Dark Obsession (1991)

Directed by documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield (Kurt & Courtney), this intense 1989 film seeks to challenge notions of morality and sexual obsession. This highly stylized investigation of amorality among the upper crust features Gabriel Byrne (Miller's Crossing) as an aristocrat in the throes of jealous paranoia about the goings-on of his wife, played by Amanda Donohoe (Lair of the White Worm). Believing that she is having an affair, he becomes increasingly unglued until one night, having had too much to drink with friends, he deliberately runs down a woman with his car, thinking she is his wife. When she turns out to be one of his staff, Byrne and his cronies pledge to cover up the murder, until one of the bunch begins to wrestle with feelings of guilt, jeopardizing the rest. Meanwhile, Byrne struggles to contend with his so-called normal life, complete with all its callous decadence, hoping not to be discovered as a murderer as he contends with his rabid jealousy. Lurid and uncompromising, the adult-themed Dark Obsession offers a disturbing and compelling view of the dark side of human sexuality. --Robert Lane Amazon.com

Gabriel Byrne Fan

Well I am a Gabriel Byrne fan and purchased this video for that reason. There are two versions in existence, I am still trying to get the uncut version which I believe will give the story more substance. The cut version just leaves too much out to bring to life the fear and jealousy involved in this plot.....I believe most of the talents of all the actors in this movie were not explored, much better movies out there with GB in.....:) October 24, 2006

Thoughtful thriller

Dark Obsession was hard to watch because it is not a movie that leaves you with a sense of satisfaction. We watch many movies with loathsome characters, but most get their just desserts, or at least some measure of retribution. That's not the case with the central character here, a philandering and bullying British aristocrat played by Gabriel Byrne. Granted, he is a good actor, but boy did I hate him!
Consumed by jealous lust for his wife and suspecting her of infidelity, he runs her over with his car, or so he thinks. Turns out he killed someone else. Byrne's friends become complicit in his crime by covering it up for him. One of them has a conscience that eventually gets the better of him, but will justice be done?
Amanda Donohoe is good as Byrne's longsuffering wife. This must have been in the middle of her LA Law days. She is adept at playing both innocent beauties and scheming she-devils (a la Lair of the White Worm).
Also look out for a young Sadie Frost as Byrne's sister. She looks much curvier here than she did in Bram Stoker's Dracula. August 1, 2003

Dumb/NC-17?

This film was just plain dumb. I see very few have bothered to even write a review. That says a lot. There is little plot, no character development, and the NC-17 rating isn't appropriate. Maybe because this movie is kind of old...The sex scenes are mild. Anyway, Gabriel Byrne has very few lines and just avoid this... November 19, 2001

Aka Diamond Skulls

This first feature by Nick Broomfield based on an idea he conceived with Tim Rose Price is only interesting in light of the later documentaries Broomfield would make about serial killer Aileen Wournos, Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss, and the controversy surrounding the extent of Courtney Love's involvement in the death of her husband Kurt Kobain. All these subjects have class in common, whether it's Wournos' killing of truckers in self defence, Fleiss' knowledge of the dirty tricks of Hollywood, or Love's own searing ambition. This film however never decides what it wants to explore, be it the hit and run of a disposable person - the chef of the Yorkshire estate that Gabriel Byrne's parents own, or Byrne's jealousy of his wife, played by Amanda Donohoe. There is the suggestion that the driver believed the victim was Donohoe, which combines both ideas, but this is soon dismissed. While it's hardly a relevation that the rich can behave as beastly as those less rich, and also seem to enjoy patronising activites that are defined as working class, like sex, (the killing is dubbed "meals on wheels"), Broomfield and Rose Price aren't above presenting the police as ineffectual or tourists to the estate as swine who peak through the windows. Broomfield redeems this wispy inchoate tale with his camera, showing us twin beefeaters, Byrne's repeated smothering sex scene with Donohoe, or using odd camera subjective angles, where a ridden horse, a leashed dog and finally Donohoe are seen from the one pursuing them. Although Byrne's brooding uncommunicative obsessional has been the disappointment of other titles, the real waste here is Donohoe who it seems is keyed to give a performance. August 18, 2001

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