Not to be that guy but Merriam-Webster defines horror as, “painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay.” Defining something as horror is more than just checking a few boxes of descriptor words. What it really comes down to is the subjective experience of the viewer. Fatal Attraction is one of those films I’ve heard endlessly mentioned throughout the years, but I had never given it the time of day. So, after finally watching it, I’m left with the question: is it horror?
Yes. But not a good one.
Fatal Attraction follows New York attorney Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) who meets editor Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) at a book release party. When Dan’s wife Beth (Anne Archer) and young daughter Ellen (Ellen Hamilton Latzen) go out to the country for a weekend with Beth’s parents, Dan has a life-changing affair with Alex. Once Dan makes it clear that he doesn’t wish to continue their affair in secret, Alex attempts to end her life. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Learning that Alex is pregnant (possibly) with Dan’s child, he fast-tracks his family’s exit from the city to a sprawling, isolated house in the woods. But if he thought moving would solve all his problems…he was dead wrong.
Where do we start with discussing Fatal Attraction? I’ll start by quelling your, and curator of all things Horror Press James-Michael, minds by saying when I refer to Fatal Attraction as not being a “good one” I don’t mean it’s a bad film. It’s not great by any means but it’s not terrible. Fatal Attraction has the trappings of a great horror film but fails to follow through with elements that would make it an excellent horror film. Part of this has to do with the scrapped ending.
The “good guy” in Fatal Attraction isn’t Dan or Alex, it’s Beth and Ellen. Dan and Alex are inherently both bad people. Where Dan is just morally corrupt, Alex has mental health issues that drive her to commit reprehensible acts. Beth and Ellen (and the rabbit) are the innocents stuck in the crossfire of Dan and Alex. By the time the credits rolled and Dan shook the Luitenant’s hand (Michael Arkin), I didn’t feel anything for him. I felt terrible that Ellen had to be put through this and watch her parents argue (and get kidnapped). I felt bad that Beth was unnecessarily forced to have a car accident and then kill Alex.
Now, if the film’s purpose was to feel bad for Beth and Ellen, I would have a different outlook. But writer James Dearden and director Adrian Lyne (based on Dearden’s short film Diversion ((which was based on Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty for Me))) fail to do anything with their script and direction, respectively, to make you feel for them. Beth and Ellen are constantly relegated to the background and only used when Dan needs to be hurt somehow.
The scrapped ending for this film has Alex slitting her throat and framing Dan for her murder. While this would have been a better all-around ending, it still paints Alex as the crazy woman who solely has it out to hurt men. Which, for a film in the ‘80s, isn’t too much of a stretch. Films like this and 1977’s Death Game (the film that Eli Roth remade Knock Knock from) are quick to point the finger at women. Death Game even ends with Agatha (Sondra Locke) and Donna (Colleen Camp) getting run over by a van–their just desserts. I can only imagine the rounds of applause that moment got in ’70s cinemas. To make a long story short, Dan is not the victim in Fatal Attraction. And it’s completely disingenuous for this film to paint him as such.
One of the highlights of Fatal Attraction is the acting. While we may not see any of Michael Douglas’ famed cancer-causing-cunnilingus, he does a stellar job as Dan (the way he is written). Glenn Close, brings a level of charisma to her character that could lead to an “alpha” man falling for her. But maybe the biggest plothole of the film is WHO THE HELL WOULD EVER CHEAT ON Anne Archer?!
The casting for Fatal Attraction works for what this film is, but it’s important to look at what could have been. Almost 100 actresses were looked at for Alex with people including Rosanna Arquette, Jessica Lange, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Mia Farrow, Beverly D’Angelo, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Olivia Newton-John, Heather Locklear, and Isabelle Adjani. ISABELLE ADJANI. Come on! Conversely, some of the men looked at to play Dan were less interesting and attractive like Dan Aykroyd, John Voight, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rick Moranis, Jim Belushi, Sylvester Stallone, and O.J. Simpson. That would have been hysterical[ly bad].
Fatal Attraction is a competently directed film for the story it’s trying to tell but fails to be anything more than thinly veiled semi-erotic fodder. Some solid performances are bogged down by a one-note story that’s afraid to push itself to the far reaches of human emotion. The first half is fun and exciting but slows down in the back half, which kills the pacing. I wish they would have stuck with the original ending and not curtailed itself to idiotic test audiences. It’s fine for what it is, but it could have been so much more with a better casting director.
