''Raw Nerve'' is a 1991 film directed and written by David A. Prior. The film stars

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-offi ...

in his final film role,

Jan-Michael Vincent Jan-Michael Vincent (July 15, 1944 – February 10, 2019) was an American actor known for portraying helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke in the TV series ''Airwolf'' (1984–1987) and the protagonist, Matt Johnson, in the 1978 film ''Big W ...

and

Traci Lords Traci Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She entered the adult film industry using a fake birth certificate to conceal that she was two years under the legal age of eighteen. Lords starred in adult f ...

Plot

A series of grotesque murders plagues the city of Mobile, Alabama where an unknown serial killer is killing women with a pump-action shotgun. A young race car driver, named Jimmy Clayton (Ted Prior), goes to the police where he talks with Lt. Detective Bruce Ellis (

) and his superior Captain Gavin (Glenn Ford) claiming that he has been having visions about the killer. Unfortunately, the police do not take him seriously, and Jimmy gets locked up as the suspect. A reporter named Gloria Freedman (

Sandahl Bergman Sandahl Bergman is an American actress and dancer. She is best known for her role as Valeria in the film ''Conan the Barbarian'' (1982), for which she won a Golden Globe and a Saturn Award. Early life Bergman was born in Kansas City, Mis ...

), who happens to be Ellis's ex-wife, falls in love with Jimmy and sets out prove his innocence and find the real killer. Meanwhile, a rogue biker named Blake Garrett (Tex Cobb) learns about the murders and that Jimmy may be a suspect. He follows and accosts Gloria; telling her to stay away from Jimmy. Then Blake kidnaps Jimmy's younger sister Gina (Traci Lords) and attempts to leave the country with her, claiming that he is "protecting her". When Lt. Ellis begins to believe Jimmy's claims of innocence, he has Jimmy released and has him followed to find Blake who takes Gina to a local airport where he is attempting to leave the country with her. Thinking that Blake is the serial killer, the police chase him through the airport and in his pickup truck through the city where they corner him on a top ledge of a parking garage. When Jimmy attempts to talk to Blake, he releases Gina but drives his truck off the ledge and kills himself. When Captain Gavin finds a shotgun in Blake's truck which forensic tests prove it to be the murder weapon, the case of the "shotgun slayings" is closed. Or is it? In the final scene, Gloria goes to Jimmy's house one evening for them go out on their first date when Jimmy begins acting strange toward her and suddenly attempts to kill her. It is revealed here that Jimmy really is the killer all along and that he committed the murders under a split-personality. Jimmy's alter ego, who is named 'Billy', murdered his and Gina's parents years earlier after they found out that Jimmy has

dissociative identity disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...

resulting from physical abuse by both his mother and father. Blake knew the whole time about Jimmy's D.I.D. and protected him out of blind loyalty. When Jimmy apparently discovered the truth, 'Billy' completely took over and he attempts to kill Gloria (A very similar plot twist and setting is used several years later in the 2005 thriller ''

Hide and Seek Hide-and-seek (sometimes known as hide-and-go-seek) is a popular children's game in which at least two players (usually at least three) conceal themselves in a set environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one chose ...

''.) After a chase through the house, just when Gloria is about to be killed, Lt. Ellis runs in and saves her by shooting Billy/Jimmy dead.

Cast

as Captain Gavin *

as Gloria Freedman * Randall 'Tex' Cobb as Blake Garrett * Ted Prior as Jimmy Clayton *

as Gina Clayton *

as Lieutenant Bruce Ellis * Red West as Dave * Karen Johnson Miller as Paramedic

References

External links

Review of Film from the New York Times
* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, 1033814-raw_nerve 1991 films 1990s psychological thriller films American thriller films Films set in Alabama Films shot in Mobile, Alabama Action International Pictures films Films directed by David A. Prior 1990s English-language films 1990s American films