Sliver



Sliver is a 1993 erotic thriller starring Sharon Stone, William Baldwin and Tom Berenger that is based on a novel of the same name written by Ira Levin. The film was directed by Phillip Noyce, previously known for such films as Blind Fury (1989) and Patriot Games (1992).

Carly Norris (Stone) is a successful book editor. She has recently come out of a bad marriage and goes apartment hunting. She finds her dream apartment in the Sliver building. She gets to meet new love interests in thriller novelist Jack Lansford (Berenger) and her landlord Zeke Hawkins (Baldwin). Zeke introduces her to new erotic thrills. First to the joys of exhibitionism, by having her remove her panties in a crowded restaurant and place them on the table. Second to the joys of voyeurism. He has placed surveillance cameras and microphones in every apartment of the building, since he likes to spy on other people. Carly soon gets addicted to observing others peoples' lives.

But all is not well within the Sliver building. A number of recent "suicides" and lethal "accidents" point to a killer being on the loose. And her love interests are the prime suspects. Carly has to find out the truth before she suffers an "accident" of her own.

Sliver was not particularly well-received. It features some memorable erotic scenes, an interesting take on voyeurism and an impressive soundtrack. But the excuse plot for all that is poorly written and the acting leaves much to be desired. Reviews both then and now are mostly damning. The film got nominated for seven Golden Raspberry Awards, though it won none of them. On the other hand, the film was a modest box office hit. It earned an estimated 116 million dollars in the worldwide market. About 36 million of those dollars came from the United States market. Where it was the 43rd most successful film of its year.

Tropes

 * Bob Haircut: Carly.
 * Did You Just Have Sex: "You do look like you fucked your brains out."
 * I Know Mortal Kombat
 * Make It Look Like an Accident: Several of the deaths are thought to be accidents or suicides.
 * Unrated Edition: an early example.
 * Wall Bang Her: It's more like "Column Bang Her", but it's how one of Zeke and Carly's sex scenes play out..