a bad thing either. In fact, the people who were so offended by the movie originally should have taken into account that this movie defames real-life lesbians about as much as "Roadrunner" cartoons defame real-life coyotes. (And Wile E.Coyote gives a much more subdued performance and usually shreds less scenery than Elizabeth Ashley does in this movie). Besides the problem is not that lesbians are frequently portrayed as villains in movies. Even taking their relative numbers into account, there are still far less lesbian villains in movies (not including sexy bisexual women, which is a whole different thing) than there are white male villains. There is certainly a lack of POSITIVE portrayals of lesbians in movies perhaps even today, but that's a different issue. And, ironically, the typical negative portrayal of lesbians in the media does not generally involve them being murderous stalkers, but rather being shrill, self-righteous, humorless, man-hating busy-bodies who want to censor everything under the sun that offends their perpetually outraged sensibilities. Hmmm, I wonder where that stereotype comes from? But back to the movie, this is one of 70's/80's movies that would actually be PERFECT for a re-make. They could put a really sexy actress in the lead who doesn't play the whole thing as deadly earnestly as ole "Yo! Adrienne!" does here. It would actually be pretty hard to best Elizabeth Ashley's campy, OTT performance, but I think modern audiences would certainly appreciate a performance like this a lot more than they did back in 1980. This isn't a good movie, of course,but why re-make a GOOD movie? Re-make, DVD release, or both--this is definitely long-due for some kind of revival.

zardoz-13 By 1980, New York City, universally known as "the Big Apple," had become the incarnation of a paranoiac's nightmare. Movies like Michael Winner's revenge thriller "Death Wish," Walter Hill's gang epic "The Warriors," and William Friedkin's homosexual murder mystery "Cruising" had spawned this unsavory image and lenser turned director Gordon Willis' "Windows," an excellently made but egriegously scripted sizzler, starring Talia Shire and Elizabeth Ashley, appropriates this negativity for maximum impact. Clearly, at 96 minutes, the R-rated "Windows" exemplifies the theme of women versus women.The voyeurish plot involves a mousey Emily Hollander (Talia Shire of the "Rocky" franchise), who is at the mercy of lesbian stalker Andrea Glassen (Elizabeth Ashley of "The Carpetbaggers"). Ashley pays a cretinous cabbie to rape Emily and tape record the performance. Later, after Emily has moved out of the apartment where she was raped and into a security apartment complex, Glassen has Emily's tabby cat killed and frozen. Glissen sets up a telescope and then watches Emily constantly before she confronts her with the truth that she must possess her! Along the way, Emily becomes involved with an N.Y.P.D. detective (Joseph Cortese).Ace lenser Gordon Willis, who photographed Woody Allen's "Manhattan" and Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather, Part II," makes his directorial debut. Not surprisingly, Willis also doubles as his own cameraman. The technical credits are great, especially Willis' striking photography, two-time Oscar nominated Barry Malkin's suspenseful editing, and Ennio Morricone's atmospheric orchestral score. Talia Shire as victim and Elizabeth Ashley as predator deliver emotionally taut performances.However, the Razzie nominated Barry Siegel screenplay is as sordid as it is stupid. Logic and motivation must have been thrown out the window. Happily, Siegel never wrote another screenplay. We are never told what it is that attracts Ashley to Shire. Presumably, only lesbians will know, but may hate this movie, too, for its phobic attitude. Similarly, Willis never called the shots on another movie, though he continued to lens them. My advice, unless you are written a term paper about "Windows," avoid it.

Francis MOURY Directed by the cinematographer of THE GODFATHER and starring 2 good actresses. Storyline is quite interesting and camera job impressive. It is an original movie. As it was a Warner release (and as I have the Warner Home Vidéo VHS in French version) I wonder how the former commentary can wonder if it was released in vidéo ? Besides, it is the perfect example of a, by now, rare title, which sould be offered again on DVD with sharp image quality and, of course, French soundtrack or subtitles !