Movie
Single White Female (1992)
The final stretch of ten legendary villainesses are my all time favourites, so I’ve dubbed this subset the Goddess Tier. No honourable mentions from here on (save a few exceptions) because these women deserve the full review devoted to them alone.
It seems 1992 was the year of the female psycho template thriller. Besides The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and Basic Instinct, moviegoers were also treated to a great perfomance by Jennifer Jason Leigh as a crazy roommate determined to take over her co-occupant’s life and ultimately assume her identity. The initial phase is very slow burning, but once the villainess has finished with the warmup creepy behaviour and nocturnal stalking, it’s then time to go on a murderous rampage for the final half hour.
Allison Jones (Allie for short) is a software designer who specialises in fashion products. When her boyfriend Sam cheats on her and a sleazy businessman takes advantage to renegotiate a contract, Allie puts out an advertisment seeking the title single white female. There are several candidates for the tenancy, all weirdos who don’t impress. Allie instantly takes a liking to Hedra – and nicknames her “Hedy” – and things initially seem to be on the up. However, thriller buffs will know the supposedly nice people are often the most dangerous.
The eerie New York apartment building has a basement with an incinerator, a creaky elevator with a screwdriver stored nearby to fix the door, and vents that carry noise for anyone wishing to eavedrop on their neighbours. All the exposition is provided by Allie when she takes Hedy on a tour, and these details naturally come into play later in the story. The two women start off on good terms, socialising, eating out, and discussing romantic problems. Best enjoy the moment Allie, because it’s all downhill from here.
The warning signs of mental instability and violence begin when Hedy purchases a puppy and pretends it was given away, only to literally kick the dog and snap when Allie has the gall to leave her alone one night. Slowly – but with increasing severity – Hedy begins to imitate and interfere with Allie’s life. The psycho roommate dates her boyfriend, purchases matching clothes, and truly freaks Allie out when she dyes her hair and styles it to match.
Villainess
Hedra Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh)
It’s never made fully clear why Hedy is so obsessed with becoming Allie. The heroine does find a shoebox of old letters and newspaper clippings about Hedy’s sister drowning in an accident, so childhood trauma is the vague explanation that is given. It doesn’t matter too much as we get a chilling performance from Jennifer Jason Leigh who remains an eternal threat even in the action-lite first two acts.
Finally realising Hedy is a threat, Allie discusses the problem with a tenant on a floor below. Unfortunately their voices carry through the ventilation system and Hedy listens in to the entire conversation. After Allie leaves, the gloved psycho sneaks in and knocks the tenant out with a pole. That’s one problem dealt with. Next up is the boyfriend who Hedy has sex with, posing as Allie until he sees through her deception. After an angry rejection and exchange, Hedy snaps and throws a high heel at him. That one hits the door, but her second shoe ends up a bizarre murder weapon when Hedy swings its pointed end into Sam’s eye.
Allie learns of the tragic news after it’s reported on television, and then discovers Hedy’s blood smeared high heel in the bathroom. Of course that’s when the villainess returns to the apartment, and Allie is a poor liar so gives herself away very quickly. The murderess puts on those black gloves again and pulls a gun on her roommate, but Allie still refuses to believe Hedy killed Sam and can only cower in terror.
Done with playing Allie for the time being, Hedy reverts to being a brunette, takes her hostage roommate to the downstairs apartment, and binds her prisoner to a chair with duct tape. Allie sees an opportunity after Hedy leaves to take of care of business, so turns up the volume on the television to attract attention, but it was never going to be that easy. Hedy returns just as staff are on the verge of forcing entry to put a stop to Allie’s escape attempt. The heroine has a second try and attempts to secretly send an e-mail message when Hedy has her book plane tickets, but the villainess anticipates that move.
Earlier in the film, the dodgy businessman Myerson attempted to sexually assault Allie, and she broke off dealings with him. Now he’s past due on his payments, so his computer records are automatically wiped. Heading over to Allie’s place to confront her, he instead finds Hedy. She claims not to know Allie, but that lie is exposed when Myerson notices Hedy has a suitcase with Allie’s name tag. After knocking Hedy down and forcing his way into the apartment, Myerson finds Allie tied up. A struggle follows with Hedy apparently taken care of, but the still conscious villainess finishes Myerson with a gunshot to the head and the old muffle cushion trick. His unlikely hero recemption act didn’t last long, eh?
Hedy has Allie fake a suicide note and forces her to take pills, but the heroine smashes a glass into Hedy’s face to break free. That’s when the (still alive!) tenant escapes from another room, does his hero thing, and buys Allie precious time. The heroine drags Hedy out into the hallway to save her rescuer, and that leads into a prolonged fight in the elevator with Hedy seemingly strangling Allie to death.
The villainess makes preparations to incinerate the “body”, but finds Allie gone when she returns. Arming herself with a sharp hook, Hedy searches the basement for her quarry. There’s a tense sequence where she bangs on furniture and smashes things up. After hiding on a pipe, Allie surprises Hedy and stabs with the screwdriver (remember that?). Hedy clings on for a little while longer – enough to give Allie a scare – before she succombs to her wound.
Action Woman Fan 