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IMDbPro

Beyond Obsession

  • TV Movie
  • 1994
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
4.8/10
143
YOUR RATING
Victoria Principal in Beyond Obsession (1994)
DramaThriller

The story of Traci Di Carlo who was accused of plotting the murder of her obsessively domineering mother. Traci's boyfriend was arrested for the killing.The story of Traci Di Carlo who was accused of plotting the murder of her obsessively domineering mother. Traci's boyfriend was arrested for the killing.The story of Traci Di Carlo who was accused of plotting the murder of her obsessively domineering mother. Traci's boyfriend was arrested for the killing.

  • Director
    • David Greene
  • Writers
    • Richard Hammer
    • Eugenia Bostwick-Singer
    • Raymond Singer
  • Stars
    • Henry Thomas
    • Donnelly Rhodes
    • Joe Regalbuto
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    4.8/10
    143
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • David Greene
    • Writers
      • Richard Hammer
      • Eugenia Bostwick-Singer
      • Raymond Singer
    • Stars
      • Henry Thomas
      • Donnelly Rhodes
      • Joe Regalbuto
    • 1User review
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Beyond Obsession (1994)
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    Top cast

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    Henry Thomas
    Henry Thomas
    • John Thompson
    Donnelly Rhodes
    Donnelly Rhodes
    • Bill Richardson
    Joe Regalbuto
    Joe Regalbuto
    • Jake Meletti
    Garry Chalk
    Garry Chalk
    • Lt. Bartell
    Alex Bruhanski
    Alex Bruhanski
    • Roger Horn
    Vince Metcalfe
    Emily Warfield
    Emily Warfield
    • Traci DiCarlo
    Victoria Principal
    Victoria Principal
    • Eleanor DiCarlo
    Linda Darlow
    Linda Darlow
    Tom Butler
    Tom Butler
    Forbes Angus
    Forbes Angus
    • Funeral Director
    Tahara Bhates
    • Traci at 6 Yrs. Old
    Sarah Chalke
    Sarah Chalke
    • Laura Sawyer
    Wally Dalton
    Wally Dalton
    • Archbishop Burke
    Sandra P. Grant
    • Christine
    Helen Honeywell
    • Marie O'Donald
    Paul Hubbard
    Paul Hubbard
    • Mr. Thompson
    Paul Joyce
    • Court Officer
    • Director
      • David Greene
    • Writers
      • Richard Hammer
      • Eugenia Bostwick-Singer
      • Raymond Singer
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    User reviews1

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Daughter's secret
    Victoria Principal is billed with `special appearance by' as Eleanor DiCarlo, the escrow businesswoman and mother of 18 year old pianist Traci (Emily Warfield) who is murdered by Traci's boyfriend John Thompson (Henry Thomas). John is charged with murder and Traci conspiracy to commit murder. Will they be found guilty?

    Eleanor is presented as an abusive mother, seen in the opening scenes before her murder then in flashback, and as an unsympathetic neurotic character, she represents a change of pace role for Principal. That Principal isn't quite successful in playing her, a woman that requires a character actress who speaks in a pretentious faux-English accent and is psychologically unstable, still works for Principal in the treatment since she is about the only interesting element. Principal might have worked better without using the accent since it adds a camp element to Eleanor, who wants to use her daughter for upward social mobility, dresses only in red and wears her short brown hair in a stiff style. Although we see Principal slapping Traci, amusingly force-feeding her cake, and given the camp line `Is it a crime for a mother to love her daughter as much as I love mine?', Principal's best moments are a gutteral yell at Traci as she plays in the rain, calling her ex-husband James (Vince Metcalfe) an `animal' when he pushes her out of a hospital room, and funny with her line re John `He contributes nothing to fine conversation'. Principal also supplies Eleanor with tears in one of her schizophrenic moments, though we cut away too quickly from it.

    Based on the book by Richard Hammer which reported the true story of Joyce Aparo and her daughter Karin in Glastonbury Connecticut, the teleplay by Eugenia Bostwick-Singer and Raymond Singer is full of cliches. `Enough is enough', `You've got to pull it together', `I was her knight in shining armour and I saved her from the dragon', `The police were squeezing her', `It's not an option. It's an order', `I can't stay with you if you are unfaithful to our love', `Don't promise freedom when you don't have the keys to the cage', and `It was a concentration camp with Eleanor the sole commandant'. The latter is said by Traci's defence lawyer Jake Meletti (Joe Regalbuto) in his summation in a mountain of cliches. The defence case, which centres on Traci's testimony, also reads like an extended therapy session, a situation which defies all crediblity. Eleanor's behaviour is said to stem from her depresson as a presumed abuse victim, where she is described as `self-centred and controlling' and `mean and vicious', a person who is concerned with things being `flawless' and `purity', who suffers from migraine headaches, is quick to be negative and even stoops to killing fish and threatening a cat. Traci's duplicitous nature is therefore thought to be inherited, with repeated accusations that she is `just like your mother'. Although the narrative's use of flashbacks is clumsy, the cake force-feeding scene features an inspired pay-off when the next day Eleanor stocks her frig full of more cakes as a continued attack on Traci.

    Director David Greene slows the pace to an agonising crawl for the trial scenes, with only the flashbacks with Principal and also featuring subjective camera, the performance of Warfield and the music of Peter Manning Robinson rising above the ordinary.
    helpful•9
    1
    • petershelleyau
    • Feb 11, 2003

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • April 4, 1994 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Canada
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Más allá de la obsesión
    • Production company
      • Warner Bros. Television
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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