Rare Flix: Mesmerized (1986)

 A hidden gem from the VHS Era?  This is Mesmerized, a Film that I found randomly on VHS.  When I saw it, I was like 'what is this movie and why have I never heard of it?!?'  Well, you get the results of my searching.  This is a semi-biographical tale of a woman from New Zealand who faced a murder rap for her husband.  Oops, already SPOILERS.  Oh well.  Naturally, this Film stars such famous New Zealand Actors as Jodie Foster and...John Lithgow.  Yeah, so this is an RKO Picture- and yes, that was still a thing in 1986.  There was some local controversy as a number of New Zealand Actors could have gotten such juicy, local-related parts.  It's kind of like how they made a Film about MLK Jr starring a British Man as him, a British Actress as his Wife AND with a British Director.  The Film was not much of a big deal at the time, but got a bit more attention (and a new VHS release) after Silence of the Lambs.  So is this a hidden gem?  Should you find a VHS Player for it like I did?  To find out, read on...

The Film begins with the woman- Foster- on trial.  Will they find her guilty?

I should note that I'm using a Streaming Copy for Caps as my copy is, well, not great.  It's a VHS Tape from 1986- what do you expect?!?

Said woman is the product of an unmarried couple and not even given a name for a while.

When she comes of age, she's married off to an older man- Lithgow.

It's funny that a 17 year age gap like the one between Lithgow and Foster here is 'bad' in 1986, but a 39 year age gap would be just peachy in 1999 with Entrapment.

After waiting for her to arrive (they married officially when she was 16), the guy has pent up, well, everything and spies on his new-wife while she changes.

I feel like you're doing Marriage wrong there, champ!

After about a Month of marriage, she's really unhappy.  Oh and Lithgow's Brother is a bit younger and actually not an asshole.

Desperate, the pair escape together, but get stopped on the train.

In a scuffle, it seems that Foster has killed the brother...so she returns home, no indebted to Lithgow.

However, it turns out that he isn't dead.  That was a good 5 minutes of tension, Movie.

Lithgow and his Dad hide the proof from Foster, just not going as far as to actually *destroy the evidence.*

Oh and his Dad was one of the Kryptonian Judges in Superman 2.  Neat!

Things seem like they are going better as Foster gets pregnant with Lithgow's child.

Things take a turn for the worse when the baby dies in childbirth.  Yeesh!

The pair continue to live unhappily together when a Doctor teaches the pair about hypnosis right the hell out of nowhere.

This sure won't pay off later!

Lithgow gets really sick and dies, with the Father blaming Foster for his death.  That brings us up to date with the Intro.

The Trial shows that Lithgow died from ingesting chloroform, but wasn't forced to so, clearing Foster.

However, we learn that she had been prepping Lithgow for the hypnosis in his weakened state and 'suggested' that he intake it.

In the aftermath, she leaves New Zealand and meets up with the Brother, whom she learned was alive thanks to the letter that Lithgow didn't think to destroy.

They lived happily ever after together...maybe.  The Film is coy about whether this is real or fictionalized, so...make up your own ending, I guess.

A Film that isn't quite what it is promised.  That's a sin by the Producers and Marketing Department though.  They really want you to think that the Film is a dark Thriller.  Yeah, not so much.  It's by no means a Comedy, but it is much more of a Character Drama.  The Marketing issues are mostly due to the whole Silence of the Lambs thing.  If you know that, you can enjoy the Film more.  Foster doesn't *really* try to do anything other than a soft English accent, while Lithgow goes all-in on the New Zealand accent.  Given the nature of that voice, I'm not sure if he's really good or really bad.  Is he doing an accurate impression of a voice that, well, sounds silly to us Americans?  Is he doing a bad version of a voice, making it sound extra silly to us Americans?  You decide!  I can't.  The Plot is alright, but feels like they both rush and run too slowly.  They rush through key times- like all of the pregnancy- and then run  too slowly through other times.  Why do they rush right to her trying to leave with the Brother (which is a month or so in)?  Why do they linger on Lithgow having his teeth removed to (not) save him?  Oh right- schadenfreude.  The Film is fine, but pretty banal.  It's also very dreary, given the subject matter.  I was hoping for something more scandalous for an obscure VHS discovery...but at least I got to see a young Billy the Kid.  

Next up, I prepare to watch an Oscar-winning Film by watching one that probably didn't even get a Saturn Award.  That's my style!  Stay tuned...