Whether it be "Play Misty For Me", "Once You Kiss a Stranger" or the dozens of other nightmares about the other woman, it's a fascinating warning to the errant husband or the horny bachelor. Happily married Michael Douglas lives a seemingly picture perfect existence with the practically perfect Anne Archer and their young child. But her sudden departure to visit family brings on temptation in the form of a business associate, the alluring Glenn Close who may not be a ravishing beauty, bit exudes sexuality in a way that is dangerous and predatory. After snubbing Douglas's colleague, she lightly flirts with Douglas, and soon lures his fly into her web. He finds himself like any classic film noir anti-hero paralyzed by her spider sting, one that leads to incredible passion, but has a slow acting poison that strikes much later, psychologically, threatening to destroy his entire world.

There are two views of women here, from the perfect wife and mother to the vamp, the vixen, the femme fatale, and Glenn Close is every inch each of those that Stanwyck, Bennett, Greer and Savage were in the 1940's. She's sassy, class with trash (that perm alone gives her away),and will not take no for an answer. Threatened with being the perfect wife and mother in previous films, Glenn Close forever altered her image with this part. She outdid herself with "Dangerous Liaisons" and "101 Dalmatians", and I can see why she entered immortality through these parts, leading her to be cast as Norma Desmond in the original Broadway production of "Sunset Boulevard", recently revived with her perfecting the legendary part.

Douglas gets sympathy for becoming her victim, reacting to her every scheme and manipulation with initial shock, and later horror, anger and revenge. This gives the good wife Anne Archer many different dimensions, and she is quite formidable when dealing with the attack on her family. Yes, there are elements of exploitation here, as well as a few camp elements, but the fun of the film is that you never know what will happen. I'm not entirely thrilled with the dramatic conclusion, but it's better than the original anti climactic conclusion added to home video versions. If this had any impact, it was a major step in forcing married men to keep their pants zipped when their wife was around, although I've heard several film historians refer to the character of Alex Forrest as a metaphor for AIDS in the sense of the warning of the dangers of promiscuity.

So here we have it, the granddaddy of the psycho-thriller genre and in all respects a more subtle and realistic film than you'd expect from a genre that later descended into cheesy madness and inanity. By the time these run of films had finished – and there are still some B-movies coming out, here and there – we'd had psychotic babysitters, mothers, fathers, children, nurses, co-workers, you name it. But FATAL ATTRACTION is the one that kicked them all off in a wave of popularity, even if there were precedents in the likes of Eastwood's PLAY MISTY FOR ME and the slasher genre. It's a simple story of the archetypal happy family and what happens when the father and husband has an affair with an unhinged woman.

Michael Douglas is on top form as the slightly sleazy family guy who can't resist shacking up with loopy Glenn Close when his wife (Anne Archer) is away. Douglas later found a home in this type of film, menaced by more adulteresses (Sharon Stone) and even his own boss (Demi Moore). Here, though, he's fresher faced and more realistic, with the script making no bones of his adultery and the way he betrays both his wife and child by having an affair while they're away. Glenn Close is frightening in the role that made her name, but I have to say she doesn't cut it as an object of desire – with that hairstyle she looks like a maniac from the outset! The realism of the plot excludes the kind of murderous rampage sequences that later popularised the genre, and it's all the more chilling for it – the suicide attempt scene is far more disturbing than watching a madwoman running amok with a kitchen knife. Then, of course, there's that scene involving the favourite family pet that's rightly gone down in history as one of the most memorable of all time, and a now-familiar shock climax to polish things off. I did find the film somewhat subdued in places where it could have been more thrilling, but that's because it plays it as a character drama for the most part, more interested in getting to grips with Close's psychosis than bumping off a string of inconsequential types.

Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) is happily married to Beth (Anne Archer) with daughter Ellen. He's a NYC lawyer with a publisher client. He gets close to editor Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) and starts an affair with her while his family is away. He tries to distance himself and she attempts suicide. She won't let go and tells him that she's pregnant.

Dan is a douche bag. On one hand, I'm glad that his affair isn't soft peddled. On the other hand, I'm not invested in his well being. I don't care whether Beth finds out or not. I don't care whether Alex is really pregnant or not. I don't care whether Dan lives or dies. I barely care about the kid. I would be perfectly happy if Dan and Beth get divorced. I actually wish his life falls apart completely.

There is no doubt that the performances are great especially Glenn Close. The frenetic action scenes are exciting. The direction styles of Adrian Lyne looks beautiful. There is a quiet intensity about the movie. I just wish I care more about Dan. Honestly he's a real douche.