I'm shocked that 23 years after this movie was released, I am the first person to review it. How can that be? It isn't that the film has nobody in it that anyone has ever heard of, since Charles Dance has acted in a number of movies and is face is fairly well known.
Whatever, this is a strange film. Maybe it was too strange for people in the mid '80s and, as I recall, it was a BBC film so maybe it got just limited exposure and mainly in England.......yet.....I bought a used VHS copy here in the States. ( I'm just trying to figure out what there are no reviews on this.)
Some of the stuff I liked and didn't like, in no particular order: the film has a lot of style to it, but the lead character - Dance playing "Paul Hatcher" - is just too unappealing. The main character is a transvestite and begins to really act weird in spots. The script also is a bit talky for a suspense thriller. It need more action. It had an interesting premise: a movie critic who spies on his neighbors. He gets caught, and look out! Then, Hatcher, who isn't real stable to begin with, starts confusing reality with movie fiction. Without giving anything away, he winds up on the hit list of mobsters.
As I said, it's a strange film. Frankly, I'd like to see it again, this time with a good DVD transfer.
By the way, the definition of McGuffin - as used in film - is "a plot device that has no specific meaning or purpose other than to advance the story; any situation that motivates the action of a film either artificially or substantively. It's also written 'MacGuffin.'"
Does that clarify anything? Probably not, any more than the film does, which is another reason I would like to read others' opinions of this odd movie.