Between Love and Hate (1993) Susan Lucci, Patrick Van Horn, Raymond J. Barry, Moira Sinise, Elizabeth Ruscio, Cameron Daddo Movie Review

Between Love and Hate (1993)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Susan Lucci in Between Love and Hate (1993)

Lucci Wants the Van Horn

Matt Templeton (Patrick Van Horn) has known Vivian Conrad (Susan Lucci - The Woman Who Sinned) for years as before his father's business went bust the Templetons moved in the same circles as the Conrads. But now Matt is just the swimming coach to Vivian and her husband, Justin's (Barry Bostwick - Betrayed by Innocence), young daughter. That all changes when Vivian sets about seducing Matt, who is a virgin, but after a few weeks she grows bored of him as he starts to get needy and obsessed with her. When Vivian decides to break it off before her husband or anyone else finds out Matt refuses to accept it and his obsession turns violent.

It is almost 25 years since "Between Love and Hate" was made and two things came to mind as I watched this movie; firstly the sound of a sexy saxophone has the amazing ability to take me back to my late teens when it featured in every sexy thriller going. The second is that if they made movies like this now they would be completely laughed at due to the emphasis on being sizzling and sexy when it comes to a young man losing his virginity by what these days we would call a cougar or a MILF. This is the sort of movie where when a woman unzips her jeans she is wearing the sexiest lingerie going which somehow doesn't move despite the tightness of those jeans.

Patrick Van Horn in Between Love and Hate (1993)

Now the thing about "Between Love and Hate" is that it does have various things going on as such whilst it all starts with Vivian seducing Matt we then have a difficult relationship between Matt and his father who we learn use to beat Matt. And of course as the story evolves we not only get to see Matt becoming jealous, obsessive and dangerous but it builds to the opening scenes which sees someone walking in on Matt and Vivian whilst they are in a romantic clinch. Unfortunately the way "Between Love and Hate" plays out is not that engaging even with a series of revelations.

What ends up the most memorable part of "Between Love and Hate" is Susan Lucci who brings to life the role of the wealthy older woman with a thing for seducing younger men. Basically she delivers the hotness of a sexy older woman, the playfulness when she smiles but also the cold nature when she tires of her play thing and drops Matt like a stone when others learn of their affair. As for everyone else well they deliver solid performances but they are forgettable.

What this all boils down to is that "Between Love and Hate" is very much a product of the 90s with its story of sex and seduction which is now pretty cheese. But it does feature a sizzling performance from Susan Lucci which is frankly the most memorable thing about the movie.

Tags: Age Gap Romances


LATEST REVIEWS