Single White Female 2: The Psycho

CAUTION: Plot spoilers present. PR executive Holly Parker breaks up with her boyfriend & moves out of her shared apartment when she catches her best friend & co-worker Jan Lambert sleeping with him. She moves into the apartment of Tess Kositch, a painfully shy nurse who desperately needs a friend. But as soon as she settles in, Holly notices a strange number of behaviours with Tess, who has a history of convincing her friends to kill themselves in suicide pacts that she keeps getting out of. Tess also kills some of the patients in her care & frequents an underground S&M club. As Holly tries to come to terms with her new friend's lifestyle, Tess plans to drive Holly to suicide, first by killing off her friends. SINGLE WHITE FEMALE was a thriller that became a hit during the early 1990s – one of a number of psycho-thrillers that made their name at that time. Along with Basic Instinct & the bunny-boiler Fatal Attraction, Single White Female was part of a new era of thriller, which concerned itself less with traditional boogeymen & more with dangerously unstable female characters who latch onto their prey like a lion hunting a gazelle & wreak havoc in their target's families. Despite not exactly leaving the door open for a sequel, SWF somehow managed to spawn a direct-to-video sequel with Single White Female 2: The Psycho in 2005, a good thirteen years after the original came out. I had a sinking feeling when I hired the DVD & saw the names of Andy Hurst & Ross Helford on the sleeve as the writers – these two had made their name writing various sequels to the classic John McNaughton thriller WILD THINGS, which was actually a parody of the same kind of film that SWF belonged to. What works for a thriller parody doesn't quite work for a serious film like SWF 2. Needless to say, the film doesn't get very far. The main problem with a direct-to-video sequel such as SWF 2: The Psycho (yeah, I know, the title needed a lot more work) is that you're trying to hit a niche market – fans of early 1990s' psycho-thrillers, mainly – but by hiring a pair of writers who had made themselves known for their parodies of the very genre your film is in, the hope of a serious film goes right outside the window. Indeed most fans of the original film had trashed this sequel badly due to this very reason. But on the other side of the coin, the film emerges remarkably better than I had initially hoped would happen. Helford & Hurst actually manage to do something serious for a change, although they drop the numerous threesomes that come in their bread-&-butter scripts (the Wild Things sequels) & replace it with a much more restrained thriller. It is quite strange to see that with the original, Jennifer Jason Leigh & Bridget Fonda were already big stars when they started work on SWF, yet went ahead with baring their bodies – yet here, Kristen Miller & Allison Lange are complete unknowns but must have had 'no-nudity' clauses put into their contracts, judging by the fact that they both don't appear naked. I suspect that had they allowed themselves to appear starkers, they would have gotten more fans than what ultimately transpired here. Other than that, I had no problem with the acting. The story is another issue – I didn't buy the heroine's plight due to her character being a complete floozy – Kristen Miller's PR executive deliberately has sex with her client for a promotion yet dumps him when her friend & co-worker does it with him (something that would have worked better were this a Wild Things sequel) & goes through her new friend's personal belongings & spies on her. This I didn't like. Still, the film is not a total loss – the thriller mechanics, once they kick in, do the job reasonably. But as far as sequels go, Single White Female 2: The Psycho is far from what the original film deserved.

