Illicit Behavior (1992) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Scoop's notes

This film is also known as Criminal Intent

If I tell you that this is a non-theatrical erotic thriller starring Kent McCord and Robert Davi, you can probably figure out immediately that it is not likely to be confused with Branagh's Henry V. It's about what you would expect from the description. An out-of-control cop is being investigated by Internal Affairs. The Internal Affairs guy takes his job title a bit too literally and ends up having an internal affair of his own with the cop's smokin'-hot wife (Joan Severance). The results ain't pretty.

For the record, here are the positives and negatives, as I see them:

In the plus column:

1. The plot of this film is actually pretty good. The first half progresses predictably based upon the premise I described above, but the film then starts to go off in some crazy directions, and we find out that almost nothing has been what it seemed to be. Several surprises follow in rapid-fire order, and the various intrigues and misunderstandings result in more corpses than the final scene of Hamlet. Although I have seen my share of films, I did not expect many of the surprises, and I did not find them to be excessively contrived or illogical, so the storyline was sort of fun in an over-the-top way.

2. Joan Severance looks beautiful in this film and showed some skin here and there.

3. The film is finally on DVD, 13 years after it went to video.

In the minus column:

1. The erotica is sub-par. The nudity basically consists of fleeting glimpses of isolated body parts in dark sex scenes. The actual sex scenes don't generate much electricity, as you might guess from the identity of the male leads.

2. The DVD transfer is uninspired. The colors are faded and there's a lot of motion blur. It is available in Region 2 only, PAL format only.

So, based upon your expectations for a straight-to-video erotic thriller, you'll probably find it to be a more interesting thriller than you might expect, but also far less erotic.
Illicit Behavior DVD Joan Severance (1992)

DVD INFO

  • No features
  • No widescreen
  • Not playable in Region 1
  • The DVD to the left is a Region 2 PAL DVD from The Netherlands. It is available in the USA from an importer. Click on the image for info.

 

NUDITY REPORT
Joan Severance shows her breasts in several dark sex scenes, but there are very few nice frames of her face and breasts together. Her bum is seen once from a distance, and another time in extreme close-up.

The Critics Vote ...

  • No major reviews online

The People Vote ...

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

Our own guideline:

  • A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre.
  • B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. In order to rate at least a B-, a film should be both a critical and commercial success. Exceptions: (1) We will occasionally rate a film B- with good popular acceptance and bad reviews, if we believe the critics have severely underrated a film. (2) We may also assign a B- or better to a well-reviewed film which did not do well at the box office if we feel that the fault lay in the marketing of the film, and that the film might have been a hit if people had known about it. (Like, for example, The Waterdance.)
  • C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by people who enjoy this kind of movie. If this is your kind of movie, a C+ and an A are indistinguishable to you.
  • C means it is competent, but uninspired genre fare. People who like this kind of movie will think it satisfactory. Others probably will not.
  • C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie, but genre addicts find it watchable. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film, but films with this rating should be approached with caution by mainstream audiences, who may find them incompetent or repulsive or both. If this is NOT your kind of movie, a C- and an E are indistinguishable to you.
  • D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-. Films rated below C- generally have both bad reviews and poor popular acceptance.
  • E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre.
  • F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

 

Based on this description, this film is a C-. If you are into erotic thrillers, it's watchable. The plot is better than expected, but the erotica is worse.

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