#josephruben

[adamwatchesmovies]

Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)

Sleeping with the Enemy presents itself as a classy thriller by putting Julia Roberts in the lead role. Don't be fooled. This is nothing more than a lame slasher film doused in “romantic drama” sauce. It starts ok but gets to be way over-the-top, contrived, and downright ridiculous by the end.

Laura Burney (Roberts) lives in a beautiful home by the beach with her rich and handsome husband, Martin (Patrick Bergin). You’d never guess it from a first look, but she lives in perpetual fear. Martin is abusive, manipulative, cruel, and paranoid. After faking her death and escaping from the prison that is her marriage, Laura starts a new life, even befriending a sexy drama teacher named Ben (Kevin Anderson). But wherever she goes, she cannot escape the feeling that Martin is not far behind…

The first problem with this picture is the villain. He’s too evil. I don’t mean that he’s unrealistic. I once heard a woman detail how her former husband would buy a giant jar of jelly beans and insist on his wife and children sit and watch him eat it all, just because he could. so no, Martin’s obsession with things being neat around the house or his desire to find Laura after she runs isn’t unrealistic, but it makes the film predictable. There’s nothing to like about the guy, at all. He’s pure evil meaning that by the end, he’s “going to get what’s coming to him”. The movie tries to distract you with a love story that unfolds between Laura and Ben, complete with a comedic montage of them trying on clothes at the theatre, but you know all it’s doing is killing time. This movie isn’t interested in love, all it wants to do is stall until we can have the big showdown between Laura and Martin. You know how that final confrontation will end because there’s no redeeming a one-dimensional demon like Martin. All you can do is… well I’ll let you guess.

Knowing the conclusion ahead of time makes every scene prior contrived or predictable. The way Martin discovers his wife is alive is ludicrous. It necessitates profound idiocy from our protagonist, a woman who shows brains in every single scene, except for this one that kicks off the plot. A particularly ridiculous scene - one so bad it almost becomes comedic - has characters miss each other over and over in a failed effort to make you sweat.

When the film began, I thought it showed genuine promise. Then I began recognizing cliché after cliché (think it's bad at first, just wait for the final act) and gave up trying to legitimize this film. It’s not inspired. I’ll even call it a little pretentious. Sleeping with the Enemy dresses up a story about a woman who can never get away from a maniac but doesn’t deliver what you want from a horror film. Director Joseph Ruben and writer Ronald Bass use spousal abuse and cheap tricks to make you think they're doing more than simply exploiting an easy fear but that's all they're doing. Even then, this movie isn't frightening. Don’t get fooled, Sleeping with the Enemy is a bad movie. (On VHS, May 12, 2016)

[vicsage2005]

"All we need is a little order around here." - The Stepfather (1987) #terryoquinn #jillschoelen #josephruben #saturdayfrights #horrorpodcast #slasher #cultfilm #vhs #horrorgeek #horrorcommunity https://www.instagram.com/p/CNmlmZuFro3/?igshid=1ndc6q66whxwf

[superman-2050]

#TheGoodSon #JosephRuben #20thCenturyFox #MovieTitleScreens #MovieLogos #90sHorrorFlicks #90sCinema #90sHorror #Horror #HorrorMovies #MacaulayCulkin #QuinnCulkin #WendyCrewson #KillerKids https://www.instagram.com/p/CHCWEbkJ4o8/?igshid=2tu4io38htsp

[vicsage-retroist]

"In this world, Alex, you're nothing. And me, I'm God." - Dreamscape (1984) #davidpatrickkelly #dennisquaid #josephruben #saturdayfrights #horrorpodcast #whydidithavetobesnakes #horrorcommunity #sweetdreams #ilovehorror https://www.instagram.com/p/B_9r0l_Fxkm/?igshid=1fr9y5yxbcn9g

[royalbks]

Such a cute little bugger. Original screenplay by none other than #ianmcewan #macaulayculkin #josephruben @kinolorber

[horrororman]

Released January 23rd, 1987.

#TheStepfather

#TerryOQuinn #ShelleyHack

#JillSchoelen #JosephRuben

#thriller #slasher #horror #HorrorMovies

[ung]

JosephRuben (@JosephRuben1999)

@SamsungMobileUS filming with your phones are awesome and will be tweeting you with a link once filming and editing is done

faved by your 1 friend

[filmexodus-blog]

When Romance Turns Deadly: The Modern Domestic Thriller

When Romance Turns Deadly: The Modern Domestic Thriller

http://filmexodus.com/when-romance-turns-deadly-the-modern-domestic-thriller/

#AKissBeforeDying, #AlanJPakula, #BarbetSchroeder, #CapeFear, #FatalAttraction, #JamesDearden, #JohnSchlesinger, #JosephRuben, #JulietteLewis, #LakeviewTerrace, #MartinScorsese, #MattDillon, #RobertDeNiro, #SeanYoung

[mcbastardsmausoleum]

tonight's sleepy time cinema presentation is THE STEPFATHER (1987) starring Terry O'Quinn as the most frightening stepfather ever #terryoquinn #josephruben #shoutfactory #jillschoelen #

[adafine]

I’ve never seen this but I do remember the trailer being nuts. Hopefully, it lives up to that. #gorp #michaellembeck #dennisquaid #frandrescher #davidhuddleston #josephruben #kinolorber #bluray #firsttimewatch (at El Apartamento De Sweeney) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDfg4W3Ajbe/?igshid=1qff6qz2r2xla

[adafine]

Horror Movie Marathon (2019) October 8th 18. The Stepfather (1987) Directed by Joseph Ruben #thestepfather #thestepfather1987 #terryoquinn #jillschoelen #shelleyhack #josephruben #donaldwestlake #bluray #shoutfactory (at El Apartamento De Sweeney) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3XGIe3g4ZB/?igshid=v6oxhtzbqi1m