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Crimes of Passion

R Now Playing 1h 41m Drama List
50% Tomatometer 26 Reviews 61% Audience Score 500+ Ratings
Bobby (John Laughlin) owns a gadget store by day and takes surveillance jobs by night. A businessman hires him to spy on Joanna (Kathleen Turner), a fashion designer suspected of committing white-collar crimes. But Bobby finds that Joanna's transgressions aren't business-related; instead, she spends her evenings as a prostitute specializing in fetishes. Intrigued, Bobby begins to woo her, but their relationship is complicated by Shayne (Anthony Perkins), a deviant priest who's stalking Joanna. Read More Read Less
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Crimes of Passion

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Ken Russell and his cast are definitely committed to Crimes of Passion, but whether this sexually charged thriller is worthy of the audience's convictions is altogether more uncertain.

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Critics Reviews

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Rick Lyman Philadelphia Inquirer Ken Russell fancies himself an artiste, and his odious pretentions take all the fun out of it. Jun 23, 2021 Full Review Patrick Goldstein Los Angeles Times Turner acts if she's auditioning for some loopy Mae West impersonation contest. Eyes wide and nostrils flaring, she looks like a doe caught in the glare of a hunter's headlights. Perkins is her perfect body double. Jun 23, 2021 Full Review Catherine Rambeau Detroit Free Press It remains steamy, sordid, grim and utterly fascinating, but it is not a movie to be taken lightly. Rated: 7/10 Jun 23, 2021 Full Review Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault It's aggressively sexual without being sexy. Russell wants to paint the kinky stuff as ugly and insipid, but he sensationalizes it anyway. Rated: C Dec 2, 2022 Full Review Alan Jones Starburst Crimes of Passion is a brilliant film painfully revealing the fine line people tread between fantasy and reality, using sex as the modus operandi. Jul 8, 2022 Full Review Malcolm Johnson Hartford Courant Except for the performance of Kathleen Turner... "Crimes of Passion" goes beyond the unbearable into the execrable: an artistic netherworld where terminal boredom, utter silliness and mind-boggling perversity coexist. Jun 23, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (60) audience reviews
Blue The Movie is Amazing! The Femme Fatale is what makes this Movie one of the best, the way she seduces and manipulate the police officer before utter dominating him with her femininity, you can see how horrified the police officer before accepting his fate, he know she has him by the neck literally! All he can think of is to end this nightmare while she just humiliates him and penetrates and probe him with his baton, you can hear him Scream in agony to stop while this girl boss give him what he deserves, this scene would've been 10x better if she could've killed him by just leaving the baton up his rectum or use a knife while the baton while still in there to penetrate the chest. This Femme Fatale/Rape scene was the best part of the whole movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/03/23 Full Review Allen H The edgy writing of the day is just cheesy now. They put a lot into this movie in 1984 but now it's a yawn, ... except that Anthony Perkins shows he can still do unique psychos. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 06/03/23 Full Review Helder F A bit campy and all over the place, but it has captivating scenes. We are caught in life stories that we do not truly know but we assume are very complicated. I think we don't really get to know much of the characters through try movie - we get to see their compulsions and perversions, perhaps... - their defenses if you will, but we do not know exactly what their problems are. I wouldn't say that any of the characters is very likable. Surprisingly not even Robby's children are that likable. Everyone seems to be hiding a secret - or perhaps showing that they have some hangups even if we don't really learn much about them. Well, I enjoy it. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/21/23 Full Review michael d Awesome Russell-ness and all-around. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member The greatest acting ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Lequisha S Snappy, if overly punny, dialogue helps keep this three-pronged character piece entertaining. The ideas of dual identities and facades each character constructs to shield themselves from confronting deep-seated insecurities (and how these ideas revolve around intimacy, primarily sex) are mostly well-realized. There's a certain over-the-topness to it that conflicts with the grounded, heartfelt tone it yearns to strike elsewhere. Definitely an interesting film. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/17/21 Full Review Read all reviews
Crimes of Passion

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Crimes of Passion

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Movie Info

Synopsis Bobby (John Laughlin) owns a gadget store by day and takes surveillance jobs by night. A businessman hires him to spy on Joanna (Kathleen Turner), a fashion designer suspected of committing white-collar crimes. But Bobby finds that Joanna's transgressions aren't business-related; instead, she spends her evenings as a prostitute specializing in fetishes. Intrigued, Bobby begins to woo her, but their relationship is complicated by Shayne (Anthony Perkins), a deviant priest who's stalking Joanna.
Director
Ken Russell
Producer
Barry Sandler
Screenwriter
Barry Sandler
Distributor
Image Entertainment Inc., Starmaker Video, New World Home Video, Anchor Bay Entertainment, New World Pictures, Lumivision
Production Co
New World Pictures, China Blue Productions Inc
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 19, 1984, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 28, 2018
Runtime
1h 41m
Sound Mix
Dolby