FOR LOVE OR MURDER (1970)
aka KEMEK
Article 2097 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-12-2006
Posting Date: 5-10-2007
Directed by Theodore Gershuny
Featuring Alexandra Stewart, David Hedison, Mary Woronov

A man and a private detective find a woman who knows the truth about the death of the man’s ex-wife. The story involves a dead scientist, a missing wristwatch, and experimental drugs.

With an IMDB rating of 3.0 at the time of this writing, it seems quite clear to me that this movie is quite disliked in certain quarters, and I can fully understand why; the story makes it sound like it should be an exciting mystery-thriller, and the presence of cult favorite Mary Woronov seems to promise something in the way of low budget exploitation fun. Instead, it feels like some sort of arthouse film; slow-moving and ponderous with a curious soundtrack mixing Motown and modern jazz. It’s not quite as indecipherable as some people make it out to be, but it is singularly uncompelling enough to give no impetus to the viewer to try to sort it out. It’s all very detached; it plays like a character piece, but none of the characters ever really come to life as people. The fantastic aspect of the movie is in the presence of the experimental drugs, and they really don’t play much into the story line when all is said and done.