When the ambitious federal investigator Alexandra 'Alex' Barnes (Debra Winger) reads the cases of two wealthy men that have just died and left their fortunes to their younger and younger wives, she suspects that the woman might be the same. She believes that the woman might be killing the millionaires without a trace to inherit their fortunes.

Alex travels and tracks down the mysterious female inheritor Catharine Petersen (Theresa Russell) but she finds nothing about her identity. Alex believes that the Catharine might have traveled to Hawai and she takes vacation to follow her instincts. Alex finds and befriends Catharine in the hotel and becomes close to her. When Alex meets Catherine's boyfriend Paul Nuytten (Sami Frey),she has a crush on him. Will her passion for Paul and her friendship with Catharine jeopardize her investigation?

"Black Widow" is an unforgettable neo-noir of the 80's, with the sexy and gorgeous Theresa Russell and Debra Winger playing a cat-and-mouse game in the lead roles. This film is one of my favorite from the 80's and slightly recalls "Body Heat" from the early 80's. In those years, Theresa Russell was one of the sexiest actress of the cinema industry and the role of Catharine Petersen is tailored for her. Unfortunately the Brazilian DVD has no Extras. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Mistério da Viúva Negra" ("The Mystery of the Black Widow")

Debra Winger and Theresa Russell give a couple of standout performances of the hunter and the hunted in Black Widow. I'm surprised neither was considered for an Academy Award. Then again it would have a crime to have nominated one without the other.

I once heard in a Law And Order SVU episode that female serial killers were a phenomenon not studied so there was no data on which the detectives there could work from. The same seems to be true right up to the federal level which is why FBI investigator Debra Winger can't convince anyone that a string of deaths by natural causes of some well to do men are all related and homicides as well.

Law enforcement doesn't like coincidence, but they like evidence be it the local police or the FBI. That's Winger's main problem in convincing her colleagues there's something going on here. The rest of their resistance is attributable to sexism. But that doesn't stop her, she takes leave and uses her own time and money to prove she's right.

Theresa Russell is great, she's one coldblooded piece of work. A couple of her older victims are Dennis Hopper and Nicol Williamson, both of which occur while Winger is still trying to convince her superiors. Russell is an exponential version of Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Diedrichson from Double Indemnity, exponential because she keeps doing it and getting away with it.

And not like she doesn't have enough money at some point to live really comfortably the rest of her life. There are hints of a deep psychosis in Russell's performance, all the better that not too much is revealed so the audience can draw its own conclusions.

The only way for Winger to catch her is in the act and when she does catch up with Russell and strikes up a friendship of sorts, the film becomes a real cat and mouse game, except were not quite sure of who is in what role.

I have to single out James Hong as a sleazy private investigator who Winger hires, but who Russell buys. He may have given his career role performance in Black Widow.

This film will keep you guessing and on your seat until the end, don't miss it if broadcast.

Style over substance. Mood over plot. A director in love with his lead actresses. You can level many accusations at BLACK WIDOW, but a good film it isn't. Sure, it has potential; a decent set-up for one, and a first half hour that looks like it's really going somewhere. Sad, then, that the potential is wasted with a narrative that stalls and ends up going nowhere.

The idea of a serial killer who murders a string of husbands for their inheritance is a solid one, and BLACK WIDOW bolsters it with a decent cast: Theresa Russell's icy blonde bombshell is a forerunner to Sharon Stone's femme fatales, while Debra Winger's dogged cop is just quirky enough to be interesting. Kudos for getting all those notables in too: Terry O'Quinn as the superior, Dennis Hopper and Nicol Williamson as potential victims, a nicely sleazy role for James Hong.

But somewhere along the line the film loses its way. Instead of concentrating on building the suspense and developing a cat and mouse game between cop and killer, the writer and director become fixated on another kind of relationship between the two women, so much so that all the tension dissipates and it all becomes incredibly boring. There's no danger, no reason to keep watching. Even the twist ending does nothing to improve things. As a contrast, I recently watched the Hitchcock rip-off FINAL ANALYSIS, and despite the clichés it was ten times better than this because it remembered what it was throughout: a thriller, first and foremost.