REAR WINDOW - TV Film Review 21/7/06

No - Not the original Hitchcock Classic but a TV Movie remake. Which oddly enough has a number of strengths of it's own with the casting of real-life paraplegic Christopher Reeve who was also Executive Producer on this as well. It's rather voyeuristic watching a man who has had a life-changing accident but then I suppose a lot of Reeve is in this film one way or another and the subject matter is voyeurism - So probably spot on! With a cast featuring Daryl Hannah and the ever reliable Robert Forster we get Reeve's character basically viewing his next door neighbour's lives through his rear window and that goes along fine until he see's someone get killed and no one believes him. Then things start to get out of hand and Ritchie Coster as the maddened sculptor plays an all too believable bad guy - When he gets up close and personal with Reeve later on in his automated apartment it turns quite nasty. A scene earlier on also stands out when Allison Mackie's Ilene character is viewed in a dark room (to the side, in a corner) as she light's a cigarette in darkness the match flares illuminating her face and she shakes her head slowly from side to side and blows out the match into darkness again - Creepy.
Unfortunately only available on a Region 2 (French) DVD Version which has now been deleted (as below) and also on NTSC Video (as above) also deleted. So if you really want to see it you'll probably have to settle for a second-hand copy. I'm told there are still new copies available for both but they cost a small fortune and I've also been led to believe that this film is going to be re-released as a Region 1 (USA) DVD Version at some point in the future - So I'd wait for that!