Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Robert J. Maxwell Nice cast in a sometimes very funny spoof of erotic thrillers that were appearing at the time. Beginning with "Body Heat" in 1981, you could pick one adjective from Column A and one noun from Column B. From Column A: Fatal, Basic, Dangerous, Lethal, or Deadly. From Column B: Affair, Instinct, Liaisons, or Encounters. And then there was the anomalous "Poisonous Panties: The True Story of the Victoria's Secret Murders." This hectic farce rips off scenes and themes from innumerable noirish thrillers with base overtones. I caught "Double Indemnity," "Body Heat," "Sleeping With The Enemy," "The Maltese Falcon," "The Postman Always Rings Twice." I'm not showing off. It's easy. And I'm sure I missed some. The "Airplane" people and those who produced this imitation of imitations -- a kind of meta-imitation -- must have just about run out of gags because there haven't been that many recently.There's no reason to outline the plot. It has something to do with a wife's wanting to kill her husband for insurance but the plot is pulled apart by so many exotic allusions and so much word play, so many quips and monstrous metaphors, so many catachreses and zeugmas and whatnot, that it's often forgotten and just as well. Not that it's a masterpiece of literary play. People are always falling down stairs and doing forward flips for little discernible reason. We're not talking Oscar Wilde, but the dialog is pretty funny. I should have taken notes but, as it is, I can't recall any lines. My short-term memory is getting shoddy. I think my brain is turning to tofu and I may leave it to the American Culinary Institute for analysis.Two observations though. One is that Armand Assante is an excellent comic character. I wouldn't have expected it from him. He put his arrant masculinity to ridiculous use. And Sean Young, for all her off-screen foibles, is a delicious creature, all cream and pearl.I think you'll enjoy this unless you're in an irretrievably dark mood.

D_Burke I am well aware of the bad pun I just made in the title of this review. If you didn't think that was funny, all I can tell you is that it is probably funnier than 95% of the gags in this film. I will admit that a couple of the gags here and there elicited a few chuckles out of me, but for the most part, I kept watching this film wondering why a production assistant didn't pull Carl Reiner aside and say, "Sir, this isn't funny. I recommend shutting down production."I'm betting that 1994 must have made for a hell of a family reunion at the Reiner household. Carl Reiner's son, Rob Reiner, ended his hot streak of memorable films when he released "North" (1994), the comedy that almost permanently derailed his career. The elder Reiner, who is also no stranger to funny and often times memorable films ("The Jerk" (1979), "The Man With Two Brains" (1983)), probably felt the same pain as Rob after releasing this forgettable mess of a film."Fatal Instinct" is a comedy that is a spoof, but is sometimes unsure of just what it is spoofing. It is supposed to be a parody of erotic thrillers that came out in the late '80's and early '90's. Of course, there are many references to scenes in "Fatal Attraction" (1987) and "Basic Instinct" (1992), hence the name of the film. Scenes from other such thrillers like "Sleeping With The Enemy" (1991), "Body Heat" (1981), and "Cape Fear" (1962 or 1991) are also obviously repeated.There are two problems with this films repeating scenes from these movies. First, the key word is "repeat". None of the actors in these scenes even try to reflect the irony of the most memorable moments in these crime thrillers. Sure they reference Sharon Stone's infamous lack of underwear in "Basic Instinct", and Glenn Close's roasting a bunny in a pot in "Fatal Attraction". Simple referencing of such scenes does not make them funny.Second, the film is rated PG-13, which means kids can see it. Because "Basic Instinct" and "Fatal Attraction" were R-rated movies that both came close to being NC-17, kids would not (or should not) have been able to see them. Therefore, any jokes about, or references to, these films, regardless of whether or not they're funny, are going to fly over kids' heads. If you're going to spoof R-rated movies, why not go edgier with the on-screen gags? Kids probably would not want to see the movie anyway, so why did the filmmakers not even think to make this movie R-rated?When the film is not reenacting femme fatale shots from movies adult audience members probably have already seen, it seems as though it inserts infantile gags in an attempt to be "The Naked Gun" (1988). Armand Assante is a good dramatic actor, but in this movie, it seemed as though he tried way too hard to be Leslie Nielsen. Nielsen was funny in the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker comedies because he said ridiculous things while keeping a straight face. Assante all too often seemed aware of the absurdity of his lines, and his natural comic timing was usually way off.On top of all those errors, there were a lot of really tired running gags. Seeing gum and toilet paper being stuck to Sean Young's high heels wasn't particularly funny the first time, and was even less the fifth time around. The joke about Assante being both a cop and a lawyer was also about as stupid as his closet being full of the same suit. The film was also inundated with really stupid character names (i.e. Max Shady, Judge Skanky), and horrible, obvious puns.Nowhere were these terrible puns more evident than in the courtroom scene. Once the bailiff called for a ten minute recess, guess what happened next? Yep, all the members of the court went outside and played games. Get it? Like it's recess in elementary school!?!?! Ho ho HO!!!!!! Note: By sheer coincidence, there was an equally bad courtroom joke in Rob Reiner's film, "North". When the main character's parents are in comatose during his divorce from them, their attorney says, "I'm afraid the defense rests". Which joke is worse? You decide.So this film was bad. It had very good actors in it that tried way too hard to be funny, and looked stupid as a result. Even worse, there was really no story. The writer of this film seemed to be so busy naming erotic thrillers that the audience never cares about the fate of the characters in THIS movie. The film spins its wheels while managing to go nowhere. Carl Reiner should be thankful to Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, though. If they hadn't made their awful spoof movies, which are far more guilty of repeating pop culture moments, "Fatal Instinct" would probably be the worst parody film of all time. It is fatal to watch, and you should trust your instinct by not seeing it.

Isaac5855 FATAL INSTINCT is a side-split-tingly funny spoof of film noir dramas, in the AIRPLANE/NAKED GUN mode that offers affectionate winks at films like FATAL ATTRACTION, BASIC INSTINCT, THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, and CAPE FEAR, offering consistent laughs thanks, in part, to the self-assured direction of comedy icon Carl Reiner. Reiner smartly chose to cast strong actors instead of pure comics whose uncanny ability to play the funny material with completely straight faces is what makes the film so funny. Armand Assante is surprisingly funny as Ned Ravine, a cop and a lawyer who is being cheated on by a scheming wife (Kate Nelligan), being pursued by a sexy client (Sean Young)and being loved from afar by his faithful secretary (Sherilyn Fenn). There are also funny turns from Christopheer McDonald as Nelligan's dim-witted lover, James Remar, in a perfect take off of Max Cady from CAPE FEAR, and Tony Randall as a judge. The gags come fast and furious and most of them work, there's even a very funny cameo by Bob Euker, as a color commentator for a trial. Just sit back, relax, don't think about it too much and there's a lot of fun to be had here.

Jexxon Very funny film noir spoof, that's undeservedly criticised. It may lack the "quality" feel of e.g. The Naked Gun, but I think it's almost as funny.The film looks great, and the jokes aren't as much of a hit-and-miss affair as you could fear. Naturally it's almost essential that you've seen most of the films it takes a crack at (Double Indemnity, Body Heat, Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, Sleeping with the Enemy just to mention a few).But what really elevates Fatal Instinct above similar efforts is the brilliant performance from Armand Assante, who displays a comic timing that I never would have guessed he had. He plays his completely oblivious-to-everything-that's-happening-around-him detective with such dead pan seriousness, that it's impossible not to laugh (the scenes with his skunk little Neddy are hilarious). Never mind the critics, find this film and see it. [8/10]