Netflix Self-Torture Experiment Trilogy #59: Fascination
I don’t even remember which list of “worst movies ever” I found this one, but it’s supposed to be really bad according to somebody on the internet somewhere.
Synopsis from Netflix: Young Scott Doherty (Adam Garcia) gets suspicious when his mother (Jacqueline Bisset) plans to wed Oliver Vance (Stuart Wilson) soon after her husband’s untimely death. Scott investigates with Oliver’s pretty daughter, Kelly (Alice Evans), who shares Scott’s doubts about the upcoming nuptials. Along the way, he falls in love with Kelly, but a fatal explosion turns Scott’s life upside down — and the evidence points to him. Has he been framed?
My thoughts (extensive spoilers included): This movie is a prime example of how a decent plot idea can be fucked up by trying to fit in too many plot twists and soft-core sex scenes instead of just focusing on the story.
Basically, Scott’s dad dies at the beginning in a swimming accident despite the fact that he was a world-class swimmer. After the funeral, his mom goes on a cruise and comes back engaged to some British dude named Oliver. As coincidence has it, Oliver’s daughter Kelly is in town and she and Scott subsequently fall in love. As Scott begins questioning the circumstances of his father’s death, Kelly shares with him the story of her mother’s death. (Can you start to see where this is going?)
An exhumation and toxicology screen of Scott’s dad shows that his blood pressure medication had been tampered with, deepening the suspicions of foul play on somebody’s part. Adding to the “intrigue” is that Kelly and Scott find pictures of their respective surviving parents hanging out in England from before his dad’s death. Scott is now convinced that his mom and Oliver conspired to kill his dad and questions Kelly about her involvement, but then they end up fucking and he trusts her again.
As it turns out, Kelly had indeed been involved with the scheme because (plot twist!) it was Scott’s dad that killed her mom when she was just a child. Now that she’s unexpectedly fallen in love with Scott, she wants the revenge-seeking to stop. Oliver seems to agree and asks Kelly for one last dance to remember “how things once were.”
Wait, what?
Yep, it turns out that (plot twist!) Kelly isn’t his daughter at all but an orphan he took in after both her parents died, and then I guess they became lovers. Since she is honestly in love with Scott now, Oliver hatches a plan to kill Scott’s mom.
Wait, what?
I don’t know the rationale of killing Scott’s mom either, but the point is the plan goes wrong and (plot twist?) both Oliver and Scott’s mom end up being blown up in a house explosion. Oliver doesn’t immediately die, though, and a sequence of events results in Scott being arrested for murder because it looks like he pulled Oliver’s oxygen tube.
Kelly comes to his aid and tells her story to the cops, which exonerates Scott’s mom from the murder of Scott’s dad (plot twist!) but somehow doesn’t result in her being arrested for conspiracy. As they’re driving away from the police station, Scott begins to question her honesty again so she tries to jump out of the vehicle. In his attempt to keep her from suicide, Scott winds up crashing and the car overturns. Both of them climb out seemingly injured, but then they immediately start doing it on the beach and the credits roll.
Wait, what?
[One out of five stars.]
