The thirty year-old hard-worker Bobby Grady (John Laughlin) is married with two children with the frigid Amy Grady (Annie Potts) and their marriage is in crisis. Bobby is invited to work in the night shift for the owner of a fashion designer studio that believes that his talented designer Joanna Crane (Kathleen Turner), who is very introspective, is selling his designs to competitors. Bobby accepts the job to make money and please Amy with a bathtub and follows Joanna after hours.
He discovers that she has a double life, working as a fifty-dollar hooker called China Blue in the red light district and practicing kinky sex with her clients to satisfy their fantasies. Bobby becomes obsessed by China Blue and when the true thief is found, he has sex with her and they have a crush on each other. Meanwhile the insane preacher Rev. Peter Shayne (Anthony Perkins) decides to save Joanna's soul and stalks her everywhere.
"Crimes of Passion" is one of the best and classiest "pre-AIDS" erotic-thriller of the 80's and among my favorite cult-movies ever. A youngster that sees this film in 2012 probably will not understand the behavior (and the beauty) of Kathleen Turner. But in 1981, the mesmerizing Kathleen Turner made her debut in the cinema industry with Lawrence Kasdan's film-noir "Body Heat" and this sexy actress became one of the most desirable women of the world. "Crimes of Passion" is her fifth movie and she is very sensual, sexy and gorgeous in the hands of the director Ken Russell. Anthony Perkins in the role of a mad preacher and the music score of Rick Wakeman complete this little masterpiece of the eroticism. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Crimes de Paixão" ("Crimes of Passion")