Deathtrap (1982)

Featured Audience Ratings

• AJ V

  
  A good thriller, Caine is great in these kinds of movies. I wouldn't have thought of casting Reeve, though, but he's not bad, and played his character well. A few of the plot twists are a little predictable if you watch a lot of thrillers, but the ending is very… More
  A good thriller, Caine is great in these kinds of movies. I wouldn't have thought of casting Reeve, though, but he's not bad, and played his character well. A few of the plot twists are a little predictable if you watch a lot of thrillers, but the ending is very surprising. This movie is a lot of fun, and I recommend watching it.

• A.D. V

  
  Not as great as I remembered it but I think that's due to the fact this is about crazy plot twists that came back to me while watching it. Still its a well made thriller/comedy with a great (gay) performance from Reeve, a delightfully unhinged Caine and superb direction and… More
  Not as great as I remembered it but I think that's due to the fact this is about crazy plot twists that came back to me while watching it. Still its a well made thriller/comedy with a great (gay) performance from Reeve, a delightfully unhinged Caine and superb direction and camera work from Lumet...even if it was full screen.

• Film C

  
  I dont know whether this was good or not it was differnatly different in the way it was written and executed but it was weird and with some jumpy bits so maybe you'll like it maybe not its a bit like marmite!!

• Pierluigi P

  
  This time Michael Caine is the old wisecracker mystery writer. him and Christopher Reeve are very good in their parts. The charm, good humour, amount of red herrings and Sidney Lumet's direction are interesting points as well, but the ending is so weak that makes the film fall… More
  This time Michael Caine is the old wisecracker mystery writer. him and Christopher Reeve are very good in their parts. The charm, good humour, amount of red herrings and Sidney Lumet's direction are interesting points as well, but the ending is so weak that makes the film fall apart.

• Lafe F

  
  Christopher Reeve, Michael Kaine and Dyann Cannon embrace at an isolated country house, for some writing, acting and murder. The plot twists and turns several times throughout, taking us on a wild ride, not knowing quite where things are going to end up. It's brilliant and fun!

• Sam E

  
  Deathtrap was fun to say the least. Alongside the silly, but daunting music and Michael Cane's terrific performance, the movie was a roller coaster ride of twists and turns. Plus, the movie mimicked a play's atmosphere, only taking place in one or two rooms the entire time.

• Danny R

  
  A diabolically delicious film that is filled with devious plot twists that include deceit, murder and mayhem, it is based on Ira Levin's long-running smash hit Broadway play, it has been brilliantly brought to the screen by veteran director Sidney Lumet. Sir Michael Caine… More
  A diabolically delicious film that is filled with devious plot twists that include deceit, murder and mayhem, it is based on Ira Levin's long-running smash hit Broadway play, it has been brilliantly brought to the screen by veteran director Sidney Lumet. Sir Michael Caine delivers a superlative star performance as Sidney Bruhi, a has-been thriller playwright who announces to his wife, beautifully played by Dyan Cannon that he intends to murder a young unknown playwright named Clifford Anderson, intriguingly played by the late Christopher Reeve and steal his brilliant new thriller play he had authored and pass the play off as his own. Excellent supporting performances by Irene Worth, Henry Jones, and Joe Silver. But the real acting tour-de-force is between Caine and Reeve who play off each other so perfectly, each of them bring a dynamic tension and dark humor to their scenes together, i personally relish Caine's performance he is so cunning, manipulative and murderously sadistic, watching this old pro work is a real pleasure. The film also benefits from the gorgeous cinematography by Andrzej Bartkowiak and the wonderful production design by Tony Walton. A wickedly witty and delightfully entertaining dark comedy thriller. Highly Recommended.

