Up Against Amanda

2000 "She loves you... She loves you NOT"
4.5| 1h42m| en
Details

After childhood abuse by her step-father and eight years in a juvenile psychiatric lockup, Amanda Lear is released. Her shrink is also her lover, who surreptitiously pays her rent on a nice house for a year. She moves in, takes one look at her neighbor Richard, and dispatches her doctor. To cover her tracks and to begin her seduction, she gets Richard's help with a security system. Soon she's bugging his calls and spying on him with hidden cameras, taking advantage of a rift between Richard and his wife who's in Nashville cutting a record. Amanda will stop at nothing to get Richard's exclusive attention. Will this good neighbor wise up before the hot tub overheats?

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

Stream on any device, 30-day free trial Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
JohnHowardReid I'm amazed this movie received so many bad reviews. I thought the film was extremely gripping and so well made that the fact it was put together on a small budget, didn't even occur to me! The script was tight, the situations both really believable and highly suspenseful, and the acting simply superb. I will admit that all the players were unknown to me. So, for me, they were all fresh faces. I found all but one of the actors thoroughly convincing. And the actor I thought was just a little too grotesque, had such a small (if essential) part that it didn't really matter. Super sexy Justine Priestley delivered a gripping, totally charismatic performance in the title role, while David De Witt was also most believable as Amanda's "victim". I thought writer/director Michael Rissi did a marvelous job, not only with the players but with the script. The way he built up suspense was simply brilliant! Available on an excellent New Concorde DVD. (Although this fact is not mentioned on the cover, the movie's DVD has excellent Spanish sub-titles).
Xapora This really is quite a tacky movie but it can be forgiven its foibles thanks to a few redeeming features. Justine Priestley is beautiful so all the boys will love seeing her strut around in next to nothing. And hey girls, need hairstyle ideas for your prom? Look no further. The hairstylist on this movie had a field day; Amanda sports an elaborate new hair-do in practically every scene. Amanda is also quite an ingenious little thing. She gives MacGyver a run for his money with a bit of break & enter followed by the installation of fibre optics in a roof. She has gadgets galore (scanner, model dressed like her attached to a light timer, TV hooked up to David's house watching his every move) and a great line she shoots at Buzz when he complains about second-hand smoke: "It's not the smoke that kills you, it's the smoker". Ah Buzz, second-hand smoke is the LEAST of your worries! This was never gonna be an Oscar winner. It's a cheap little "thriller" with a few (unintentional) laughs and Justine is fantastic as the evil bitch posing as the All-American girl-next-door. What guy could say "No" to this babe? David certainly couldn't and ... well, you can guess the rest. 2/5 stars (for effort).
ScreenDreams As one other IMDB reviewer has remarked, this movie starts a bit slow, but gets considerably better as it goes along. Yes, it is released by Roger Corman, and yes, it goes over some of the same thematic ground as much higher budget predecessors such as FATAL ATTRACTION and POISON IVY. However, the juxtapositioning of the wife's career as a rising blues singer against the husband's gathering loneliness and his almost Freudian need for filling the emotional and physical "void" or "hole" while she's away along with the clever use of minimal effects and settings is nicely done. Utilizing a very small number of locations and characters, and also using water in almost every scene both as a cleansing and drowning metaphorical symbol throughout, this movie, though clearly suffering from a minuscule budget, reminds me in many ways of the more fully realized and more recent scenario, namely the French film "SWIMMING POOL" which it seems to me at least may have borrowed liberally some useful ideas from "UP AGAINST AMANDA." With a smaller tool set, UP AGAINST AMANDA maintains its suspense with a rudimentary, fatalistic view of surrendering to ones occasional lustful temptations, but accomplishes this as well or better as other films in this genre. The twist of the stepfather abuse of Amanda in the past (again, very Freudian) is also very unique in this genre and interesting. I agree with other viewers about the unexpected and sympathetic reaction for Amanda's plight this aspect of the story elicits. The cast is excellent I think.
Love2U This movie was released by Roger Corman, so you know that the filmmakers didn't have much money to work with.Although, some viewers may miss the subtleties in this movie because of the very typical "obsessed killer" type marketing approach, there are unique differences about this movie.AMANDA, as played by the obviously talented Justine Priestley, is a complex character. Some people like these movies precisely because the violence can seem random, but here the ramifications of past abuse (dealt with in a realistic but tasteful manner) are what shape the psychosis of AMANDA. Surprisingly, Amanda redeems herself at the end with an act of love, where most of these movies turn into the typical, all out fight to the death and the evil character dies just as evil in the end as to begin with.Some rough edges in this picture, but I have to give it 7 out of 10 stars based on its thoughtfulness and yes, originality as compared to the usual -- especially on a budget.