Inner Sanctum (1991 film)

Inner Sanctum
Film poster
Directed by	Fred Olen Ray
Written by	Mark Thomas McGee
Produced by	Alan Amiel
Starring	Tanya Roberts
Cinematography	Michael Delahoussaye
Edited by	Steven Nielson
Music by	Chuck Cirino
Release date	1991 (1991)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$650,000

Inner Sanctum is a 1991 crime erotic thriller film which stars Tanya Roberts, Margaux Hemingway, Joseph Bottoms and Valerie Wildman, and was written by Mark Thomas McGee and directed by Fred Olen Ray.

The film was made for $650,000 and was very successful, leading to Ray making a series of erotic thrillers.^[1]

"I didn't really know what an erotic thriller was when I did Inner Sanctum", admitted Ray later. "I watched Wild Orchid—fast-forwarded through it, actually—to see what was expected of me."^[2]

Plot

Jennifer Reed, heiress to a huge fortune, believes that her husband Baxter, an insurance agent in Los Angeles, is unfaithful to her. Unable to reconcile with it, she takes a full pack of sleeping pills and falls down the stairs.

A few weeks later, Jennifer, now in a wheelchair, becomes even more jealous of her husband because he does not spend time with her, giving more attention to nurse Lynn Foster. Foster had previously been responsible for home care of a patient. After the patient died mysteriously, Nurse Foster married the widower, who then also died under mysterious circumstances.

Baxter attempts romance with his colleague Anna Rawlins, who does not reciprocate his feelings. Moreover, Baxter suspects that she wants to get rid of his wife. Jennifer discovers that someone has started following her, and her neighbor suspects Lynn. Complicating things, Jennifer carries a million dollar life insurance policy, which policy will not be paid in case of suicide, only murder.

Cast

• Tanya Roberts – Lynn Foster
• Margaux Hemingway – Anna Rawlins
• Joseph Bottoms – Baxter Reed
• Valerie Wildman – Jennifer Reed
• Brett Baxter Clark – Neil Semple
• Suzanne Ager – Maureen
• Jay Richardson –Lieutenant Wanamaker
• William Butler – Jeff Seigel
• Ted Newsom – Sergeant Levy

Reception

TV guide fount that "Inner Sanctum sustains its perfervid mystery plot for a surprisingly long while before collapsing into an unsatisfying, if crypto-feminist, ending."^[3]

Sequel

The film's success led to a sequel Inner Sanctum II in 1994, also directed by Fred Ray, and starring Michael Nouri, Tracy Brooks Swope (as Jennifer Reed), Sandahl Bergman, David Warner, and Margaux Hemingway (reprising her role of Anna Rawlins).^[4]

References

1. Topel, Fred (27 October 2014). "After Midnight: Fred Olen Ray on Strip Clubs & Chainsaw Hookers". Crave Online. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
2. Donald Liebenson (Dec 1, 1994). "VIDEO AS DRIVE-IN FRED OLEN RAY CONTINUES THE CORMAN TRADITION". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest 283895112.
3. "Inner Sanctum". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
4. Liebenson, Donald (1995-01-06). "A-Titles Say It All for Prince of the B-Films : Videos: Filmmaker Fred Olen Ray says, 'You've got to grab people's attention.' He has for over a decade". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-01-02.

External links

• Inner Sanctum at IMDb
• ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› Inner Sanctum at AllMovie
• Inner Sanctum at Rotten Tomatoes