• Darik H

  
  I have a great appreciation for stage plays. Having participated in some dramatic course every year since junior high, I've become quite familiar with the conventions of the form, from the necessity of blocking and motivated action to the often-stilted, exposition-heavy dialogue… More
  I have a great appreciation for stage plays. Having participated in some dramatic course every year since junior high, I've become quite familiar with the conventions of the form, from the necessity of blocking and motivated action to the often-stilted, exposition-heavy dialogue that has to fill in the blanks of the story (something harder to do on stage than in film, where we can flashback or change location at a moment's notice). What strikes me as funny about this movie, though, is that, even though we do a bit of jump-cutting and the locations are more plentiful than they could be on stage, throughout the picture it feels as if we are watching a stage play. The dialogue is sharp, almost too much so (but then, the lead characters ARE playwrights), and the cuts are long and widely spaced, rarely moving in close (in particular, a scene in the opening is shot practically from an audience's point-of-view, and doesn't cut until the scene change). What's funny is that Deathtrap has been written to have the same self-reflexive nature as, say, Wes Craven's New Nightmare or the Scream trilogy, so the characters start pointing out how perfect the story's events, characters, and setting would fit into the mold of a stage thriller, and how the two characters are essentially plotting the whole story as they go along. Michael Caine is great fun as the elder playwright whose four most recent plays have flopped horribly, and who, after learning of an amateur's brilliant first work, is willing to do anything for a hit... no matter how cold-blooded. He gets to be so deviously clever and has so much fun reveling in his own manipulations that you can't help but like the character, despite the somewhat morally bankrupt nature of his actions. By contrast, the filmmakers really made a great call in the casting of Christopher Reeve as the young novice writer, using his typecast "Superman" image to lull you into instantly liking and believing you know his character, when, in fact, he goes through a number of sudden and jarring transitions that Reeve handles excellently, holding his own opposite Caine almost effortlessly (one wishes after watching that he had received more opportunities to show his true versatility as an actor). Dyan Cannon (as Caine's wife and supportive sugar-momma) really pushed all the wrong buttons with me- probably because of her character's satirical habit of screaming at everything that catches her off-guard- but she mostly functions as a straight-man (or straight-woman) foil for Caine, and in this she does well. More entertaining, however, is the intervention of Irene Worth as a psychic (of all things) who makes disturbingly accurate predictions about the play's events through her thick German accent- she's a fun character that simultaneously adds and lightens up the tension in the film. Unfortunately, to tell you almost anything about the plot would ruin the movie irreparably for anyone who hadn't seen it, as the story winds around so quickly and in such unexpected directions that to let you know any of what happens ahead of time would spoil the intent of the earlier scenes of the film (think "Keyser Soze" or "I see dead people", except throughout almost the whole movie). But what's best about the plot turns are that the foreshadowing is so obvious AFTER they've happened that the film demands either a second viewing or some focused contemplation to fully appreciate it once it's over, something that's always a plus for me (I like movies that make you think, even if it's only about the construction of the movie). The film is incredibly witty, and it has a bit of fun toying with audience expectations, pointing out the conventions of the thrillers that sired it while nonetheless ratcheting up the suspense using those same conventions. All in all, Deathtrap is just a great exercise in twist-filled storytelling, a tale that isn't a mystery but keeps you guessing until the ironic, yet appropriate, end- it's the kind of story that's as much of a blast to play out as it is to watch, and a play that I would love to be a part of someday.

• RJ M

  
  Sidney Lumet's masterful adaptation of Ira Levin's play is not so much of a "whodunit", but more of what I like to call a "who'll do it". It's impossible to describe the movie in any depth without giving away any of it's secrets. Michael… More
  Sidney Lumet's masterful adaptation of Ira Levin's play is not so much of a "whodunit", but more of what I like to call a "who'll do it". It's impossible to describe the movie in any depth without giving away any of it's secrets. Michael Caine plays a washed up playwright who receives a play from an up and coming playwright played by Christopher Reeve. Caine tells his wife (Dyan Cannon) of a scheme he concocts to kill Reeve and pass the play, called Deathtrap, off as his own. That's all that can be said other than the movie contains more twists and surprises than you can imagine. The movie largely takes place on one set, a windmill converted into Caine's home, centered by his study that is loaded with props and weaponry from his various plays. The acting is first rate. Michael Caine is an acting legend, and this is a prime example of his skill. But it's Reeve that really shines here. Of course the world knows him as Superman. His performance as The Man Of Steel is the stuff of Hollywood legend. But the man was a graduate of Juliard, and here he shows the depth he had as an actor, that unfortunately never had the chance to shine through. The two actors go head to head in an intricate and extremely surprising little movie that will have the audience guessing at the outcome all the way to the end.

• alan j

  
  entertaining....comes across more as a theater play than a film...the acting of Reeve and Caine works well and draws the viewer into the mystery....

• David S

  
  Maybe not quite as good 'Sleuth' (a little bit too gimmicky) but still a great thriller. Caine is great but it is actually Christopher Reeve who is the most interesting, playing against 'Superman' type as the sociopath student. Perhaps a few too many twists at the… More
  Maybe not quite as good 'Sleuth' (a little bit too gimmicky) but still a great thriller. Caine is great but it is actually Christopher Reeve who is the most interesting, playing against 'Superman' type as the sociopath student. Perhaps a few too many twists at the end and the psychic character is a bit annoying but well worth watching as a double bill with the original 'Sleuth'.

Read all 11 featured audience ratings