Knight Moves

Knight Moves


Starring:Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane, Tom Skerritt, Daniel Baldwin, Codie Lucas Wilbee, Joshua Murray, Frank C. Turner, Don Thompson, Megan Leitch, Alex Diakun, Ferdy Mayne, Katharine Isabelle, Mark Wilson, Kehli O'Byrne, Blu Mankuma, Monica Marko, Walter Marsh, Charles Bailey-Gates, Arthur Brauss, Suzy Carby
Director: Carl Schenkel
Studio: Live / Artisan
Product Type: DVD
Knight Moves
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • A reflection of life
  • "Erica"
  • CHECKMATE
  • Do you want nightmares?
  • Check -- mate?
Knight Moves
Starring: Christopher Lambert , Diane Lane , Tom Skerritt , Daniel Baldwin , and Codie Lucas Wilbee
Director: Carl Schenkel
Manufacturer: Live / Artisan
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:
  1. My New Gun
  2. Vital Signs
  3. The Big Town
  4. The Setting Sun
  5. A Walk on the Moon

ASIN: B000056HP8
Release Date: 2001-02-20

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars A reflection of life.......2007-05-13

I'm giving this movie a high rating, not because it's a great movie, but because it has sentimental value to me. My father rented this soon after it came out back in '93, and I was about 9 or 10 years old at that time. It's sentimental to me because this is the movie that inspired me to learn chess, and I'm more in love with the game today than ever before.

I haven't seen this movie since, until I recently purchased it from Amazon Marketplace.

A few notes:

1. Unless the product I purchased is bootleg, and I've been assured it's not, the quality is not exactly what you expect from a DVD that's supposedly digitally re-mastered. The jacket's back cover looks like it was produced by a Xerox machine; the quality of the picture is very grainy at times, even for a movie made 15 years ago; NO SUBTITLES (very disappointing); oh, and the ending is horrible - way too sudden.

2. Just in case anyone's interested, in the movie, Chris Lambert's character mentioned a chess master by the name of Anton Berger who supposedly wrote one of the most famous books on chess, titled "Principles & Tactics." In the first chapter, Berger lists the 3 cardinal rules of playing chess: 1. carefully; 2. carefully; 3. carefully. I yahooed, googled and wikipediaed: there's no such master and no such book.

4 out of 5 stars "Erica".......2006-01-29

A very good movie, Knight Moves, sheds light on a series of horrendous murders committed on an island off the state of Washington during a major chess tournament.
There are slight hints of Seven, The Bone Collector, Resurrection, and The Silence of the Lambs so the movie falls into the action/adventure/mystery/thriller/horror type of category.
Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane, and the rest of the cast (with the exception of Daniel Baldwin) carry out their performances very well!
The only major setbacks are in relation to:
1) Daniel Baldwin's character, Detective Andy Wagner, who was overly disruptive, thus useless and annoying, and
2) Daniel Baldwin's acting, which in one word was... sad.
School plays (and pre-school for that matter) have better acting! Somebody get this guy some acting lessons!

Overall, though not a masterpiece it is definitely a movie worth watching, as it will provide for an evening's entertainment.

3 out of 5 stars CHECKMATE.......2005-04-05

One has to give writer Brad Mirman and director Carl Schenkel credit for coming up with the unique premise of a serial killer's victims tied into a game of chess with a chess master. KNIGHT MOVES opens with a 1972 chess tournament between two little boys; when one of them loses, he throws a fit, and stabs his opponent in the hand with his pen. Psychologists recommend the lad needs therapy (duh?), and recommends that he not be allowed anywhere near a chess board. When on one rainy night, the boy's father runs off and abandons him and his mother, the mother kills herself, and from there we know that many years later, this little boy is going to be our serial killer. Where the script succeeds is in making us try to figure out which of the male actors is the grown up little monster. It throws us some neat red herrings, including a real whopper near the end. Where the movie doesn't fare so well is in the over acting of both Christopher Lambert and Diane Lane (Mrs. Lambert at the time). Lambert's performance isn't surprising, since his movies have succeeded most of the time in spite of him, but Ms. Lane's performance is disappointing, considering the fine work she has done since (Unfaithful, Perfect Storm). Tom Skerritt does well, but even Daniel Baldwin didn't know when to pull in the reins in his hammy performance. Katherine Isabelle (who would grow up to be Ginger in Ginger Snaps movies) plays Lambert's little daughter. Charles Bailey-Grant has a nice turn as the computer sidekick, and veteran British actor Ferdy Mayne shows up as the blind friend of Lamberts. The plot does have some neat twists, but sometimes it's playing with the audience gets a little frustrating, but ultimately KNIGHT MOVES has a good resolution.

