Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Lost 'In the Deep Woods' Date: Mon, 26 Oct 92 14:37:03 EST Message-ID: \SE D;LIFE;TELEVISION \HD Lost 'In the Deep Woods' \SH Perkins wasted in his final role \BY Bill O'Brien \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Alas, everybody's favorite psychopath, Anthony Perkins, is no longer with us. You can get one last look at the actor tonight on "NBC Monday Night at the Movies," although it's not a pretty sight. Mr. Perkins stars in "In the Deep Woods," a thriller about a serial killer whose motive baffles police and the FBI. No doubt Mr. Perkins was recruited for this pedestrian production because of his reputation for instilling a sense of tension and dread in audiences. Who could ever forget his Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" some 32 years ago? And even though the three sequels amounted to more hoot than horror, his deranged character lingers on in the American psyche. But tonight's movie should have been titled "In the Deep Wooden" as far as Mr. Perkins' performance is concerned. He keeps popping up here and there as one of three possible suspects in the serial killings. He always wears a trenchcoat, never changes facial expression, and says his lines with all the intensity of a cigar store Indian. This might not have been all his fault, however. The actor, who died last month of AIDS complications at age 60, does not look well at all in this, his last role. His face is pale, his cheeks hollow. The plot of "Woods" also is anemic. It methodically introduces us to Joanna Warren (Rosanna Arquette), an illustrator of children's books who knows one of the murder victims. She has an overly protective brother, Tom (Chris Rydell), and a narcissistic boyfriend, Frank, played with smirky aplomb by D.W. Moffett. Before the movie is 20 minutes old, Paul Miller (Mr. Perkins), who claims to be a private detective, approaches Joanna and starts insinuating that her brother is the serial killer. Incredibly, this immediately plants a seed of doubt in her mind. So much for sisterly love. Then loverboy Frank becomes suspect. And, of course, there's always the possibility that private dick Miller is the killer. After a while, Joanna even starts to wonder about police official Eric Gaines (Will Patton), when he comes on to her. At one point the smitten Gaines asks her: "Do you think it's me, huh? I mean is that why I'm getting the brushoff here?" It's hard to take the movie seriously after a howler like that. To keep the plot's pot boiling, screenwriters Robert Nathan and Robert Rosenblum drop in tantalizing clues about the serial killer's identity. But this madman's modus operandi is pretty lame - literally. He uses crutches and arm slings when approaching his victims to gain their sympathy and get to know them. Then he takes them to isolated wooded areas, does unspeakable things to them, and kills them. Director Charles Correll does a passable job of pacing his movie, while well-worn ominous music pumps up the tension. But overall, "Woods" just kind of lays flat. Mr. Perkins' role is squandered. He never instills us with the delicious sense of dread that made "Pyscho" so entertaining. You might say his appearance in "In the Deep Woods" is a Bates-and-switch trick. ***** ONE AND ONE-HALF STARS WHAT: "In the Deep Woods" WHEN: Tonight, 9 to 11 WHERE: NBC (channels 2 and 4) MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM