THE LAST SEDUCTION (DVD Review) - 12/6/06

Having caught this a few years ago on TV and recording it; I never got around to actually watching it properly, but it was of sufficient interest for me to buy on DVD. Unfortunately as usual it was only available here in the UK and in the States as a crappy bare-bones Vanilla disc; with a tired stereo soundtrack so I didn't bother buying it, and added it to my "buy list" for a decent future re-release. Now it's time has come and the picture above shows the Region 2 (UK) DVD 2-Disc Special Edition in all it's glory. Thanks goes to Network DVD (www.networkdvd.co.uk) who have made it available to be seen once again with a revamped 5.1. Soundtrack and a nice selection of Special Features. People have said they thought this had a lot of comedy too it - I think they are wrong! I think it's a case of nasty people doing nasty things to each other in unpleasant ways. Apart from Peter Berg's character who masterfully underplays his role of the naive small-town boy Mike the rest are all bastards. Self-serving queen bitch Bridget (Played wonderfully over the top and cool as ice) by Linda Fiorentino rips off hubby Bill Pullman after a drug deal and does a runner to cow country shitsville USA and then a whole lot of mess hits the fan. Hiring a private investigator (Bill Nunn) he attempts to track her down and get his cash back whilst his wife gets in contact with her lawyer (J.T.Walsh) in an effort to keep the stolen cash. As a film noir it fit's into the genre quite nicely and is vaguely reminiscent of 1987's "Fatal Attraction" and 1992's "Basic Instinct" in it's portrayal of strong no-nonsense women who don't give a fuck. Twists and turns propel the viewer through a gamut of cross and double-cross as we wend our way into the final showdown. An excellent thriller which pushes all the right buttons as Fiorentino's character screw's with everyone's heads in even the smallest of ways to get what she wants. The overly long wait to a deservedly good DVD release has 2 versions of the film in this set - A 5.1. revamped Soundtrack Mix on the Standard Edition and an Extended Director's Cut with previously unseen footage (Unfortunately this version is only available with a stereo soundtrack and very poor quality timecoded VHS footage inserted) but apart from these two small problems this footage is classic gold for film fan's because not only does it considerably extend the film it add's a lot to the films plot and the motivations and reasonings of the characters. We also get the added alternate ending which like the deleted scenes can be watched seperately and with commentary by Director John Dahl. We also get an episode of US Anthology series "Fallen Angels" which was also directed by John Dahl and starred Bill Pullman. Added to this we get an extensive featurette called "The Art Of Seduction" and a 12-Page booklet about the film and not mentioned on the DVD case or cover we get actual "Behind The Scenes" footage from the film set which is a fascinating glimpse of the film-making process of that time. Rating: 18 Certificate. Runtime: 105 Mins Approx. 1993 ITC Entertainment Group/Granada Ventures. 2006 Network DVD. Picture: 1.78:1 Colour. Subtitles: None. Region 2 - PAL. 7952444/ISBN # 5027626244446.