Crimes of Passion

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Crimes of Passion

R,

1984,

1h 41m,

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

54%

28 Reviews

Tomatometer

56%

500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

54%

Tomatometer

28 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

Bobby (John Laughlin) owns a gadget store by day and takes surveillance jobs by night. A businessman hires him to spy on Joanna (Kathleen Turner), a fashion designer suspected of committing white-collar crimes. But Bobby finds that Joanna's transgressions aren't business-related; instead, she spends her evenings as a prostitute specializing in fetishes. Intrigued, Bobby begins to woo her, but their relationship is complicated by Shayne (Anthony Perkins), a deviant priest who's stalking Joanna.

Critics Consensus

Ken Russell and his cast are definitely committed to Crimes of Passion, but whether this sexually charged thriller is worthy of the audience's convictions is altogether more uncertain.

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Rick Lyman

Philadelphia Inquirer

Jun 23, 2021

Ken Russell fancies himself an artiste, and his odious pretentions take all the fun out of it.

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Patrick Goldstein

Los Angeles Times

Jun 23, 2021

Turner acts if she's auditioning for some loopy Mae West impersonation contest. Eyes wide and nostrils flaring, she looks like a doe caught in the glare of a hunter's headlights. Perkins is her perfect body double.

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Catharine Rambeau

Detroit Free Press

Jun 23, 2021

7/10

It remains steamy, sordid, grim and utterly fascinating, but it is not a movie to be taken lightly.

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Lucy Talbot Allen

Screen Slate

Sep 23, 2026

What really violates is repression.

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Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

Jul 20, 2026

4/5

The themes of 'Crimes of Passion' emerge in its uncut form. It's still quite messy, to be sure, but it's a much more cohesive whole. Turner and Perkins turn in astonishingly brave performances, too.

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

Dec 2, 2022

C

It's aggressively sexual without being sexy. Russell wants to paint the kinky stuff as ugly and insipid, but he sensationalizes it anyway.

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Hermione S

Jun 30, 2017

Ken Russell and I have an understanding at this point so I'll basically follow him anywhere. And if that means I gotta put on a crappy blonde wig and a cheap blue dress and walk down a long sleazy alleyway behind him I'll do it goddamn it- because I know there's at least an equal opportunity full frontal dude in the same outfit not far behind. What? Uhhhh... I mean-- Crimes of Passion is just great. It's all the sleaze you want with with the blatant metaphors you need and the artistic shots - or quite literally cut aways to art- to keep you walking the tight rope of high concept. It's a movie about male and female sexual dissatisfaction that suprisingly (but not for my boo Ken Russell) walks the line of middle ground even when it's characters go to the utmost extremes. Nobody in this film is right or wrong, and it very pointently refuses to take sides - Donny is a brutish and selfish husband and lover, his wife is caught between what she wants and what's expected of her, and Joanna chooses sex work over honest emotional contact while still rolling her eyes at every client she has. Then there's the brilliant Anthony Perkins as the ever watching, ever flawed eye of God... Great trashy movie that you can indulge in without having to take a shower afterward. Loved it.

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Hagrid S

Mar 12, 2017

A crazed satire on the American dream realised in vivid, deranged Ken Russell style, accompanied by a Rick Wakeman soundtrack. Not for everyone but a must for Russell fans

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Ken Russell

Director

Kathleen Turner

Joanna Crane

Anthony Perkins

Rev. Peter Shayne

John Laughlin

Bobby Grady

Annie Potts

Amy Grady

Bruce Davison

Donny Hopper

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36%

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Synopsis

Bobby (John Laughlin) owns a gadget store by day and takes surveillance jobs by night. A businessman hires him to spy on Joanna (Kathleen Turner), a fashion designer suspected of committing white-collar crimes. But Bobby finds that Joanna's transgressions aren't business-related; instead, she spends her evenings as a prostitute specializing in fetishes. Intrigued, Bobby begins to woo her, but their relationship is complicated by Shayne (Anthony Perkins), a deviant priest who's stalking Joanna.

Director: Ken Russell
Producer: Barry Sandler
Screenwriter: Barry Sandler
Distributor: Image Entertainment Inc., Starmaker Video, New World Home Video, Anchor Bay Entertainment, New World Pictures, Lumivision
Production Co: New World Pictures, China Blue Productions Inc
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 19, 1984, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 28, 2018
Runtime: 1h 41m
Sound Mix: Dolby

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