| | | | Fatal Attraction
(1987) |
hey say that if you play with fire then you're going to get burned. Dan Gallagher (Douglas) has walked into a propane tank field with a flaming blowtorch.
Dan's a top player in the world of book publishing. He lives in a well-off New York apartment building. He has a loving wife named Beth (Archer) and a little girl named Ellen (Hamilton Latzen). Dan has everything a man could ask for...And he could lose it all thanks to a one night stand.
Her name is Alex Forrest (Close) and she embodies passion. She runs in the same circles that Dan does and when they meet cute at a book industry party, they hit it off immediately. When Beth and Ellen take a trip out of town, Dan and Alex have an intensely passionate fling. The raw passion that exists between them is only temporary, though...At least it is for Dan. Alex has mental and emotional issues, though, and to her the passion continues on. She tries getting back in contact with him and they steal a few more passionate moments. That's all they are to Dan...Mere moments. To Alex, they mean something more. She wants Dan desperately and she'll do anything to have him, even if it affects his family life. She puts it best herself:
"I'm not going to be ignored, Dan!"
What happens in the end depends on which version you see (Trivia regarding that can be found below).
As the Reagan administration was in its' waning days, the go-go eighties were on their way to being gone-gone. "Wall Street" (Michael Douglas' other 1987 hit) parallelled the fall of the stock market. In the same way we can view "Fatal Attraction" as a metaphor for the AIDS crisis. Despite the political and religious climates of the time, sex was still on everybody's mind. The hippies had become yuppies but they still carried that primal passion within themselves. The porn industry went through the roof thanks to the VCR boom. MTV splashed vivid sensual imagery onto our screens with music videos by people like Madonna and Duran Duran. More than 60 percent of all 80s movies were rated R. This can all be traced to the carnality of the baby boomers who assumed power within our favorite decade.
At the same time, AIDS was on the rise. In the early 80s the epidemic began. Some people say it was the airline steward known as "Patient Zero" (a term coined by the late Randy Shilts). Others say that the disease was spread through interspecies breeding. Still others say it was God's revenge for the late 70s. Whatever it was that caused it, the disease became as much associated with the 80s as Rubiks' Cubes, the Brat Pack and hair metal. The vicious visceral nightmare is spread through bodily fluids and dirty needles and the problem continues today.
Alex is much like the AIDS virus. Her siren call is in the form of sexuality, luring men like Dan into delicate webs of evil, dripping with filth and bile. Once she affects Dan, his fate has been sealed. At first she's like an annoyance, as evidenced by her repeated phone calls. She then turns into a phantasm that spreads fear through his family with the killing of the family pet and the kidnapping of Dan's daughter. She then bleeds like the open sores that appear on your body in the later stages of AIDS. Finally, she comes face to face with the man whose world she's changed and the moment of truth arrives.
It's the fear that runs through all of us...What if "the one" can quicken your life to zero? What if it turns out to be a...
Fatal Attraction?
 Don't forget that Fatal Attraction is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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This movie is one of the great thrillers of our time. Michael Douglas was great at playing sleazes (both good guys and bad) in the 80s and it's interesting to see him in a role where the tables are turned. Glenn Close may not neccesarily strike your fancy immediately, but she does have a certain look about her that one can find attractive, if in a more refined manner. When it hits the fan, though, she can play a psycho like nobody's business. Anne Archer does a great job at playing the woman caught in the middle. Adrian Lyne's intense style (learned through his work in the advertising world) starts out quietly and then becomes a fireball of passionate rage.
This movie isn't a chick flick or a guy movie...It's more like a combination of the two. It's great to watch, but it probably shouldn't be viewed in mixed company.
I give it a 9.
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Alex Forrest was named one of the 10 greatest movie villains of all time by the American Film Institute in their "100 Years, 100 Heroes And Villains" list. The movie itself was declared as one of the 100 most exciting movies of all time in the AFI list "100 Years, 100 Thrills". 
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The movie was originally to be called "Affairs Of The Heart" and then it was to be called "Diversions".
The family dog in the movie, a male, yellow labrador retriever, "Quincy" (his real-life name) lived in rural New Jersey with his owners/breeders until he died of natural causes in 1996 at 15.5 years. A self-proclaimed Quincy fan, director Adrian Lyne purchased a female puppy sired by the animal actor and took it to California for his family. -Thanks to Harvey Sanderson
Glenn Close played Alex Forrest in a sketch on "Saturday Night Live" when she hosted it in 1988.
Close says that for years after the movie she was invited to speak at psychology seminars.
Alex starts the film wearing white, but gradually switches to be wearing black towards the end. See also Dial M for Murder (1954), Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986).
Based on a short film made for British TV which James Dearden wrote and directed.
Glenn Close graduated from Rosemary Hall, an all-girls boarding school, the same year Michael Douglas graduated from the Choate School, an all-boys boarding school. The schools later combined to form Choate Rosemary Hall, which is co-ed.
The TV show that Ellen Hamilton Latzen is watching at the beginning of the movie is "You Can't Do That on Television" (1979).
Glenn Close still has the knife she used in the movie hanging in her kitchen.
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Find much more great trivia in the filmmaker's commentary on the Fatal Attraction DVD.
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Fatal Attraction or 80's Thriller classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Hitcher ..... Thief ..... WarGames ..... Christine ..... Against All Odds ..... Blue Velvet ..... 8 Million Ways To Die ..... To Live and Die in L.A. ..... Fear City ..... Pulse ..... No Way Out ..... Blow Out ..... Class of 1984 ..... Contraband ..... Body Double ..... Firestarter .....[More]
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Barbara Hershey, Miranda Richardson and Debra Winger all turned down the role of Alex.
Horror director, John Carpenter, was originally offered the chance to direct.
Brian De Palma was originally slated to direct but he backed out because he feared that the story was too similar to Play Misty for Me (1971).
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|  |  |  | | Fatal Attraction
Locations |
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 Featured Movie Location: Alex's loft apartment
Wanna see the real life filming location used for Alex's loft apartment in the movie? These scenes were actually shot at a private residence, located in New York City, New York. [New! Show Google Map]
The apartment used for Glenn Close's character is a triangular shaped building, a factory built in the late 19th century, now hosts a variety of stores, offices, a dance studio...
According to director Adrian Lyne, although you'd never believe it, the apartment used for INTERIOR scenes with Dan and Beth in the city is the same one previously used by Lyne for his movie 9 1/2 weeks. The apartment is located at 838 West End Avenue (corner 101st St.)
The country home Dan and Beth move to is located in Rye NY, Westchester County, according to the Town of Rye, homepage. It's interesting to note that in the scene where Beth is talking to Dan on the phone from her parents home, you can see the ocean out of the window. This is supposedly the same area Beth and Dan are planning on moving to. Later in the movie, Beth mentions to friends the name of the town they are moving to. I can't recall the name of the town she mentions at the moment, but while it is in Westchester County, it is not Rye and it is nowhere near the ocean! [Thanks to Sandra]
Can you help? Do you know any of the New York City, New York (or any other) filming locations used for Fatal Attraction? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | ![[5.1 CH SURROUND]](dd5.gif) | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, OutTakes |
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| | | | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, OutTakes |
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Maurice Jarre's score is available on CD. Although not included on the disc, the movie also used Belinda Carlisle's song "Circle In The Sand".
Track listing:
1. Fatal Attraction
2. Following Dan
3. Madness
4. Where Is Ellen
5. Beth
6. Confrontation
Maurice Jarre's score doesn't kick in until a half hour into the film.
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Soundtrack Available:
On CD
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