The Ex (1997)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Mark L. Lester

Writers (WGA):

John Lutz (novel)
Larry Cohen (screenplay) ...

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

In order to get her husband back, an architect's psycho ex-wife kills everybody she can get her hands on.

Plot Keywords:

Architect | Ex Wife | Manipulation | Psychopath | Sadomasochism

Cast

Yancy Butler	...	Deidre Kenyon
Suzy Amis	...	Molly Kenyon
Nick Mancuso	...	David Kenyon
Hamish Tildesley	...	Michael Kenyon
Babs Chula	...	Dr. Lillian Jonas
Claire Riley	...	Detective Lang
Barry W. Levy	...	Frank
Roger Barnes	...	Sam Beltzer
Tom Pickett	...	Kenyons Doorman
Barry 'Bear' Horton	...	Biker
Arlene Belcastro	...	Next Door Neighbor
Allison Warren	...	Hotel Clerk

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:18 | Netherlands:16 | Germany:18 (video premiere) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

American World Pictures (AWP)

Trivia:

To prepare for her role as a killer, actress Yancy Butler worked out five hours a day and also trained Judo.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Each time they play the video of David and Deidre, the tape pops out of the VCR yet still plays.

Quotes:

Deidre Kenyon: Do you see how wonderful it is having a history as a mental patient? I'm not responsible for one goddamned thing I do. I'm a certified nut. I wouldn't even stand trial, do you hear me? I wouldn't even stand trial.
David Kenyon: Are you threatening me?
Deidre Kenyon: That's my little secret.

Yancy Butler is delicious

David is an architect who is married to Molly. They have a 6-year-old son Michael who can't find a psychiatrist he likes. Molly doesn't know David was married before, but Deidre shows up at a skyscraper he helped design, where poor-quality materials will have to replaced.

Deidre wants to get back together with David, but he wants to put his past behind him. She starts her process of getting revenge in a restaurant by telling a man she is David's wife Molly and their marriage is in trouble, and then having a fling. I'm not sure just what purpose this serves, but the specifics of this incident do demonstrate the woman has problems.

Deidre's psychiatrist Dr. Jonas contacts her and tells her she should continue treatment, which Deidre won't do. What she does is go to Molly's gym and become friends with her. She has one of Dr. Jonas' business cards, and when she learns about Michael's inability to find a psychiatrist he likes, Deidre introduces herself as Dr. Jonas and says she is a child psychiatrist. She is moving her practice and has no business cards.

Deidre and Michael become good friends, though she never actually treats him. From here the movie starts getting weird. I mean REALLY weird. And don't get in Deidre's way, or else.

Yancy Butler does an amazing job. At first I didn't think her acting was all that great, but Deidre is so incredibly convincing when she poses as others. And when she is merely scheming, delicious would be a good word to describe her personality. Stalker doesn't even begin to describe this woman. She's really something to watch.

Children should most definitely not see this movie. In one scene I think Michael gets the wrong idea about acceptable behavior. There is some violence and the language appeared to have been cleaned up, but Deidre is into S & M and she has taped herself (and David) in the past. I mean her sex life is really, really sick.

If you want a stalker movie, it doesn't get much better.