Do you remember this thing happened in the ’90s called “the internet”? People had the ability to connect their bulky desktop home computer to a thing called a 28K modem that could be plugged into a telephone jack in the wall. After going through a series of AOL phone numbers, eventually you’d be jacked into the World Wide Web or AOL’s portal that could lead you to it. There were chatrooms where you could meet people with the same interests. And you could share photos that could take 30 minutes to download onto your screen. It was a thrilling time that seemed to take quite a bit of time. Most of us dreamed of faster connections like the T-1 line at work except without the Tech guys being able to block our favorite websites with their evil filters. You were going to be doing so much online once you got a faster 56K modem. .com For Murder is a prediction of the online mischief that was just around the corner.
Sondra Brummel (Cat People‘s Nastassja Kinski) seems to have it all. She’s living in an opulent glass house with a world-renowned architect as her husband (McVicar‘s Roger Daltrey) and a really high-speed internet connection. Sondra doesn’t have great skiing skills since she broke her leg on vacation. Now she’s stuck at home while her husband takes off with his cute secretary on a business trip. She gets on her husband’s computer where she discovers he hasn’t deleted his browser history. She knows he uses American Love Online and his username and password. This allows her to uncover his girlfriend in record time. Lynn (Hot Times at Montclair High‘s Kim Valentine) thinks he’s online and starts to chat. Sondra’s sister Misty (The Sure Thing‘s Nicollette Sheridan) drops by to help out and discover the deceptive fun with Lynn. The fun gets interrupted when Werther (Lemonheads‘ Jeffery Dean) pops into the chat. He’s a nut job who has a glowing keyboard at home. He uses his hacker skills to bump Sondra out of the chatroom and hijack her husband’s username. Lynn thinks it’s really her man. Later she learns the truth in a video when Werther drops by her house and streams the surprise encounter to Sondra (via Ben’s username). This horrific video gets Sondra in contact with FBI Agent Matheson (Short Cuts‘ Huey Lewis). But can he protect these women from a mysterious hacker who isn’t all about staying at home and causing flame wars?
This was the last Hollywood films by director Nico Mastorakis (Blood Tide & Nightmare at Noon) before he returned to Greece. He went out with a film that predicted how dangerous the internet could become on social media. Who hasn’t had some creepy guy sending you DMs with threats and perhaps pictures of body parts you don’t want to see? This movie is 22 years old and still contemporary at what people do on the internet. How many times have there been reports of horrifying things being streamed over live social media sites? Werther is father of the frustrated single guys that have taken over certain websites in recent years. This is not a film that is quaint in its approach to technology.
There’s a lot of good talent on the screen. Nastassja Kinski is on the screen the most. She pulls off the stuck in a cast role. Daltrey and Lewis are two legendary rockers allowed to act without busting out a song. It would have been fun if the singers for The Who and Huey Lewis and the News dueted. This isn’t that kind of film. Daltrey appears longer in the bonus features than the movie. Jeffery Dean is a tech scary guy. You even get to see Penthouse Pet of the Year Julie Strain (The Dallas Connection) as a cam girl when folks are surfing the web. .com For Murder predicts the messy internet world that were living inside except we have giga speed.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The movie is a mix of film and video taken to illustrate what the internet was going to look like. The audio is 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD MA. You’ll heard the old computer noises cleanly. The movie is subtitled in English and Greek.
The Making of .com for Murder (38:01) has director Nico Mastroakis talk about the movie is his homage to Alfred Hitchcock. Instead of seeing a murder in the neighborhood like Rear Window, Nico has his hero see a murder on the internet. This bonus feature was originally made for the DVD release. There’s plenty of footage of early 2000s websites and chatrooms.
.com for Murder, The Unknown Story (28:10) is a new feature with Nico Mastroakis. He shows off his old Omega Entertainment office. Since they shot the film in a glass house, he couldn’t fake the night so they worked late on the location. He shows off the raw video footage that was uploaded onto the internet for the killing scenes. There’s even more Julie Strain footage from her cam girl scene. There’s also a part about how people can buy bulk votes on IMDB websites.
Interview with Roger Daltrey (20:27) has The Who singer discuss what attracted him to the project. He gets into his approach to acting. This was shot during the production. Roger didn’t have an internet connection in his house back in 2001.
Interview with Huey Lewis (9:56) has him joke that he enjoys acting because he can have all the bottled water he wants. Huey actually had seen Nico Mastroakis’ previous films. Huey gets into his private eye character. He talks about going into chatrooms.
Trailer (2:13) makes the world wide web look rather dangerous.
Image Gallery is 34 color press photos.
Arrow Video presents .com For Murder. Directed by Nico Mastroakis. Screenplay by Nico Mastroakis and Phil Marr. Starring Nastassja Kinski, Nicollette Sheridan, Roger Daltrey, Huey Lewis, Jeffery Dean, Kim Valentine & Melinda Clarke. Running Time: 97 Minutes. Rating: Rated Unrated. Release Date: February 7, 2023.
