AFTER MIDNIGHT
Who's that girl?
Watched this anthology flick tonight, and it's pretty good, overall. Here's the rundown.
A bunch of college kids sign up for a course on the psychology of fear, taught by the motorcycle-riding vigilante judge from that really bad TV series a few years back. His teaching style in the classroom is met with disapproval by the Dean (he puts a gun to the head of one of his more belligerent students to make him experience Real Fear, because only through experience can it be understood), so he invites his students to a private gathering at his house where they can treat each other to...that's right...Real Fear. And thus they tell stories, while the offended student plots his revenge outside.
Now, the stories themselves aren't quite the spine-chilling nerve-shatterers they're made out to be. The first one concerns a young married couple whose car is stranded outside a spooky house, and they...guess what. The couple is played by a pretty endearing couple of actors, and while the story offers no real surprises, its "surprise" ending works on a "Yeah, I thought so" kind of level. The second one's a little better, about four teenage girls who are beset by three savage dogs and their obviously insane keeper. Features the chick from "Mr. Belvedere", who I had a crush on as a kid. The third one improves things more, starring Marg Helgenberger as a switchboard operator who is taunted and stalked by a deranged fan of one of her celebrity clients. It's definitely got its good moments, although it owes a bit to an urban legend or two. And the wraparound material's probably the best, with a good cast (the guy playing the Professor is most noteworthy) and a really bizarre ending. Unfortunately, it does feature a line that almost tops that one from Humongous in sheer awfulness: "Why am I shivering? Is it the story, or is it just cold in here?" Never mind that. The movie's worth a look anyway.
About my mystery woman - one of the girls who gathers at the prof's house seems REALLY familiar to me. I didn't catch the character's name, but the actress kinda looked like a brown-haired Tori Amos with braces. Adorable : )