1 out of 5 stars Do you want nightmares?.......2002-04-10

If you do, get this movie as nightmares are almost guaranteed. I saw it with some college friends about eight years ago. It took about five years until the nightmares stopped. I cannot think back on this movie with any sort of fondness. The murders are quite gruesome.

The only thing that I feel was well done was how the writer seemed to get into the mind of a serial killer, but that also concerns me. My mind just does not think in that sort of mode.

While I am not a great player, I like the game of chess. I feel this movie did the game and those who play a really bad stereotype.

Avoid this movie. It is not worth the time or stress.

4 out of 5 stars Check -- mate?.......2002-01-21

A children's chess tournament. Two boys facing each other in the final game, intently staring at each other and the chess board between them. They make their moves and register their time. Ultimately, one of them has to concede defeat. Facing "check" twice and almost out of time, he topples his king. And assaults his adversary. A doctor recommends that he not ever be allowed near a chess board while he is treated for his "condition."

Years later, another chess tournament. Grand master Peter Sanderson (Christopher Lambert) is in attendance, making a surprise return after three years' retirement. He easily wins the first rounds. After dinner with daughter Erica (whose only parent he is) and a strategy session with his advisor, Sanderson concludes the evening with a few steamy hours with a sensuous blonde ... and the psychopath who will soon hold the community in thrall has found his first target. When the woman is found murdered, gruesomely dressed up in death and the word "Remember" written on the wall above her in blood, Sanderson initially denies having been with her. This, and his arrogant demeanor towards the policemen investigating the crime - particularly, Detective Andy Wagner (Daniel Baldwin) - makes him an instant suspect. But is Sanderson the psychopath? Or is he, as appearances would have it, the psychopath's true target?

In a grisly game of strategy in which a city is turned into a chess board and women living in the target areas of town (attractive blondes all of them) are the chess pieces, Sanderson and the police hunt a serial killer who always seems to be one step ahead of them. While Detective Wagner never loses his suspicion of Sanderson, his newly minted boss, Captain Frank Sedman (Tom Skerritt) reluctantly comes to the conclusion that since the clues provided by the killer are based on chess references and directed to none other than Sanderson himself, they will not be able to solve the case without his help. Yet, for a long time the grand master, too, seems unable to decipher the killer's clues, and the meaning of the words written above the dead body of each of his victims. - How many women will have to die before his identity is revealed? Will he ever be caught? Will psychologist Kathy Sheppard (Diane Lane), brought in by the police to determine if Sanderson himself fits their suspect's profile, end up as one of his victims?

"Knight Moves" is a suspenseful thriller, intelligently built on the patterns of the royal game of strategy itself, and in which the audience is kept on their toes until the very end. Christopher Lambert in particular is believable as the astute, arrogant Sanderson, who hides his personal fears and insecurities under a mask of unapproachability which only one person seems to be able to pierce - his daughter Erica. His face-offs with Daniel Baldwin alias Detective Wagner, sarcastic and spewing barely controlled rage at each other, are among the highlights of the movie; in addition, of course, to the mind game itself which the killer plays with his hunters and, by extension, with the audience. While it is clear that the solution has to have something to do with the fateful game played by those two boys so long ago, all elements of the story are only connected up in the final scenes ... which are, however, unfortunately somewhat overplayed and emphasize gore more than psychology and hence, are a bit of a let-down. This, and the relationship soon forming between Sanderson and Sheppard, which doesn't entirely work for me (strangely enough, since Lambert and Lane were married at the time) are the only detractors I find in this movie. Overall, however, "Knight Moves" would have deserved much more attention than it has received since its 1992 cinematic release.
Knight Moves [Region 2]
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • A reflection of life
  • "Erica"
  • CHECKMATE
  • Do you want nightmares?
  • Check -- mate?
Knight Moves [Region 2]
Starring: Christopher Lambert , Diane Lane , Tom Skerritt , Daniel Baldwin , and Codie Lucas Wilbee
Director: Carl Schenkel
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

ThrillersThrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video
Baldwin, DanielBaldwin, Daniel | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Diakun, AlexDiakun, Alex | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Lambert, ChristopherLambert, Christopher | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Lane, DianeLane, Diane | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Leitch, MeganLeitch, Megan | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Mankuma, BluMankuma, Blu | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Mayne, Ferdinand FerdyMayne, Ferdinand Ferdy | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Murray, JoshuaMurray, Joshua | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Skerritt, TomSkerritt, Tom | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Turner, Frank CTurner, Frank C | ( T ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Schenkel, CarlSchenkel, Carl | ( S ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
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( K )( K ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:
  1. My New Gun
  2. Vital Signs
  3. The Big Town
  4. The Setting Sun
  5. A Walk on the Moon

ASIN: B0000667KP

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars A reflection of life.......2007-05-13

I'm giving this movie a high rating, not because it's a great movie, but because it has sentimental value to me. My father rented this soon after it came out back in '93, and I was about 9 or 10 years old at that time. It's sentimental to me because this is the movie that inspired me to learn chess, and I'm more in love with the game today than ever before.

I haven't seen this movie since, until I recently purchased it from Amazon Marketplace.

A few notes:

1. Unless the product I purchased is bootleg, and I've been assured it's not, the quality is not exactly what you expect from a DVD that's supposedly digitally re-mastered. The jacket's back cover looks like it was produced by a Xerox machine; the quality of the picture is very grainy at times, even for a movie made 15 years ago; NO SUBTITLES (very disappointing); oh, and the ending is horrible - way too sudden.

2. Just in case anyone's interested, in the movie, Chris Lambert's character mentioned a chess master by the name of Anton Berger who supposedly wrote one of the most famous books on chess, titled "Principles & Tactics." In the first chapter, Berger lists the 3 cardinal rules of playing chess: 1. carefully; 2. carefully; 3. carefully. I yahooed, googled and wikipediaed: there's no such master and no such book.

4 out of 5 stars "Erica".......2006-01-29

A very good movie, Knight Moves, sheds light on a series of horrendous murders committed on an island off the state of Washington during a major chess tournament.
There are slight hints of Seven, The Bone Collector, Resurrection, and The Silence of the Lambs so the movie falls into the action/adventure/mystery/thriller/horror type of category.
Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane, and the rest of the cast (with the exception of Daniel Baldwin) carry out their performances very well!
The only major setbacks are in relation to:
1) Daniel Baldwin's character, Detective Andy Wagner, who was overly disruptive, thus useless and annoying, and
2) Daniel Baldwin's acting, which in one word was... sad.
School plays (and pre-school for that matter) have better acting! Somebody get this guy some acting lessons!

Overall, though not a masterpiece it is definitely a movie worth watching, as it will provide for an evening's entertainment.

3 out of 5 stars CHECKMATE.......2005-04-05

One has to give writer Brad Mirman and director Carl Schenkel credit for coming up with the unique premise of a serial killer's victims tied into a game of chess with a chess master. KNIGHT MOVES opens with a 1972 chess tournament between two little boys; when one of them loses, he throws a fit, and stabs his opponent in the hand with his pen. Psychologists recommend the lad needs therapy (duh?), and recommends that he not be allowed anywhere near a chess board. When on one rainy night, the boy's father runs off and abandons him and his mother, the mother kills herself, and from there we know that many years later, this little boy is going to be our serial killer. Where the script succeeds is in making us try to figure out which of the male actors is the grown up little monster. It throws us some neat red herrings, including a real whopper near the end. Where the movie doesn't fare so well is in the over acting of both Christopher Lambert and Diane Lane (Mrs. Lambert at the time). Lambert's performance isn't surprising, since his movies have succeeded most of the time in spite of him, but Ms. Lane's performance is disappointing, considering the fine work she has done since (Unfaithful, Perfect Storm). Tom Skerritt does well, but even Daniel Baldwin didn't know when to pull in the reins in his hammy performance. Katherine Isabelle (who would grow up to be Ginger in Ginger Snaps movies) plays Lambert's little daughter. Charles Bailey-Grant has a nice turn as the computer sidekick, and veteran British actor Ferdy Mayne shows up as the blind friend of Lamberts. The plot does have some neat twists, but sometimes it's playing with the audience gets a little frustrating, but ultimately KNIGHT MOVES has a good resolution.

