Blue Steel, 1990, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Lionsgate Films blu-ray (2023), 3.5 stars.
Jamie Lee Curtis gets top billing in this gritty, intense, deliberately paced psycho-thriller about a rookie New York City street cop who finds herself the object of a serial killer's crazed, kinky obsessions. Ron Silver, who was in what seems like eight out of every 10 movies in the 1980s and '90s, is the formidable yuppie psycho who just can't quit her.
Blue Steel isn't a mystery. All of its secrets are revealed right away. Rather, it's a simmering cat-and-mouse chase that keeps us tantalized pretty much start to finish.
Kathryn Bigelow isn't afraid to brandish her influences in this, her third directorial effort. Blue Steel plays as an updated 1970s-style cops-and-crazies action thriller with more than a pinch of 1980s-era slasher-stalker vibes mixed in. It all blends together very well into an exciting, edge-of-your-seat ride.
Of course, you know the whole time you're watching Blue Steel exactly where it's headed. I found the last act a little troubling, not because it led to a predictable ending but because Bigelow's script did a little cheating to get us to the end. A couple or three characters made a couple or three dumb, illogical choices to get us conveniently to the finish line.
But that's a minor complaint. Despite its flaws, Blue Steel is an intriguing, thrilling genre film well worth your time.
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