Recap: Two career-minded young and successful women, Holly and Jan, live together but compete for everything. The promotion at the job and even more importantly perhaps, boyfriends. No rules apply and Holly flees the apartment after Jan tricked her out of town during a important business meeting and then seduced Holly's new boyfriend. Holly moves in with Tess, a vulnerable young woman that soon take a liking to Holly. Too much perhaps, because soon Tess copies Holly clothes, hair color and starts appearing at her job. All the while Tess tries to force Holly to break with her former friend Tess seem more and more manipulative. Comments: A rather poor attempt to make a psychological thriller. Unfortunately it seems they forgot to bring the psychological element and seem content that the audience will keep watching just because all the leads are young and beautiful actresses. It doesn't work. To add a psychological level to any movie you need suspense to go with some really well written and developed characters. Relationships need to be given time to be established and to evolve slowly, to seem really plausible. This movie gives the opposite. There is no depth to the characters. Each and every one of the three leads are shallow, manipulative egoistic and it is hard to sympathize even with the heroine. Neither of them is very friendly, even to their good friends. Also the relationships develop without cause or explanation, it looks more like temporary alliances and feuds that start and end with a single word. The story is also predictable on a level that even the heroine should see what is happening. It annoys me that she suddenly trusts her new roommate (Tess), whom she has known all of a few days, more than old friends when Tess accuses them of having tried to take advantage of her. Why would she do that if she had any real connection with any other person? No, this movie doesn't work, at all. Sure, I can see that the women are beautiful, but that doesn't make a movie. And it is far too little when you try to build something deep and intriguing out of thin air. 3/10

Holly Parker (Kristen Miller) and Jan Lambert (Brooke Burns) are roommates battling over job and boyfriend. Holly moves out to a new place and takes on Tess Kositch (Allison Lange) as her new roommate. There is nothing surprising going on in this script. Like the original, a woman is being harassed by her roommate. Whereas the original hits on some new paranoia, this is simply a repeat without much effort. The two actresses are both relative unknown and it shows here. They don't have much screen presence. I don't find either that compelling. The budget and style is limited. The only worthwhile performance is Brooke Burns who plays a pretty good bitch. Overall, this is a functional watch but forgettable. It adds nothing new to its predecessor.

Single White Female 2: The Psycho, should be renamed : The Fiasco. It began with some promise, and it was nice to see the sequel wasn't a carbon copy of the original. However, my view of the film quickly changed. Never in my whole life have I witnessed such a terrible performance and production of a film. I'm aware it was a low budget film, but that is no excuse. Paranormal activity was a strong testament of how a low budget film can do well. There was no sense of direction, every scene felt like it could've been removed - (because it didn't help develop the storyline) and there were enough plot holes to keep you buried in confusion. None of the characters were explored in depth, and I didn't feel that the 'pyscho' showed any indication of being mental. The flashbacks were as puzzling as a pink zebra; they didn't relate to the film at all. This is anything but a thriller, and I'm so disappointed because the 1992 film was great! This film is not worthy to have the title it has.

i don't know what to think of this movie.i mean,it's definitely trashy,and more soft core * than thriller.there's some pretty bad hairdo's in this one.and there the pretty people,and i mean that in a sarcastic way.the two friends/co workers were supposed to be hot,i guess,but they really just seemed plastic.the only woman in the movie i found attractive was Alison Lange because she wasn't all prettied up.she has natural beauty to her.anyway,that's beside the point.back to the movie.there aren't really any sympathetic characters.they all get what they deserve,especially for being as stupid as they all are.having said that,i actually thought this was a fun movie,watching the bad acting,and the main characters continually trying to screw each other over.if you ask me,they're all nuts.and then there's Todd Babcock doing his best Julian McMahon impersonation.all in all it was trash,but it was amusing trash,i'll give it that.my vote for single White female 2:The Psycho is a 5/10

