A married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family. Fatal Attraction (1987) was one of the very first films about a stalker that blindly falls for it's victim and basically stalks every movie that he makes and it's easily one of the better films about that small and forgotten genre it's not just great as a horror film but it's also great as a suspenseful thriller that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Glenn Close gives a terrific and believable performance as this crazy woman that stalks Michael Douglas who is also pretty damn great in this film. The final shot of the movie itself during the bathtub sequence feels like an actual horror movie and it is one and a pretty damn great one indeed. The story is focused on one thing and one thing only which is obsession it doesn't try to go on a different direction or try something else it knows what it is and it's a pretty damn serious film it might have some of the classic horror film over the top moments but it doesn't get ridiculous or ruins the movie for the viewer. I can also buy the fact that it was nominated for 6 Oscars since it was pretty damn great and for that i'm going to give it an A+

It's amazing to think that dozens - maybe hundreds(?) - of movies, especially from the Lifetime channel, can trace their lineage to this film (and people like John Carpenter and Brian De Palma turned this down in part as they saw it as unoriginal, taking from Clint Eastwood's great debut, Play Misty for Me). I think that makes this hold up is the acting, pure and simple. Douglas and Close and also Anne Archer as the wife really make this material work as strong as it can - they sell every minute they can, and they have to. This is even in knowing that the movie doesn't really have a very firm moral leg to stand on; we should be on Michael Douglas' side, but he's the one that screwed up.Sure, Glenn Close is crazy, or a victim of abuse as well if one wants to dig a little deeper (who knows what happened with dear old dad before he died of that heart attack), but, and this is important, she's right (certainly initially) or at least has a point that should matter about how he's just tossing her to the wayside after a night or two of "fun". I like that Lyne and the writer have underlying implications that make it more harrowing and that it paints the two sides as neither right or wrong (though of course one is more wrong than the other, the wrongs don't make anything right) up to varying degrees. What makes it not stand up over time is the ending, or even the last act.From a writing perspective it should have ended how it was originally supposed to, with Alex killing herself and framing Dan as if it was murder. It calls back to the mention of Madame Butterfly, which is the set up and pay-off. But because the producers acquiesced it turns into the template for countless s***y movies where the character has one last hurrah to mess with the supposed heroes and blood is spilled and one more life is lost. In a sense my criticism is the same as Ebert's, that it kind of turns into a Friday the 13th movie. But at least for 85% of the running time, maybe 90%, it is a provocative, terrifying drama that has a simple moral message: don't cheat.

Let me start by saying that this was a very decent movie. Michael Douglas at his best doing the roles he does best. And not only him but the rest of the crew as well.To me, the best part of this movie is actually the very believable plot. This is a situation that could happen to anyone, and to a different extent has happened to people I know. Furthermore, both the script and all the actors make the movie all the more believable. It is true that the movie deflates itself towards the end, but overall it is a great movie, and even a warning movie for the ones attempting to do what is done there.The movie gets 8 points on my list because of the less-believable ending, and also because Glenn Close, while doing a perfect part in the acting, should take the part of the wife, and the wife (Anne Archer) should take the part of Glenn Close. This said, even as it is the movie should not be unbelievable. I have seen worse, and you will know what I mean when you actually watch the movie yourself.One thing that cracked me up were the negative comments on this website. It seems that they were mostly written by women with chip in their shoulders. They do not criticize the movie, but the "fatal attraction". They criticize the fact that men would do this or that, or that a man would prefer X over Y...basically making quite clear that something touched them at a personal level and they did not like it. I guess truth hurts.If you haven't watch this movie, do it. It is well written, incredibly well acted, and as much as you will have to forgive the last 5 minutes, it is overall a great movie.

"Fatal Attraction" is a fairly humdrum thriller enlivened by Glenn Close's performance as the villain.Its plot is one we've all seen before: married man has an affair with the wrong woman who turns out to be a psycho. He can't ditch her immediately because she might tell his wife, see, so the movie grows out of this trite situation.It also really avoids any real tension. You've probably already heard of the famous "bunny boiler" moment. This is actually also pretty trite: animals are always harmed in thrillers as a way to show the villain's increasing capacity for violence. I guess it must have been a shocking moment back in '87, because everybody seems to remember it, but now it's tired.The movie lacks scares, which is either because the filmmaker wasn't capable of providing them, or because he knew that Close could do it through her performance alone.I'm not the first to ask this, but what was it with Michael Douglas and attracting dangerous hotties? Glenn Close, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone. Was he that attractive?