Deadly Intentions

A lot of horror movies rely on shock value to entertain its target audience. Whether its gore, or an over the top character or a ridiculous premise, a lot of fictional stories take a lot of liberties to scare people. Other times, horrors people face every day are on the big screen. Its not uncommon for a horror villain like Freddy Krueger or Chucky to crack a joke before or after killing someone, but spousal abuse is no joke. Back in 1985, a made for TV movie adaptation based on a very real court case was shown called DEADLY INTENTIONS.

https://youtu.be/W4rUfBKwS_4?si=R_JZDHgFK8VK7uJw

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In 1982, William Randolph Stevens took a very real court case and wrote a book about it. In 1985, a film adaptation was made. Since the story and the movie are almost 100% accurate, I won't use the real names of people involved just yet. Instead, here's the general plot of the movie. In 1973, med student Charles Raynor (Michael Biehn - Aliens 1986) catches the eye of aspiring school teacher Katherine (Madolyn Smith-Osbourne - Urban Cowboy 1980) and they hit it off. Standing in their way are Katherine's Greek orthodox parents Alex (Jack Kruschen - The Apartment 1960) and Anna (Morgana King - The Godfather 1972) who want their daughter to think before she leaps. Also in the way is Charles' overbeating mother Charlotte (Cloris Leachman - Young Frankenstein 1974) who is as chilling as she is uncompassionate. Still, Charles gets Alex's permission to marry Katherine but is thrown out by his mother. Once married, Charles' dark side is exposed as he becomes very controlling, prone to outbursts and jealous whenever attention isn't on him. At first Katherine just shrugs it off, but once Charles starts playing aggressive pranks such as having Katherine swim from an allegator and harming innocent animals, Katherine begins to have enough. Charles realizes he's losing control so he finds subtle ways to remind her of consequences if she ever chooses to leave. Complicating things are Katherine's pregnancy and birth which Charles finds more of an inconvenience than a good thing. Finally when the baby is born, Charles becomes increasingly sociopathic. He watches the infant child Charles Jr almost choke to death with a smile on his face and tries to poison the baby as well. Finally, Katherine has enough and makes a run for it. She succeeds....but that's only half of the movie. The second half is Charles facing criminal charges and the verdict. Normally I wouldn't spoil the ending but later on I'll have to since this was a real case anyway.

[caption id="attachment_145729" align="alignnone" width="227"] Elvis from Miami Vice is keeping busy[/caption]

Before we get to the real story, let's talk about DEADLY INTENTIONS itself. Its actually a two part made for TV special clocking in at 3 hours and 20 minutes combined. In other words, its very LONG. The acting is pretty damn good. You can feel the fear on Madolyn Smith Osbourne's expression and we all know Michael Biehn can play a haunting villain. The best performance is arguably Cloris Leachman. She plays such a detestable human being that you want to jump through the screen and strangle her yourself, which is the mark that she did her job very well. Also near the end of the movie during the trial, both the defense attorney for Charles (Kevin McCarthy - Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956) and the prosecuting attorney for Katherine (Cliff De Young - The Craft 1996) turn in good performances. If you're looking for visceral horror, special effects or explosions, they aren't here? What is here though is damn good acting and realism.

[caption id="attachment_145731" align="alignnone" width="197"] You'll want to take a bat to their heads by the end of the movie[/caption]

Still, the bread and butter of DEADLY INTENTIONS isn't gore, one liners or special effects. This was a real case of real spousal abuse. You can watch a guy in a hockey mask start hacking people with a machete and go "its only a movie" but husbands and wives abuse their spouses every single day. Anyone that's ever gone through abuse can see the telltale signs. Passive aggressive voice tones, certain facial expressions, violent outbursts, the irrational need for control over everything, aggressive voice tones, gaslighting and more. The most haunting part that most serial abusers cling to is "No one will believe you." We all remember the famous Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial back in 2022 where Amber Heard said those exact words. Men and women are forced to hear that every day. Now there's two sides of the movie's setting being a good thing or bad thing. The movie established Dr. Raynor as having a messed up childhood and an overbearing mother giving the viewer the impression that Charles clearly needs mental help. Back in 1973, therapy wasn't as common or as promoted as it is today. If Charles would have had the presence of mind as a young man to seek help, maybe he could have been saved. Also, back then social media did not exist. All Katherine would have to do these days is go on social media with pictures of the abuse she suffered and Charles would have been "cancelled" in about 8 seconds. Also nowadays if someone claims abuse, more often than not society will believe them whether they're lying or not. Again, the London papers Amber Heard ran crying to didn't fact check at all, and went right with her story. Once again, there's visceral horror and gore and then there's "No one will believe you", in many cases the second is worse.

[caption id="attachment_145732" align="alignnone" width="300"] Having to live in fear every day is something no wife or husband should go through[/caption]

Now for the spoiler alerts. If you don't want the story or DEADLY INTENTIONS spoiled just skip to the next paragraph. The real Dr. Patrick Henry really did verbally and mentally abuse his wife Christina just like in the movie. Also, just like in the movie he was stopped at the airport with a briefcase full of weapons and had to be let go since technically he committed no crime. He eventually was arrested and convicted in 1979 for attempted murder although he only served 6 years in prison. Christina took her son and changed her identity for safety reasons. Want to have a laugh? In 1987, Patrick was arrested for marijuana possession in Mobile, Alabama but it gets even better. Apparently while investigating further, they found AIDS infested blood and a manifest detailing that he was plotting to kill a federal prosecutor. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and undergo psychiatric treatment. You would think he would lay low after already tainting his name and life the first time, not this doofus.

[caption id="attachment_145733" align="alignnone" width="300"] 6 years for attempted murder, 15 years for possession and more attempted murder[/caption]

The bottom line is a movie like DEADLY INTENTIONS serves its purpose as a 3 hour and 20 minute public service announcement. Even today, too many men and women are being abused and a lot of it is under the premise of "no one would believe you." Not everyone is the classic "wife beater" either, Patrick/Charles rarely laid a hand on Christina/Katherine but his verbal abuse and desire to scare her wasn't any less traumatizing. Is it a good movie? Yes. Is it ridiculously long? Also yes. Is it historically accurate? One last yes. If anyone reading this thinks no one will believe them, someone will.

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