Living in Peril (1997)

Nice effects though.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Excellent but underrated film

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

***SPOILERS*** Even before he got there to L.A things went wrong for young Seattle architect Walter Woods, Rob Lowe, in having been almost run off the road by an enraged truck driver-Tony Longo-for mot going fast enough in a 70MPH lane. Reporting Longo to his employer later has the well over 300 pound brute come to visit Walter to get him to change his mind so he can get his job back. There's also the man who's hiring Walter to build his "Shining Mansion on the Hill" Mr. Harrison, James Belushi, who never seems to be pleased with Walter's work yet still puts up with him for reasons we and Walter later find out have nothing at all to do with his skills as an architect! Things get even worse for Walter at the rooming house that he stays in with his next door neighbor Catherine Langtry, Alex Meneses, making a play for him and later ending up murdered with him ending up the #1 suspect in her murder! If things weren't bad enough for Walter his apartment is infested with cat size rats that soil his blueprints for Harrison's house and his the house manager William, Dean Stockwell, threaten to throw him and his blueprints out on the street! ***SPOILERS***It's after someone-wearing a leather zip mask- breaks into Walter's room and fractures his big toe that he finally calls the police blaming the truck driver-Mr. Longo-that he earlier reported in a a fender vendor accident as the culprit without a stitch of evidence for the incident that the real reason behind Walter's problems finally come to the surface. Which go back to Seattle in what has to do with Walter's wife Linda's, Dana Wheeler-Nicolson, life before she met and married him. Effective thriller that has Walter fight for his life broken toe and all and when it looked like curtains for him he suddenly ties all the loose ends together along with the crazed killer who was out to murder him!

I do not know if this qualifies as a 'Spoiler' or not, so I ticked the box anyway.This movie is part of a 12 Great Movie Collection on 3 DVDs in 1 box I bought from Walmart and it is NOT a movie that deserves to be in a 'Great' movie collection.I couldn't even finish watching it. IMO this is Not even 'B' movie material in spite of the acting being better than the writing.Walter Woods (Robe Lowe) has the most impossible worst luck EVER!Everything that happens to him is extremely implausible. One thing after another in a string of unbelievable stupidity.Yes people can find themselves in unfortunate circumstances but this guy and this film is just a constant train wreck of implausibility.I cannot believe anyone could be as stupid as this guy, would put up with what he does, would find themselves in the situations that unfold or would handle these situations he encounters the way he does. IMO this is one of the worst films I have ever tried to watch and Believe me I tried to give it a chance to recover but it just kept diving deeper and deeper into ludicrous.There is just no way possible that anyone on earth could find themselves in the situations that unfold in succession for Walter in such short order or even a lifetime for that matter.If it wasn't on the same disc with 2 other half-way decent movies and one really good movie I would toss it in the garbage.The other 3 are: The Leading Man, The Dark Side of the Sun and Personal Effects... which was the best of the 4.

"Living in Peril," is a low-budget thriller about an architect (Rob Lowe as wimpy "Walter Woods") who moves to Los Angeles and is terrorized by a psychopath whom he has yet to discover the identity of or the motive for. There is not much to the story, and the plot treads on sometimes routine scare tactics.However, despite having almost no discernibly gripping, or even remotely entertaining plot, this started out as a pretty funny movie, thanks to the confrontations between Woods and his cynical landlord, William, played wonderfully by Dean Stockwell. William thinks Woods is an idiot every time he comes knocking on his door to complain about one thing or another, and its usually about some kind of rat infestation. Nonetheless, many of Woods' bizarre accusations and callings often baffle William, who is sometimes speechless. Woods once pounds on William's door and asks, "did you move my furniture around in my apartment?" and Stockwell, as William, does not even know what to say at such a moronic suggestion. "Who are you?" he replies with almost a homicidal twitch. Walter's German friend, an aspiring stand up comedian, but sometimes absent minded (although well-meaning) guy adds more humor to the story as does Walter's failed attempts at trying to please his employer, usually because something goes wrong in his apartment, thanks to a psychopathic stalker trying to drive him insane.Then, kind of like the humor in "From the Hip" (an early Judd Nelson comedy/drama) which abruptly shifts into dark drama gear, this movie does the same, shedding its comedic atmosphere (which might have been just enough to contain you despite a weak plot) for the the "thriller" ending, which was a huge disappointment. The killer's motives, once he reveals them as most adversaries do by the end of the film, are completely ridiculous, and almost require a second take to remember who he is talking about in the first place. Unfortunately, the finale is utterly stupid.I would only half recommend this film, as it starts out in a pretty hilarious fashion, but ultimately, once the filmmakers try to entice you with conflict and climax, fail miserably.

This film was recently shown on Cable and the opening 5 minutes is terrific....the music is compelling...setting the scene for a person about to be trapped in a series of perilous incidents...... (anyone who has had one of those days when everything goes wrong can identity with this film!!!) I found at times there were elements of Hitchcock-like suspense with an excellent performance by the lead actor. There are superb performances by the actors playing the apartment manager, the wife, the prostitute and the performance by the german neighbour is compellingly good. I was absorbed by the whole movie with its first rate direction and script. It is a black comedy....comedy drama...and the only dissappointment is the actor playing the part of Harrison...who seems half-hearted throughout.......deduct 2 marks for that but its still an 8 out of 10. rbrb.