''Lady Beware'' is a 1987 American

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by Karen Arthur and starring

Diane Lane Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...

, Michael Woods and

Cotter Smith Joseph Cotter Smith (born May 29, 1949) is an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life He was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Madeline (née Cotter) and John Lewis Smith, Jr., who was a federal judge. He graduated from the ...

. It was filmed on location in and around

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Plot

Katya Yarno is a window dresser for

Horne's The Joseph Horne Company, often referred to simply as Joseph Horne's or Horne's, was an American department store chain based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The store was one of the oldest in the country being founded on February 22, 1849, but was ...

department store who specializes in displays with sexy, slightly kinky themes. Surrounded by the equipment of her trade—mannequins and lingerie—Katya lives in a loft apartment in downtown

. She spends her evenings taking her bath by candlelight and thinking up new and more provocative window displays. Katya soon becomes the obsession of Jack Price, a handsome (and married)

psychopath Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality Construct (psychology), construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with boldness, bold, disinhibited, and egocentrism, egocentric traits. These traits are often ma ...

. Jack proceeds to stalk Katya and makes her life a living hell. Tired of being harassed, Katya decides to give Jack a taste of his own medicine.

Cast

as Katya Yarno * Michael Woods as Jack Price *

as Mac Odell * Peter Nevargic as Lionel * Edward Penn as Mr. Thayer * Tyra Ferrell as Nan * Trisha Simmons as Sylvia Price * Clayton D. Hill as Police Officer #1 * David Crawford as Katya's father * Ray Laine as Doctor *

Bingo O'Malley Edward J. "Bingo" O'Malley"Where One ...

as Man in Window * Don Brockett as Locksmith

Production

Development

Arthur began working on ''Lady Beware'' in the late '70s, shortly after the success of her second feature, '' The Mafu Cage'', which screened at Cannes, landed her a four-picture deal at

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

. Universal, however, ended up rejecting the project, which ended up having "100 homes, 17 drafts, and eight writers," as Arthur told ''The Los Angeles Times'' in 1986 ahead of the film's release. "The purse-holders are men, and they attempted to make ''Lady Beware'' into a violent picture," Arthur added. "I'm not interested in making a picture where a woman gets beat up. I want to show how a lady deals with this kind of insidious violence. A policeman can't help."

Filming

The film was shot on location in

during the summer of 1986 after Scotti Brothers Entertainment agreed to finance and distribute it. The budget was reportedly under $2 million. ''Lady Beware'''s 28 days of shooting took place primarily in the city's North Side and downtown neighborhoods.

Release

Home media

''Lady Beware'' was released on VHS and Laserdisc in 1988 by International Video Entertainment. A second VHS release was put out in 1991 by Avid Home Entertainment.

Soundtrack

''Lady Beware'' was released on two soundtrack albums. The 27 track complete and original music score by Craig Safan on Dragon's Domain Records 2020. The 9 track original motion picture soundtrack including 5 tracks from the original music score by Craig Safan, 3 tracks by David Hallyday and a track by Abe E LaMarca available on all music formats on Scotti Bros Records 1987.

Controversy

Arthur did not approve of the film's final cut, which she said was re-edited by the producers to appeal to the exploitation crowd. " ome distributors asked formore sex, so they took outtakes of Diane Lane standing there naked and incorporated them into the film," she told the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' ahead of the film's release. "To me, that's exploitative. They printed up negatives where I never said print. I, as a female director, would never exploit a woman's body and use it as a turn-on." Arthur added that she did not remove her name from the film because she thought it would be unfair to the actors, who can't remove their names from the final product.

References

External links

* * * {{Karen Arthur 1987 films 1980s erotic thriller films 1987 independent films 1980s psychological thriller films American independent films American psychological thriller films American erotic thriller films Films about stalking Films directed by Karen Arthur Films scored by Craig Safan Films set in Pittsburgh Films shot in Pittsburgh Films shot in Pennsylvania 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language independent films English-language erotic thriller films