Tunnel Vision Reviews

For those who are too often disappointed by direct-to-video releases, a sneakily structured serial killer spree like TUNNEL VISION can seem like manna from heaven. Bolstered by the apparent support of partner Kelly Wheatstone (Patsy Kensit), Detective Frank Yanovitch (Robert Reynolds) faces a rocky road in marriage and career. His pencil-pushing boss, Chief Kevin Bosey (Shane Briant), detests Frank's Dirty Harry style; Frank blindly suspects his newlywed bride Helena (Rebecca Rigg) of dallying with her coworker, David DeSalvo (David Woodley); and Frank's task force can't solve a string of slayings in which a madman poses his victims like models. As the investigation reaches a dead end with alibied gallery owner Craig Breslin (Justin Monjo), the homicides, linked to an S&M club, continue. Unable to stem his jealousy, Frank becomes the prime suspect after his wife's associate David turns up dead--right after Frank goes ballistic over planted love letters from David that Helena denies ever seeing. On the lam to prove his innocence, Frank outmaneuvers Chief Bosey when he tries to apprehend fugitive Frank single-handedly. Kelly is, however, more than a born crime-solver who eventually cracks the serial killer case; surreptitiously, she has undermined Frank and Helena's relationship with incriminating traces of adultery and has killed David, not out of jilted passion for Frank, but out of unrequited love for Helena. After knocking out Frank at her home, Kelly grapples with Breslin. Although fatally wounding Kelly and garroting Frank, murderer Breslin falls prey to a bullet from the dying Kelly. With Kelly out of the way and the artistic killer slain, Frank can rejoin the force and reconcile with Helena. What makes this gritty whodunit so bracing is its sophisticated ability to juggle two tenuously related plot threads. Armchair private eyes are in the enviable position of mulling over the wherefores of two unsolved mysteries. Whereas the denouement of the serial slaying case might have wound down with a fuller array of suspects, one can't lodge any niggling criticism against Kelly's campaign of malice against her patsy Frank. The deft screenplay pulls the wool over our eyes, as sweet-faced, oh-so-concerned Kelly practices domestic terrorism. Adroitly planting red herrings to cause the viewer to stumble away from quick solutions, TUNNEL VISION prolongs its wrap-up suspensefully. Instead of edge-of-seat thrills, this startlingly acrid examination of criminal behavior on both sides of the law creates an environment where the innocent behave guiltily and the culpable hide their cunning. The "tunnel vision" of the title is actually the audience's. (Graphic violence, extreme profanity, extensive nudity, adult situations.)