Fatal Instinct (1993 film)

This sendup of "Fatal Attraction", "Basic Instinct", "Cape Fear", "Double Indemnity", "Sleeping With the Enemy", and whatever else Carl Reiner thought was prime riffing material in the early 90s has a couple of good jokes, but its insistence on throwing out a new gag every fifteen seconds combined with its tendency to explain or hang on punchlines mean the few inspired bits suffer under a mountain of dreck. The hardest failure here is its sendup of SWTE, with Reiner trying to poke fun at abusive relationships. Sherilyn Fern, as Julia Roberts expy, evokes sympathy where the film aims for guffaws.

3