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Andy when he pretends to attack him with it. Billy insists the prop knife is hers, and that Arkadi stole it. Billy leads police to an elevator shaft where she believes Lyosha stashed the actress's corpse, but they find it empty. After police dismiss the incident and send Billy home, a night watchman at the studio finds the actress's corpse burning in a basement incinerator before being stabbed to death by Arkadi. Shortly after, a mysterious elderly man arrives at the studio in a vintage car, and asks Lyosha if things "went smoothly." Aware that Billy witnessed the murder, the Reaper makes clear that she must be eliminated.
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570:' cameo appearance was filmed nearly a decade before the rest of the movie. Anthony Waller had a chance encounter with the actor in Hamburg in 1985, when the two were working on a television commercial, and asked him if he was interested in doing a one-scene cameo. Guinness took no payment, doing it out of the "goodness of his heart", as the director recalled. The movie ended up being one of his final screen roles. When Waller needed an additional scene, he used the same footage but reversed it.
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times, apparently killing her, before proffering the Reaper the sought-after computer disc. The Reaper and his thugs promptly depart, after which Karen begins to violently beat Larsen for killing her sister. However, Karen quickly realizes that Billy is still alive as she opens her eyes and brandishes a bulletproof vest; Larsen orchestrated the fake murder to divert the Reaper and spare Billy's life. The only thing Larsen does not understand is why the Reaper didn't take the diskette from him.
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Larsen quickly escorts Billy away, and explains that the crime ring have targeted her, believing she is in possession of a computer disc containing confidential information. Meanwhile, Karen and Andy arrive at Billy's apartment only to find it disheveled, and they are subsequently attacked by Lyosha,
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in Moscow. The operation is led by a wealthy financier known as "the Reaper." Back at her apartment, Billy communicates with Karen using a digital phone dictation machine. In the midst of her conversation, Billy's doorbell rings, and she is confronted by Arkadi, who breaks in, followed by Lyosha. A
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Police arrive and question Lyosha, but come to the conclusion that Billy witnessed an elaborate special effects sequence being shot when they are unable to find a body. Arkadi, the man whom Billy witnessed stab the actress, demonstrates the effects using a fake knife that streams blood, frightening
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gave the film a mostly positive review, remarking that while the movie can be "entirely plot-driven, neglecting to develop intriguing characterizations", its "suspense is so chilling, its narrative so disciplined and its style so pleasurable, they jointly triumph over the other deficiencies." The
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Karen and Andy meanwhile also rush to the studio, where Andy attempts to shoot at Larsen as he arrives with Billy, believing Larsen means her harm. In the melee, Billy rushes outside only to be confronted by numerous armed thugs, along with the Reaper. Moments later, Larsen shoots Billy multiple
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directed by Andy Clarke, the boyfriend of her elder sister, Karen. On one particular night, Billy returns to the set to fetch a piece of equipment for the next day's shoot when she is accidentally locked in the studio. Billy phones Karen for help and communicates with her via
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was more mixed and they wrote that the director's "technique is impressive; the film falls flat only when he attempts to make the frightening funny. But the plot takes some nice twists and turns, the tension builds a good head of steam, and the tawdriness never lets up."
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who awakens. Two of the Reaper's thugs posing as policemen arrive at the scene, and they shoot and kill Lyosha before questioning Karen and Andy about the computer disc. Meanwhile, Billy directs Larsen to the film studio, where she believes the computer disc is located.
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Larsen makes plans to meet Billy the following day, and brings with him one of the studio's corrupt security guards, whom he has bound and gagged. As they are about to drive away, Billy observes the guard's worried expression, and realizes the car has been fixed with a
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and the reason the Reaper didn't take the diskette from Larsen was that it was going to be destroyed when the car expodes. With Andy's help, she manages to communicate this, and Larsen escapes the vehicle seconds before it explodes, saving himself.
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violent struggle ensues, during which Billy manages to electrocute Arkadi in the bathtub with a hairdryer. Lyosha subsequently incapacitates Billy, only to be saved by Larsen, who beats Lyosha unconscious.
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was released theatrically in the United States on 15 September 1995, and earned $ 560,048 in its opening weekend in 284 theaters. It had an overall worldwide gross of $ 1,125,910.
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was brought in on short notice, though Waller had to direct her through an interpreter, as she couldn't speak
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is a slickly crafted horror/thriller with some surprising comic twists."
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after she stumbles upon one of their film sets and witnesses a murder.
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A British-German-Russian co-production, the film premiered at the
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1963 novel on which the motion picture "Bullitt" is based, see
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1171:Categories
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797:Nominated
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230:1995-09-28
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150:Fay Ripley
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965:.
959:.
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