Since its director's cinematic background is one of hard and soft core pornography, it would be capricious to expect a film of quality to be a result here, but such is indeed the case for this soundly made psychosexual melodrama that presents expected soft-core slow motion action that is less than many "mainstream" productions tender, and rather offhand as well, with the plot and a nice attention to detail the most significant elements, and with a canny decision made to keep the camera's eye as much as possible upon Erika Anderson, exactly the right place for it to be as she develops a character as victim of her own desires yet resilient enough to arrange a clever reprisal. Inferior sound mixing and a setup flaw in continuity mar the opening scene, but these are quickly overcome since the storyline, direction, camera-work and playing draw in a viewer, with Anderson portraying a frustrated recent divorcée, Margaret, who gambles upon commencing a relationship with a man who has telephoned her, ostensibly in error, with a result that their quickly formed amorous adventure becomes increasingly elaborate as Margaret discovers that she is headed for a threat of betrayal by both her new found lover and herself, leading to her decision to take radical action in order to regain self-command. Dark's direction is tight, with scriptor Brad Marlowe's dialogue often acute, the cinematography of Wally Pfister and the editing and montage under Bob Murawski are effective as is the interior design of this low budget piece, while classically flavoured scoring for cello, flute, and piano that accompanies most of the action is top-flight and appropriate, with most script weaknesses being handily overcome, generally by Anderson's skillful reading and the director's ability to leave fighting room for open signification. It is instructive to make a comparison between this undervalued work and Masumara's cultish BLIND BEAST, the latter notably inferior to the Dark item in its scenario, direction, and performing, with its spiraling and unhinged collapse into repugnant grotesquerie, whereas - - OBSESSION succeeds at its goal of sustained narrative momentum.