1 out of 5 stars Do you want nightmares?.......2002-04-10

If you do, get this movie as nightmares are almost guaranteed. I saw it with some college friends about eight years ago. It took about five years until the nightmares stopped. I cannot think back on this movie with any sort of fondness. The murders are quite gruesome.

The only thing that I feel was well done was how the writer seemed to get into the mind of a serial killer, but that also concerns me. My mind just does not think in that sort of mode.

While I am not a great player, I like the game of chess. I feel this movie did the game and those who play a really bad stereotype.

Avoid this movie. It is not worth the time or stress.

4 out of 5 stars Check -- mate?.......2002-01-21

A children's chess tournament. Two boys facing each other in the final game, intently staring at each other and the chess board between them. They make their moves and register their time. Ultimately, one of them has to concede defeat. Facing "check" twice and almost out of time, he topples his king. And assaults his adversary. A doctor recommends that he not ever be allowed near a chess board while he is treated for his "condition."

Years later, another chess tournament. Grand master Peter Sanderson (Christopher Lambert) is in attendance, making a surprise return after three years' retirement. He easily wins the first rounds. After dinner with daughter Erica (whose only parent he is) and a strategy session with his advisor, Sanderson concludes the evening with a few steamy hours with a sensuous blonde ... and the psychopath who will soon hold the community in thrall has found his first target. When the woman is found murdered, gruesomely dressed up in death and the word "Remember" written on the wall above her in blood, Sanderson initially denies having been with her. This, and his arrogant demeanor towards the policemen investigating the crime - particularly, Detective Andy Wagner (Daniel Baldwin) - makes him an instant suspect. But is Sanderson the psychopath? Or is he, as appearances would have it, the psychopath's true target?

In a grisly game of strategy in which a city is turned into a chess board and women living in the target areas of town (attractive blondes all of them) are the chess pieces, Sanderson and the police hunt a serial killer who always seems to be one step ahead of them. While Detective Wagner never loses his suspicion of Sanderson, his newly minted boss, Captain Frank Sedman (Tom Skerritt) reluctantly comes to the conclusion that since the clues provided by the killer are based on chess references and directed to none other than Sanderson himself, they will not be able to solve the case without his help. Yet, for a long time the grand master, too, seems unable to decipher the killer's clues, and the meaning of the words written above the dead body of each of his victims. - How many women will have to die before his identity is revealed? Will he ever be caught? Will psychologist Kathy Sheppard (Diane Lane), brought in by the police to determine if Sanderson himself fits their suspect's profile, end up as one of his victims?

"Knight Moves" is a suspenseful thriller, intelligently built on the patterns of the royal game of strategy itself, and in which the audience is kept on their toes until the very end. Christopher Lambert in particular is believable as the astute, arrogant Sanderson, who hides his personal fears and insecurities under a mask of unapproachability which only one person seems to be able to pierce - his daughter Erica. His face-offs with Daniel Baldwin alias Detective Wagner, sarcastic and spewing barely controlled rage at each other, are among the highlights of the movie; in addition, of course, to the mind game itself which the killer plays with his hunters and, by extension, with the audience. While it is clear that the solution has to have something to do with the fateful game played by those two boys so long ago, all elements of the story are only connected up in the final scenes ... which are, however, unfortunately somewhat overplayed and emphasize gore more than psychology and hence, are a bit of a let-down. This, and the relationship soon forming between Sanderson and Sheppard, which doesn't entirely work for me (strangely enough, since Lambert and Lane were married at the time) are the only detractors I find in this movie. Overall, however, "Knight Moves" would have deserved much more attention than it has received since its 1992 cinematic release.
Knight Moves [Region 2]
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • A reflection of life
  • "Erica"
  • CHECKMATE
  • Do you want nightmares?
  • Check -- mate?
Knight Moves [Region 2]
Starring: Christopher Lambert , Diane Lane , Tom Skerritt , Daniel Baldwin , and Codie Lucas Wilbee
Director: Carl Schenkel
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GermanGerman | By Original Language | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video
ThrillersThrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video
Baldwin, DanielBaldwin, Daniel | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Diakun, AlexDiakun, Alex | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Lambert, ChristopherLambert, Christopher | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Lane, DianeLane, Diane | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Leitch, MeganLeitch, Megan | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Mankuma, BluMankuma, Blu | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Mayne, Ferdinand FerdyMayne, Ferdinand Ferdy | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Murray, JoshuaMurray, Joshua | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Skerritt, TomSkerritt, Tom | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Turner, Frank CTurner, Frank C | ( T ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Schenkel, CarlSchenkel, Carl | ( S ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Used DVDsUsed DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns
GermanGerman | By Original Language | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
( K )( K ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:
  1. My New Gun
  2. Vital Signs
  3. The Big Town
  4. The Setting Sun
  5. A Walk on the Moon

