Matty flirts with a stylish slice of hokum from the Corman stable.

An intriguing mix of Les Diaboliques (1955), Lolita (1962), and the kind of logic-be-damned plotting typically found in Italian gialli, IN THE HEAT OF PASSION II: UNFAITHFUL is a decent entertainment. As with many Roger Corman sequels, this tricksy romp — helmed by one of the wily B-mogul’s most overlooked disciples, the sorely missed Catherine Cyran (Sawbones (1995)) — is name-only stuff. The sole connection to Rodman Flender’s original is another brief supporting appearance from a pre-Friends Lisa Kudrow.     

Anchored by a cast of character types, most of whom were on Corman’s books at the time, an ill at ease Barry Bostwick and the utterly striking Teresa Hill star as Phillip and Casey, generationally divided lovers who masquerade as daddy and daughter in order to fleece wealthy stepmoms. The pair’s latest grift involves them offing businesswoman Jean Bradshaw (Lesley-Ann Down). However, as the wheelchair bound magnate’s attorney (Tremors series favourite Michael Gross) reveals upon her murder, Ms. Bradshaw wasn’t quite as flush as she made out — and nor, it seems, is she as dead as Phillip believes… 

Though a little coy as far as erotic thrillers go (for instance, a potentially sizzling threesome between Bostwick, Hill, and Betsy Lynn George — a scene that would have been a big ‘moment’ in the hands of, say, Corman’s go-to suppliers of flesh fare, Jim Wynorski and Andrew Stevens — is played via dialogue here), In the Heat of Passion II passes muster due to Cyran’s focus on pace and tone. Evidently having fun faffing about with noir codes and conventions, Cyran leans heavily into the inertia caused by the film’s twists and turns regardless of how well they work as a cohesive whole, angling in on the suspense and paranoia as the IRS, private investigators, and, maybe, even Ms. Bradshaw herself tighten the net around Bostwick and Hill, with attention holding results.

Atmospherically photographed by a pseudonymously credited James L. Carter (‘J.R. Kane’), In the Heat of Passion II’s aesthetic stand out is the Bradshaw homestead: an impressive, Cronenberg/Dead Ringers (1988)-esque bit of production design the keen-eyed will recognise as a redressed set from fellow standalone Corman follow-up, Carnosaur 2 (1995) — which, as it happens, was directed by Cyran’s partner, Louis Morneau.

Released on U.S. video in January 1995, In the Heat of Passion II fell into rotation on Cinemax and spent the rest of the ‘90s and early ‘00s bouncing across late night cable networks under the title it was announced in the trades as, ‘Behind Closed Doors’. Amusingly, the unrated edition of the film’s American VHS contains a compilation of various Corman movie sex scenes at the end, thus justifying its certification (or lack thereof). In the U.K., In the Heat of Passion II sidestepped cassette and went straight to TV, premiering on fondly remembered satellite station The Movie Channel before regularly gracing the schedules of a still-in-its-infancy Channel 5.

USA ● 1994 ● Erotic Thriller ● 87mins

Barry Bostwick, Lesley-Ann Down, Teresa Hill, Michael Gross ● Dir. Catherine Cyran ● Wri. Travis Rink