Starved (1999) User Reviews (3)

Intense movie. Who knew Lee Anne Beaman could act?

[lawfella · 14 September 2003]

Erotic thriller fixture Lee Anne Beaman plays a young woman locked away in a basement and deliberately starved by a guy she had believed to be her charming, romantic suitor. His psychopathology, and her helplessness, are graphically portrayed, with both actors turning in strong performances. This film is gripping and, because of its intensity, hard to watch at the same time, especially as it is based on a real life incident.

Ms. Beaman, whom I had previously known only as an awfully pretty, often naked stock figure in Jag Mundhra films and their ilk, is terrific. According to this site, she hasn't been in any movies since, which is a shame. Seems she is much more talented than her filmography would suggest.

I can't believe this film was rated PG. The human sickness shown here is far more disturbing, and I'm sure far more potentially damaging, than the kind of stuff (like Ms. Beaman's prior films) that usually gets an R rating or that goes unrated. I'm sure kids are better off seeing a naked body, or people having sex, than the non-sexual depravity forming the subject of this film.

Another reviewer here suggested that a guy charming a woman only to lock her up and starve her afterward, as happened in this film, is some kind of prototype for male-female relationships generally. I don't know who this reviewer has been dating, but really, the psychopath in this film was just that, a psychopath. His real-life counterpart was convicted of homicide and locked away. This is not your typical date, ladies. The thought of being locked in a basement with Lee Anne Beaman doesn't sound half bad, but the thought of starving her into submission and powerlessness is repulsive. I'm sure all men other than the occasional sicko would feel similarly.

A well done film, but not for the faint of heart.

I was disappointed. What a shame.

[Niki3333 · 2/10 · 3 June 2008]

Although I gave this film 2 stars and didn't like it as a whole, it did have some interesting moments. I think that if the director didn't include the B-storyline of the friend looking for Monica, it would've been a better film. The acting was pretty bad on that side of things. I would've liked the film to have focused on the dynamics between the man and Monica.

I will also say that the ending was a little abrupt for me. I know this film was "based on true events", which makes it pretty tragic. But what I found more tragic is that the story wasn't presented to the viewer better.

Gut Reaction

[Vibiana · 29 January 2000]

I'm writing this right after renting this movie and viewing it. This is a seriously disturbing movie. It also is one that is going to be relegated to the periphery of filmdom because of its subject matter, and because it's an independently-produced film by the same sort of filmmakers who give you tabloid-style thrillers. Not exactly your standard "Blockbuster Video" fare.

*******THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. PLEASE BE AWARE!*******

To give a brief outline, a young woman named Monica is romanced by a seemingly successful, prosperous gentleman named Scott who concludes her first visit to his home by confining her to a mattress in his basement, shackled in leg irons, and setting out to slowly gain control over her mind and intellect by mental manipulation, and also by depriving her of adequate food and water.

Besides the fact that the whole scenario of a woman being held prisoner by a man taps very eloquently into the female experience -- women will find this movie much more disturbing than men -- the continuing ordeal as Monica grows weaker and more helpless with each hungry day was almost more than I could bear to watch, though her fiercely independent spirit was constantly at odds with the wishes of her captor much of the time. Human beings are naturally repelled by the idea of someone being starved -- although the equally natural horrified fascination with it is exactly the thing that will propel this film off the shelf and into the hands of rental customers.

The captor, Scott, was played competently enough, although some of his character's behaviors were so bizarre that they could have been better explained. For example, he seemed to have had some issues with his parents and a sister (whose identity he attempted to force Monica to assume), possibly related to abandonment by them or perhaps their deaths. This could have been clarified more satisfactorily, in my opinion.

The ending of this movie surprised me more than I thought it would, mainly because it was so reminiscent of similarly themed pictures such as "Silence of the Lambs" or "Kiss the Girls." I was expecting a happy ending, and Jodie Foster shooting the lock off the basement door; and that didn't happen. Still, I don't want to believe that films without tidy little Hollywood conclusions aren't worthy of notice. As the film's end credits charge, it is an unsettling indictment of a society in which people go missing for months on end. If nothing else, this film is a compelling study of psychological manipulation and the power --and limitations -- of the human mind to resist it.