ASIN: B00004RYA4

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars A reflection of life.......2007-05-13

I'm giving this movie a high rating, not because it's a great movie, but because it has sentimental value to me. My father rented this soon after it came out back in '93, and I was about 9 or 10 years old at that time. It's sentimental to me because this is the movie that inspired me to learn chess, and I'm more in love with the game today than ever before.

I haven't seen this movie since, until I recently purchased it from Amazon Marketplace.

A few notes:

1. Unless the product I purchased is bootleg, and I've been assured it's not, the quality is not exactly what you expect from a DVD that's supposedly digitally re-mastered. The jacket's back cover looks like it was produced by a Xerox machine; the quality of the picture is very grainy at times, even for a movie made 15 years ago; NO SUBTITLES (very disappointing); oh, and the ending is horrible - way too sudden.

2. Just in case anyone's interested, in the movie, Chris Lambert's character mentioned a chess master by the name of Anton Berger who supposedly wrote one of the most famous books on chess, titled "Principles & Tactics." In the first chapter, Berger lists the 3 cardinal rules of playing chess: 1. carefully; 2. carefully; 3. carefully. I yahooed, googled and wikipediaed: there's no such master and no such book.

4 out of 5 stars "Erica".......2006-01-29

A very good movie, Knight Moves, sheds light on a series of horrendous murders committed on an island off the state of Washington during a major chess tournament.
There are slight hints of Seven, The Bone Collector, Resurrection, and The Silence of the Lambs so the movie falls into the action/adventure/mystery/thriller/horror type of category.
Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane, and the rest of the cast (with the exception of Daniel Baldwin) carry out their performances very well!
The only major setbacks are in relation to:
1) Daniel Baldwin's character, Detective Andy Wagner, who was overly disruptive, thus useless and annoying, and
2) Daniel Baldwin's acting, which in one word was... sad.
School plays (and pre-school for that matter) have better acting! Somebody get this guy some acting lessons!

Overall, though not a masterpiece it is definitely a movie worth watching, as it will provide for an evening's entertainment.

3 out of 5 stars CHECKMATE.......2005-04-05

One has to give writer Brad Mirman and director Carl Schenkel credit for coming up with the unique premise of a serial killer's victims tied into a game of chess with a chess master. KNIGHT MOVES opens with a 1972 chess tournament between two little boys; when one of them loses, he throws a fit, and stabs his opponent in the hand with his pen. Psychologists recommend the lad needs therapy (duh?), and recommends that he not be allowed anywhere near a chess board. When on one rainy night, the boy's father runs off and abandons him and his mother, the mother kills herself, and from there we know that many years later, this little boy is going to be our serial killer. Where the script succeeds is in making us try to figure out which of the male actors is the grown up little monster. It throws us some neat red herrings, including a real whopper near the end. Where the movie doesn't fare so well is in the over acting of both Christopher Lambert and Diane Lane (Mrs. Lambert at the time). Lambert's performance isn't surprising, since his movies have succeeded most of the time in spite of him, but Ms. Lane's performance is disappointing, considering the fine work she has done since (Unfaithful, Perfect Storm). Tom Skerritt does well, but even Daniel Baldwin didn't know when to pull in the reins in his hammy performance. Katherine Isabelle (who would grow up to be Ginger in Ginger Snaps movies) plays Lambert's little daughter. Charles Bailey-Grant has a nice turn as the computer sidekick, and veteran British actor Ferdy Mayne shows up as the blind friend of Lamberts. The plot does have some neat twists, but sometimes it's playing with the audience gets a little frustrating, but ultimately KNIGHT MOVES has a good resolution.

