28 March 2024
Lies (1983)
100 min.
Directed by Ken and Jim Wheat.
With Ann Dusenberry, Bruce Davison, Clu Gulager, Gail Strickland, Terence Knox, Bert Ramsen, Dick Miller, Douglas Leonard.
A little fun can be had with this mediocre horror. But ultimately it's too convoluted to be taken seriously.

Struggling, out-of-work actress Robyn Wallace (Dusenberry, from JAWS 2) accepts a job playing a heiress who's committed to an asylum.

The part gets even meatier, when Robyn finds out the heiress goes completely over the deep end and commits suicide.

But wait. Is this a fictional part, or is there some thread of truth to all this? Could it be some all-too-real inheritance coup is underfoot that Robyn isn't aware of?

Will Robyn make it out of this mess alive?

Similar to both 1976's Scalpel (a better version of this sort of thing) and Dead of Winter, this has a few good moments, but tries to be too clever for its own good; its twisty plotlines lose you in the end.

Think of 16 different editings of the classic Vertigo running all at the same time and you have an idea of how this one plays out.

Actually that might sound more complimentary than it's meant to be. Lies isn't anything special, but it is competently directed and boasts decent production values, so mystery aficionados will no doubt find some entertainment here.

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