Director Prefers Unrated ‘Love Crimes’

Some movies enjoy a whole new life when released to the home video market, particularly those, like “Love Crimes,” that feature new footage--sexy new footage.

Due Wednesday, the movie (HBO, $92) is a steamy, psycho-sexual thriller directed by Lizzie Borden, featuring Sean Young and Patrick Bergin. Young plays an assistant D.A. who poses as a model to trap a photographer (Bergin) who’s been taking sexual advantage of women he recruits for photo sessions.

“The point of the film is that Sean Young’s character is way out of touch with her sexuality and she uses this dangerous experience to get in touch with it,” Borden said.

Released early this year, its box-office take was paltry. However, it’s expected to do strong business in the home video market because eight additional minutes have been restored on an unrated version that’s being released along with the one that came out in theaters.

Those minutes were edited out after preview audiences found them too unsettling. “Those people were very conservative,” Borden said. “They thought the movie was too perverse and had too much sex and too much frontal nudity. The nudity really bothered them. Sean (Young) did full frontal nude scenes without body doubles. Not a lot of American actresses do that. So this was very unusual footage. But the preview audiences still wrote ‘sick, sick, sick’ about parts of the movie. I guess I’m this weird, sick, perverted director.”

The options, Borden said, were to release “Love Crimes” unedited to a limited audience--to art houses or as an NC-17--or edit it down to an R for general release. “It was too expensive to bury it in art houses, so I had to cut it, which I didn’t like, but I fully understood,” she said. Many critics didn’t like the movie, partly because, due to the edits, the second half has some holes. “There are things clearly missing,” Borden said. “Without the missing material the movie doesn’t really make sense. I sat in on a couple of screenings and I saw how confused people were because of what was taken out. I had hoped the edited version would make sense to people, but it doesn’t.”

Borden initiated the idea of an unrated version when she alerted HBO that there was plenty of uncensored footage to use in assembling a director’s cut--one that was sexier but also made more sense.

To Borden, the unrated version is cohesive, restoring the purity of her vision. Many, though, will be indifferent to such lofty artistic notions. They’ll rent it just to ogle the added sex scenes, which may be among the kinkiest in a major American movie.

Borden was quite blunt about her hopes for the R-rated version--which is necessary for video stores that don’t carry unrated movies. “I hope people rent the unrated version and ignore the other one,” she said.

She’s hoping this movie finds a big home video audience among women.

“I intended it for people who’re interested in exploring the darker sides of their sexual selves and are comfortable with that exploration. A lot of people are scared of that kind of exploration. This film will make them very uncomfortable, because they’ll feel they’ve tuned into something very perverse. But when you’re watching it alone on video, you don’t have to be afraid of being uncomfortable.”

What’s New on Video:

“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” (Hollywood, $95); A thriller, which many critics found implausible but audiences loved, about a wicked, vengeful nanny (Rebecca De Mornay) cleverly plotting to eliminate her employer (Annabella Sciorra) and take over her family.

“The Sheik” (Paramount, $20); If you’ve never seen Rudolph Valentino-- the screen star of the 1920s--and can tolerate the absence of dialogue and some rampant racism, this 1921 silent movie about an English woman (Agnes Ayres) falling for an Arab chieftain (Valentino) is campy fun.

“Platinum Blonde” (Columbia TriStar, $20); This lively 1931 culture-clash comedy, directed by Frank Capra and loaded with snappy dialogue, is famous because it made a star of Jean Harlow, the ‘30s equivalent of Marilyn Monroe, who’s not really believable as a ritzy aristocrat married to a slovenly reporter, played by Robert Williams, who totally steals the movie.

Upcoming on Video: “Shakes the Clown” (Wednesday), “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot” (Thursday), “The Great Mouse Detective” (next Friday), “Rush” (July 22), “Ruby” (July 22), “Hook” (July 24), “This Is My Life” (July 30), “Juice” (July 30).