No Fright
Once upon a time Sarah Conrad (Jordan Ladd - The Deadly Look of Love) was a major opera star, but that was before she was violently attacked. And whilst her attacker died it has left her not only struggling with nightmares but also a sense of paranoia which sees her hiding guns all over her home just in case. But with an opera singing rival wanting to claim some of her songs for her own Sarah is prepared to make a comeback, with the support of her daughter, Haley (Savannah Osborn). But even before she makes her return to the stage Sarah finds herself being stalked by a crazed fan called Kevin (Peter Stickles) who keeps a shrine to Sarah in his home.
I am trying to put my finger on it but there is something about "Stage Fright" which caused me to disengage. In fact I would say it is not one thing but a whole series of things which combined makes "Stage Fright" one of those movies which struggles to get and hold your attention. The trouble starts with the character of Sarah Conrad as whilst Jordan Ladd is a likeable actress the character is bland, oh so bland, as are all the other characters in the movie which makes it hard to become invested in any of them. In fact some of the characters are uncomfortably over the top which in turn uncomfortably jars with the drama side of the story.
Then there is that drama side to "Stage Fright", which I should say is also known as "Her Final Bow", as this is one of those movies which sets up an obvious storyline with a guy at the record store who is an obsessed fan. But then it wants us to doubt are own suspicions as a series of events leads us to question whether her former boyfriend and manager are in some way involved in the series of events designed to unsettle Sarah so that she has another episode when she returns to the stage. The thing is that the drama, a series of deaths, the doubt whether the original attacker really died simply fails to thrill and get you gripped.
What this all boils down to is that "Stage Fright" just doesn't come together in a way which really grabs you attention and fails to really toy with you when it comes to how it is going to play out.
