Written by Bruce Lansbury and Philip John Taylor
Directed by Tobe Hooper
Starring Mädchen Amick, Dee Wallace, and Anthony Perkins
Running time 92 minutes
Now on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber

by Ashley Jane Davis, Staff Writer

It took a LOT of hunting to watch Tobe Hooper’s I’m Dangerous Tonight as a teen. Picture it – the year 2000. I was just your average girl in high school, obsessed with the hippest and hottest Bop centerfold, Anthony Perkins. You remember everyone having pics of him in their lockers, right? Well as a fellow Repressed Gay, I felt soothed by his air of cheeky coyness and deep sadness. Anthony was my guy (because I had to have one, right? To seem normal? I’m sure it seemed very normal).

I was working my way through his filmography, scouring the TV Guide to see when I had to set my VCR to record ffolkes, or Friendly Persuasion, or the spicy E! True Hollywood Story. On the world wide web I found this great Anthony Perkins fansite that had a very robust guest book. To make a very long story short, this is where the great Tony Perkins VHS Sharing Club began! Delivered to my door came a dusty VHS of I’m Dangerous Tonight recorded off tv by someone in Montana or something. I held it for a week and then off it went to the next person in line. Thanks to Kino Lorber, I can revisit more than 20 years later. 

Synopsis of I’m Dangerous Tonight per Letterboxd

AMY HAS A NEW DRESS THAT WILL TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY… FOREVER…

An ancient Aztec cloth with a curse accidentally finds its way into the possession of a young woman. She decides to make a dress from the cloth. Whoever wears this cloth/dress comes under its spell; all inhibitions and moral responsibilities are lost. 

So…

I love this flick! It’s like Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II as an episode of Murder, She Wrote by way of Sir R.L. Stine with the perfect cast! Folks may critique that it’s made-for-tv-ness is showing, but I really don’t care. I love any story like this with a mysterious artifact from the past wreaking havoc on us dumb (white) humans who can’t just leave it alone! Fashion horror! I don’t need it to be flawless, I just want it to be fun. And I had so much fun with I’m Dangerous Tonight. But it’s so much more than that.

Most importantly (to me), we have PROFESSOR of Psychology, Buchanan (Anthony Perkins). He quotes philosophers, waxes poetic about ancient religious rites, wears tweed, and has a dog named SIGMUND. Naturally dreamy. But I mean, he is not the real focus here. The real stars are Cinderella-type student Amy played by Mädchen Amick (Twin Peaks era Mädchen omg), and lonely assistant coroner Wanda played by the Dee Wallace.

The story is wild and there are some unforgettable scenes. The scene of Amy dancing with her cursed dress – I LOVE IT. Or the scene where it looks like Amy and this Shakespeare boy she likes have set up an altar to sacrifice a baguette, but it’s just *romance*. Oh - Shower murder! (not involving Perkins but we do get him in a graveyard!) Folks, there are a lot of lil gems to behold here!

What features make it special?

• Brand New 2K Master!!!

• Two separate audio commentary tracks

• Devil In A Red Dress: Interview with Actress Dee Wallace

• Seeing Red: Interview with Director of Photography Levie Isaacks

• Making I’m Dangerous Tonight: Behind-the-Scenes footage with optional commentary

• A Dress To Bring Out The Devil In You: Video essay by Chris O’Neill

• Video Trailer

I was positively GLEEFUL when I learned I could revisit! In a new 2K master!! I could barely make out who was on the screen the last time I saw this thing! I have searched it out in the past but rarely found it, and when I did, it was nothing I could afford. 

Seeing the number of special features on this disc was just a dream to me. I had never even seen the trailer before, let alone any supplementary info about this movie. I especially loved the interview with absolute treasure Dee Wallace and the video essay by Chris O’Neill. The audio commentary by filmmaker/historian Michael Varrati was also great and brought out a ton of interesting points. 

Why you need to add it to your video library…

Because it exists!! I don’t know how else to convince ya. I get that this isn’t something that everyone will think is “great”, but I truly love it. Thank you, Kino Lorber, for making my red dress dreams come true.

P.S. I only have ONE more Perkins film to see. If anyone has a VHS recording of A Ravishing Idiot they want to share, please let me know!

I’m Dangerous Tonight is now available on Blu-ray here.