An under-rated thriller from a talented director whose career never lived up to promise of his 1984 film Abwärts and who died, sadly young, in 2003. The film looks and plays like a Hollywood tribute to Italian gialli thrillers and liberally lifts from them - especially the works of Dario Argento who is "quoted" from freely throughout. However, rather than a rag-tag homage/rip-off, the film works as a slightly tongue in cheek Americanisation. I suspect having Europeans at the helm helped a lot here.
Christophe Lambert is probably not anybody's idea of a great actor, and though he seems out of his depth here alongside Diane Lane and Ferdy Mayne and so on, his performance is quite appropriate. There's a twinkle of menace to his eyes and he brings a looming shadow of darkness to his part as hero, which is entirely in keeping with the script. The rest of the cast are fine, but it is Lambert who - surprisingly - carries it.
Set against the unlikely (and amusing) backdrop of professional chess, this is a fine old whodunnit and howwillhedoitnext tale with murders a-plenty, red herrings, flummoxed police, beautiful camerawork and women/a child in peril. A full-on Giallo in all but nationality! If that genre interests you, then there will be plenty to enjoy here. Well worth seeking out, if murder mystery thrillers are your bag.
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