Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Michael_Elliott Windows (1980) ** (out of 4) Emily (Talia Shire) walks into her apartment when she is attacked from behind. She is forced onto the ground with a knife where the man threatens to kill her unless she shows him what she has and that she moans in satisfaction so that he can record it. Police detective Luffrono (Joseph Cortese) questions Emily but she has no details of the man. Soon the two of them are striking up a relationship, which doesn't sit well with Emily's former neighbor Andrea (Elizabeth Ashley).WINDOWS is a film that I heard about decades ago when movies like SINGLE WHITE FEMALE and THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE were making big cash at the box office. It seems WINDOWS was pretty much forgotten for the most part yet I always wanted to see it even with the rather negative reviews that it got. I must admit that the film wasn't very good and in fact it's pretty silly when viewed today. The film attempts to be a psychological study of two troubled women but in the end it's basically about a lesbian who can't tell another woman she wants her.It's interesting that this same year also gave us CRUISING. That film was highly controversial and perhaps so much so that this film got away with the idea that a woman could be a nut simply because she was a lesbian and wants another woman. Instead of telling her she orders the woman to be sexually attacked and then she begins to stalk her. All of this should have made for a more interesting film but sadly WINDOWS just never really takes off. The biggest problem is the screenplay, which tries to avoid any real violence or anything all that dramatic and instead we just see the two women as they discuss their situations with the men in their lives. Emily has her cop friend and Andrea has her shrink.I'm not going to sit here and say that the movie doesn't have any good qualities because it does. Shire was very good in her role, although the screenplay doesn't give her too much to do except to act scared at times and at other times to stutter. She's still quite good as the fragile woman as is Ashley, although she's given even less to do. The real standout was Cortese who was excellent in the role of the detective. The film does benefit from some nice cinematography and the New York City locations were great.Some people might find the subject disturbing and some might find the film to be creepy but neither really worked on me. The film is mildly entertaining but it never has any real suspense and that's its real downfall. Gordon Willis was a wonderful cinematographer but it's easy to see why he never really blossomed as a director. The lack of any real energy or suspense kills the film and you just keep waiting for it to take off but it never does.

zardoz-13 By 1980, New York City, universally known as "the Big Apple," had become the incarnation of a paranoiac's nightmare. Movies like Michael Winner's revenge thriller "Death Wish," Walter Hill's gang epic "The Warriors," and William Friedkin's homosexual murder mystery "Cruising" had spawned this unsavory image and lenser turned director Gordon Willis' "Windows," an excellently made but egriegously scripted sizzler, starring Talia Shire and Elizabeth Ashley, appropriates this negativity for maximum impact. Clearly, at 96 minutes, the R-rated "Windows" exemplifies the theme of women versus women.The voyeurish plot involves a mousey Emily Hollander (Talia Shire of the "Rocky" franchise), who is at the mercy of lesbian stalker Andrea Glassen (Elizabeth Ashley of "The Carpetbaggers"). Ashley pays a cretinous cabbie to rape Emily and tape record the performance. Later, after Emily has moved out of the apartment where she was raped and into a security apartment complex, Glassen has Emily's tabby cat killed and frozen. Glissen sets up a telescope and then watches Emily constantly before she confronts her with the truth that she must possess her! Along the way, Emily becomes involved with an N.Y.P.D. detective (Joseph Cortese).Ace lenser Gordon Willis, who photographed Woody Allen's "Manhattan" and Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather, Part II," makes his directorial debut. Not surprisingly, Willis also doubles as his own cameraman. The technical credits are great, especially Willis' striking photography, two-time Oscar nominated Barry Malkin's suspenseful editing, and Ennio Morricone's atmospheric orchestral score. Talia Shire as victim and Elizabeth Ashley as predator deliver emotionally taut performances.However, the Razzie nominated Barry Siegel screenplay is as sordid as it is stupid. Logic and motivation must have been thrown out the window. Happily, Siegel never wrote another screenplay. We are never told what it is that attracts Ashley to Shire. Presumably, only lesbians will know, but may hate this movie, too, for its phobic attitude. Similarly, Willis never called the shots on another movie, though he continued to lens them. My advice, unless you are written a term paper about "Windows," avoid it.

Francis MOURY Directed by the cinematographer of THE GODFATHER and starring 2 good actresses. Storyline is quite interesting and camera job impressive. It is an original movie. As it was a Warner release (and as I have the Warner Home Vidéo VHS in French version) I wonder how the former commentary can wonder if it was released in vidéo ? Besides, it is the perfect example of a, by now, rare title, which sould be offered again on DVD with sharp image quality and, of course, French soundtrack or subtitles !

chez-3 "Windows" had the distinction of being the very first film released in the decade of the 80's. It was as ominous beginning to the decade as it turned out to be the year's worst film.Talia Shire plays a woman who is raped and then becomes the victim of a psychopathic lesbian who has her eyes set on Shire. Yes you read that right. The most ridiculous scene in the film comes when Shire catches a cab and recognizes the driver as the rapist. She gets him to pull over. What does she do? Run like hell? I think not. She calls the police and is instructed...get this....to get BACK in the cab until the police can find her and trail her.This film is mind numbingly awful. It was the directing debut of noted cinematographer Gordon Willis. It's easy to see why he never directed again.