As a straight-to-DVD sequel made some 13 years after everyone had long forgotten about the original movie, SINGLE WHITE FEMALE 2: THE PSYCHO (what a useless sub-title!) doesn't disappoint. By that, I mean it's as defunct as you imagine it's going to be, a slightly cheesy follow-up to the first film featuring none of the same actors and an all-too-familiar script. As DVD bargain bin fodder goes, SINGLE WHITE FEMALE 2 is far from the worst I've seen. The most interesting thing about it is the story, which avoids cliché for the first half and sets up an interesting situation in a love triangle that centres around a PR agency in New York. You're left guessing as to who the titular psycho is. Things gradually become more predictable towards the ending, and the climax is just as you'd expect, but for the most part it's not too bad and it held my interest. One interesting thing about the production is TV director Keith Samples, who directs this film like it's a softcore erotic thriller, such as the ones Shannon Tweed starred in (endlessly) during the 1990s. Every actress is required to do at least one underwear or semi-* scene, all the women wear low-cut, loose fitting clothing, and Samples spends an inordinate amount of time ogling female flesh. While the cast is nothing to write home about, I quite enjoyed the performance from the unfamiliar actors. Kristen Miller headlines and makes Holly a tough, sympathetic lead for the most part, while Allison Lange does well to play it understated for much of the running time. Todd Babcock and Brooke Burns are less effective, but certainly passable enough for this genre. So, in summation, SINGLE WHITE FEMALE 2 is just about par for the course for this sort of film. It's certainly fast-paced and held my attention for the running time. Given that I didn't like the original movie at all, I found this a step up despite the obvious flaws.

This is a worthy sequel to the original nail biter and a superbly frightening film in its own right. With an original script full of scares by Glenn Hobart, Andy Hurst, and Ross Helford, the movie moves along at a very fast pace with hardly a dull moment. The direction is by the visionary Keith Samples and once again he does not disappoint when he is at the helm. He gives the story a disturbing atmosphere and uses his camera like a sculptor a chisel. What is truly outstanding about this small film are the performances of the female leads. Kristen Miller, Allison Lange, Brooke Burns, and Tracey McCall are extraordinary actors. Not only do they give this film sensuality and fire, they are all lovely and the camera loves them. Miller is particularly striking and uniquely gifted. In the role of Holly Parker she is nothing less than superb and gives a very memorable performance indeed. It's virtually impossible to take one's eyes off screen whenever she appears and she has that certain quality that few actresses now days possess. It is an easy prediction that we will see her in the near future accepting a gold statuette. With a fine director, a strongly structured, surprising script, and some of the best actresses to step before a camera in years, this is an underrated gem and one motion picture that demands to be seen.

TV director Keith Samples at his first long format film, directs a team of of unknown actors in this mediocre flick. The story is set in a PR firm in Manhattan, where female rivalry seems to be leading sooner or later not only to bad flat partnership, and boyfriends swapping, but soon to crime. The criminal element may however show up from the direction of the third female, the apparently innocent good girl, too innocent for the viewer not to suspect that she is going to draw aggressively the kitchen knife, sooner or later. I am hinting to the main problem of this film. Although the story is not that bad the lack of experience and inspiration of the director and actors lead to a much too predictable film, which is not much more that an opportunity to show some flesh and some blood, but is neither sexy enough or scary enough for the viewers to care.

SINGLE WHITE FEMALE 2: THE PSYCHO is definitely cast out of the same mold as the original. The first movie was very well done, well acted, well directed, and a great plot. While the plot for the second is similar, I really liked the way everything was neatly tied up at the end. I have a hard time deciding whether the first or second is better. The first movie was very original; but, I liked the back-story and story line of the second better. I also liked the acting in the second better; albeit it is hard to top Bridget Fonda. I think the sequel had more suspense; and, the soundtrack really propelled things along well. I am really a fan of old, b-grade horror, so seeing a low-budget, modern sequel that is driven by story and character, without relying on computer-generated effects is really more to my liking!

How does that line in "Henry VIII I Am" go? Oh, yeah: "Second verse...same as the first!" When the movie first started, I thought Burns' character was going to be the bad girl in here, as she's done before, but that she wasn't was the only mild surprise in this film. If you've seen the original with Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, you're not missing much by skipping this film. I noticed it was so bad, it was never even released theatrically in the US! The girls are all pretty, but the film is pretty predicable. Save yourself the trouble and rent the first one on DVD! Like I stated in the summary, 2 out of 10 stars is a gift to this film. I'm actually surprised that I couldn't wait for this movie to end so I could end up trashing it like I've done..and if you've ever read any of my other reviews, you'd see that it would take a lot for me to trash something like this. Unfortunately, I can't find one thing to save this movie.