Looker (1981)
Genre: Sci-Fi | Thriller
Country: USA | Director: Michael Crichton
Language: English | Subtitles: None
Aspect ratio: Cinemascope 2.35:1 | Length: 89mn
Includes Audio Commentary
with Writer / Director Michael Crichton
(Second Audio Track)
Plastic surgeon Larry Roberts performs a series of minor alterations on a group of models who are seeking perfection. The operations are a resounding success. But when someone starts killing his beautiful patients, Dr. Roberts becomes suspicious and starts investigating. What he uncovers are the mysterious - and perhaps murderous - activities of a high-tech computer company called Digital Matrix.
Welcome to the daffy world of Looker, a 1981 film that manages to blend one or two interesting cultural ideas with a dismal storyline and a wonderfully cheesy early-Reagan-era look. The trail of murders leads to a corporation called Digital Matrix (Crichton always was prophetic about naming things), where head honcho James Coburn has launched a nonsensical plan involving TV commercials and mind control. Accused of the model deaths, Finney must track down the real culprit, aided by client Susan Dey (in her most appealing non-TV role). There's also a crazy "light gun" that causes victims to black out, a device that leads to some very strange shoot-outs. All of this might have been fun if the movie had any kind of suspense or distinctive characters. Albert Finney made this the same year he did Wolfen, after a hiatus from movie acting--a pair of eccentric choices, to be sure. Adding to the silliness is a truly wretched theme song, made the way they made 'em in the early '80s.
Looker (1981)
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