JOSEPH BOTTOMS, LANA CLARKSON & KEIR DULLEA IN 'BLIND DATE'

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2

If it weren't for the Sony Walkman that Joseph Bottoms listens to in order to miraculously visualize computer-graphic/inferred grid-like outlines after having lost his sight, offbeat director Nico Mastorakis's BLIND DATE would seem from the steely neo-noir 1970's instead of the more glossy and subdued 1980's...

As that decade brings a wall-to-wall score of loud synthesizers and bad techno pop songs in what's an otherwise intriguing Greek-set giallo that builds beyond an uninspired initial 30-minutes... picking up when blinded Joseph Bottoms becomes a James Stewart/REAR WINDOW-style protagonist, only with moveable investigatory skills like VERTIGO... stalking the dark night for ex-girlfriend (and possible final victim) Lana Clarkson...

Lana Clarkson and Kirstie Alley artwork in BLIND DATE

The search for lost love leading to the discovery of a neck-slitting serial killer, sporadically experienced in a violently-sadistic horror movie fashion alongside edgier moments including a suspenseful walk outside a neon high-rise...

Meanwhile, the peripheral characters include Kirstie Alley as the faithful love-interest and Keir Dullea as a doctor/surgeon, spouting just-enough technical jargon to make this obscure cult film work more as a modernized Hitchcock-esque thriller than the attempted Michael Crichton-inspired science-fiction.

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Keir Dullea and Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Keir Dullea in BLIND DATE

Keir Dullea in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Marina Sirtis in BLIND DATE

Kirstie Alley in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Kirstie Alley in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Kathy Hill in BLIND DATE

James Daughton in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

From BLIND DATE

James Daughton in BLIND DATE

James Daughton in BLIND DATE with Lana Clarkson

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Marina Sirtis in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE with Kirstie Alley

Keir Dullea in BLIND DATE

Keir Dullea in BLIND DATE (seen by Joseph Bottoms)

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Spyros Papafrantzis in BLIND DATE

Noelle Simpson in BLIND DATE

Noelle Simpson in BLIND DATE with Spyros Papafrantzis

Kathy Hill in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Valerie Golino in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

From BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Kathy Hill in BLIND DATE

Kathy Hill in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Joseph Bottoms in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

James Daughton and Lana Clarkson in BLIND DATE

James Daughton in BLIND DATE

From BLIND DATE