Scissors

Directed by Frank De Felitta, Scissors follows Sharon Stone’s Angela Anderson as she begins to lose her (already tenuous) grip on reality after she’s attacked by a mysterious assailant in an elevator. Filmmaker De Felitta, working from his own screenplay, delivers a progressively unwatchable thriller that does hold a fair degree of promise at the outset, as the movie initially benefits from its stylish atmosphere and a strong lead performance by Stone – with, in terms of the latter, the actress’ stirring efforts matched by an agreeably eclectic supporting cast that includes Ronny Cox, Michelle Phillips, and Steve Railsback. (Railsback’s scenery-chewing, larger-than-life turn as identical twins remains a highlight, to be sure.) It’s clear, then, that Scissors begins its slow but steady descent into irrelevance as it proceeds into an increasingly baffling (and interminable) midsection, as the picture’s been suffused with a whole host of aggressively oddball elements that effectively pave the way for an impossibly sluggish second half – with the decision to stage much of the midsection within a single set only exacerbating the arms-length and thoroughly tedious vibe. The absolutely (and appreciatively) bonkers finale comes way too late to make any real difference, ultimately, which finally does cement Scissors‘ place as a weak, entirely ineffective riff on the collective works of both Alfred Hitchcock and Brian De Palma (and it’s impossible, surely, to envision either of those far superior filmmakers being able to elevate this misbegotten material).

* out of ****