Deadly Illusion (1987)

A detective is framed for a murder he didn't commit.

Directors:

Larry Cohen, William Tannen

Writer:

Larry Cohen

Stars:

Billy Dee Williams, Vanity, Morgan Fairchild

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Dee Williams	...	Hamberger
Vanity	...	Rina
Morgan Fairchild	...	Jane Mallory / Sharon Burton
John Beck	...	Alex Burton
Joe Cortese	...	Detective Paul Lefferts (as Joseph Cortese)
Michael Wilding Jr.	...	Costillion
Dennis Hallahan	...	Burton Impostor
Jenny Cornuelle	...	Gloria Reid
Allison Woodward	...	Nancy Costillion
Joe Spinell	...	Crazy Man in Gun Bureau (as Joe Spinnel)
Harriet Rogers	...	Mrs. Bains
George Loros	...	Levante
Charlie Malcolm	...	Assistant District Attorney
Thom Curley	...	Wexler
Richard Triggs	...	Toll Booth Attendant

Storyline

A stranger pays Billy Dee Williams to kill his wife. But instead Billy, who is a Private Detective, tells the wife her husband tried to do. When she turns up dead anyway, Billy is suspected. Hopefully with the assistance of his secretary/girlfriend he can solve the case before the police catch up to him.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | private detective | independent film

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Taglines:

If the killer isn't really a killer... and his victim isn't really a victim... why do people keep turning up dead?

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Genres:

Adventure | Thriller | Crime

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love You to Death

Filming Locations:

Rockefeller Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$626,724 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pound Ridge Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Larry Cohen started the film, was fired halfway through it and replaced by William Tannen.

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Connections

Referenced in Shakedown (1988)

User Reviews

ouch! ok, for billy dee and vanity fans. morgan hot and cold. what a wreck!

watch the first half of this movie and invent your own second half. it had so much promise.

mr. williams and ms. fairchild get it going with what seems to be an actual passion for their pairing and proximity. and why not? mr. colt 45 and ms. seduction were the hot and bother of their decade, and even if it would be a few more years before ms. sciorra and mr. snipes mixed it up in JUNGLE FEVER, the dams were ready to break. vanity fans will also not be disappointed. if you are souring from the aftertaste of lando calrissian in RETURN OF THE JEDI, this is good tonic. the best visuals of the movie are when mr. williams plants his lower body and delivers a punch. other action stars should study this, but alas, not everyone can move with the authoritative and accessible grace of billy dee.

ms. fairchild's fans will not like ms. fairchild in liza minelli hair, but she has her moments on screen and returns to familiar coiffure and stature soon enough. her moments make good excerpts, like cuttings from a magazine. ms. vanity, in contrast, flows more happily with the film's main stream.

the deadly illusion in this case is the illusion that mr. cohen had an ending to the film when he pitched the beginning. and no, neither this title nor its alternate title has anything to do with the story.