Cruel and Unusual (2002)

Possibly the worst movie I have ever watched - it feels and sounds like it was written, directed and produced by a committee of talentless sixteen year old boys who think that by generating a sense of menace they have achieved enough and need do no more. In fairness, the actors do the best they can. The music was dreadful, the scenes of a guitar-playing, angst-ridden youth practicing with his electric guitar were comically clichéd. The characters were without depth. Themes which might have been explored were treated like like footnotes - Kate's childhood and abusive father, the first victim's apparent death-wish. No attempt was made to understand or explain the principal character. Even the beautiful location was grossly under-used.The only positive note is that it made me realize how much worse other films could be.

Tom Berenger playing a serial killer! That's something new and since I'm a huge fan of this underrated actor I was very eager to get my hands on this flick. Did it disappoint? Not really, but it's far from being anything special. Berenger plays a homicidal drifter who assumes the identity of his latest victim, a professor, and heads to a small community where he gets involved with a local woman and her brother. As his relationship with the woman progresses her brother becomes more and more suspicious of him and it's only a matter of time before things get nasty. A semi well written character study of a psychopath which sadly doesn't delve too deeply into his motivations, and thus, leaving the viewer wanting more. Berenger, as always, does well with his role but the fact is it's an underdeveloped one and therefore doesn't have the intended impact. The end conclusion is mostly satisfying but overall the film is long-winded, has stereotypical supporting characters, particularly the brother, and ultimately fails mostly in the suspense department along with being very predictable. In the end Berenger elevates the film with his performance and one is left with the impression that this film could have been so much better. Sadly it's just average.

Art Stoner (Tom Berenger) is a serial killer, who becomes friend of his victims before killing them, and assuming their identity after their deaths. After killing and assuming the identity of a professor of an university, he moves to work as watchtower in a coastal city. There, he becomes a close friend of his colleague Mike O'Conner (Tygh Runyan), a young man in probation. He starts dating Mike's sister, Kate (Rachel Hayward), who is a single woman of thirty and something years and owns of a fishing vessel. In order to avoid spoilers, I will not make any further comments. This movie is a reasonable entertaining for killing time. Full of clichés, it seems to be some sort of standard screenplay available for producers. The modifications in the script of this type of movies are minimum and combined among them. However, this one is well produced, has a good soundtrack and the good actor (although very fat) Tom Berenger. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): `Um Estranho na Torre' (`A Stranger in the Tower')

**MAJOR SPOILERS** The movie starts out with an almost unrecognizable Tom Berenger, Art Stoner, with a beard and shoulder length hair being in bed with his awe-struck, Art's a big ladies man, girlfriend Cindy, Elizabeth Carol Savenkoff,and before you know it plunges a knife into her ribs. The next morning Art, minus his beard and long hair, is picked up hitch-hiking on the highway by Adam Terrell, Eli Gabay, who's a teacher on his sabbatical going to an Oregon lighthouse to write a book. At the first chance that he has to get Terrell alone when they stop for a rest Stoner again plunges a knife into his ribs and with his car and identity drives to the lighthouse where Terrell rented a place to stay for the summer. It turns out that Stoner is a serial murderer who murdered some twelve persons from South Carolina to Washington State with the local police and FBI hot on his tail. Up to now your interested in the movie and wonder whats coming up next with the deadly Stoner on the loose in the Great Pacific North West but when he gets to the Oregon lighthouse the movie starts to all apart. Stoner ends Living at the lighthouse with Kate O'Conner, Rachel Hayward, and her troubled brother Mike, Tygh Runyn, who's on probation for assault. Like most serial killers Stoner has a split personality where he can be kind and gentle as well as personable as he is with Kate and at the same time vicious and brutal as he is with Mike. Even though at one point in the movie Stoner saves Mike from drowning he beats him up for the smallest reasons, It gets to the point where Mike is almost about to break his parole to not only run away from the lighthouse but leave his sister alone with the unstable and crazy Stoner.With the exception of the first fifteen minutes or so the movie, excuse the pun, just doesn't cut it. You just don't seem to know just what Stoner is all about in his relations with Kate and Mike at the lighthouse because his actions were totally out of character with what he did up to then. Being cunning enough to keep ahead of the police as they chased him across the USA why would he stick himself in one place for six weeks when he knows that the cops are closing in on him! even with his poster, with beard and long hair, all over the town? Having assumed the identity of Terrell why did Stoner keep a photo of him with the cap that Stoner was always wearing right in the open where it could easily be spotted by both Kate and Mike? In fact Mike did find the incriminating photo and told his sister Kate about it. Kate who's an artist and drew a picture of Stoner did later see the wanted poster and recognized it as being him but for some strange reason didn't think of getting in touch with the police? Stoner kills Mike, off camera, as he's about to tell Kate that he's a serial murderer and later in the movie Kate who already got wind of Stoner intentions stabs him as he's about to murder her as we see him fall into cold waters of the foggy bay by the lighthouse. Not being able to find him after searching the bays bottom the police assume that Stoner couldn't have survived the cold waters after being there for more then fifteen minutes and you assume that the movie is over. But just then we see Stoner all dressed up in leather and in the pink of health driving Mikes motorcycle as he drops Kate a letter about following her advice and changing and you get the impression that he changed into Mike. Even if you want to believe that Stoner being stabbed and surviving the ice cold Pacific waters around the lighthouse for hours if not days how could he have recovered so fast without any medical attention? Unlike Jason of Friday the 13th and Michael Myers of Halloween there was nothing in the movie to indicate that Stoner had superhuman or supernatural powers? or was there?