1 out of 5 stars Do you want nightmares?.......2002-04-10

If you do, get this movie as nightmares are almost guaranteed. I saw it with some college friends about eight years ago. It took about five years until the nightmares stopped. I cannot think back on this movie with any sort of fondness. The murders are quite gruesome.

The only thing that I feel was well done was how the writer seemed to get into the mind of a serial killer, but that also concerns me. My mind just does not think in that sort of mode.

While I am not a great player, I like the game of chess. I feel this movie did the game and those who play a really bad stereotype.

Avoid this movie. It is not worth the time or stress.

4 out of 5 stars Check -- mate?.......2002-01-21

A children's chess tournament. Two boys facing each other in the final game, intently staring at each other and the chess board between them. They make their moves and register their time. Ultimately, one of them has to concede defeat. Facing "check" twice and almost out of time, he topples his king. And assaults his adversary. A doctor recommends that he not ever be allowed near a chess board while he is treated for his "condition."

Years later, another chess tournament. Grand master Peter Sanderson (Christopher Lambert) is in attendance, making a surprise return after three years' retirement. He easily wins the first rounds. After dinner with daughter Erica (whose only parent he is) and a strategy session with his advisor, Sanderson concludes the evening with a few steamy hours with a sensuous blonde ... and the psychopath who will soon hold the community in thrall has found his first target. When the woman is found murdered, gruesomely dressed up in death and the word "Remember" written on the wall above her in blood, Sanderson initially denies having been with her. This, and his arrogant demeanor towards the policemen investigating the crime - particularly, Detective Andy Wagner (Daniel Baldwin) - makes him an instant suspect. But is Sanderson the psychopath? Or is he, as appearances would have it, the psychopath's true target?

In a grisly game of strategy in which a city is turned into a chess board and women living in the target areas of town (attractive blondes all of them) are the chess pieces, Sanderson and the police hunt a serial killer who always seems to be one step ahead of them. While Detective Wagner never loses his suspicion of Sanderson, his newly minted boss, Captain Frank Sedman (Tom Skerritt) reluctantly comes to the conclusion that since the clues provided by the killer are based on chess references and directed to none other than Sanderson himself, they will not be able to solve the case without his help. Yet, for a long time the grand master, too, seems unable to decipher the killer's clues, and the meaning of the words written above the dead body of each of his victims. - How many women will have to die before his identity is revealed? Will he ever be caught? Will psychologist Kathy Sheppard (Diane Lane), brought in by the police to determine if Sanderson himself fits their suspect's profile, end up as one of his victims?

"Knight Moves" is a suspenseful thriller, intelligently built on the patterns of the royal game of strategy itself, and in which the audience is kept on their toes until the very end. Christopher Lambert in particular is believable as the astute, arrogant Sanderson, who hides his personal fears and insecurities under a mask of unapproachability which only one person seems to be able to pierce - his daughter Erica. His face-offs with Daniel Baldwin alias Detective Wagner, sarcastic and spewing barely controlled rage at each other, are among the highlights of the movie; in addition, of course, to the mind game itself which the killer plays with his hunters and, by extension, with the audience. While it is clear that the solution has to have something to do with the fateful game played by those two boys so long ago, all elements of the story are only connected up in the final scenes ... which are, however, unfortunately somewhat overplayed and emphasize gore more than psychology and hence, are a bit of a let-down. This, and the relationship soon forming between Sanderson and Sheppard, which doesn't entirely work for me (strangely enough, since Lambert and Lane were married at the time) are the only detractors I find in this movie. Overall, however, "Knight Moves" would have deserved much more attention than it has received since its 1992 cinematic release.

DVD:

  1. Of Human Bondage
  2. Lap Dancer
  3. Passion's Way
  4. Young Girls of Wilko
  5. Dismissed from Life
  6. Radio/Rudy
  7. Campeon Sin Corona
  8. Square Dance
  9. War Stories
  10. Lady of Burlesque: The G-String Murders

DVD

DVD

DVD

Queen of the Damned / Thirteen Ghosts

Taming Andrew

Chinatown [WS & 25th Anniversary Edition] (REGION 1) (NT

DVD: Silver Screen Series

Mr Men And Little Miss - Mr Strong Makes A Splash And Other