Sensation (1994) User Reviews

A showcase for Kari Wuhrer

[CMUltra · 6/10 · 2 April 2007]

Sensation is a showcase for the gorgeous Kari Wuhrer. Please don't try to tell me it's a thriller or it's about psychic abilities. The story exists simply to string along the scenes with Kari. Sensation is about psychic phenomena in the same way Debbie Does Dallas is about Dallas.

If Kari just had a few cheesecake moments here and there, then I would agree, "Okay, this is a poorly crafted thriller." Instead, Kari is displayed almost constantly in her full, sensational glory. We need a scene where Kari is painting? Sure, let's put her in coveralls with no shirt. Most artists paint like that. Any chance we have to show Kari in her apartment make sure she's wearing a thong. Kari and Eric Roberts' characters don't actually have sex? No problem, just show it as one of Kari's fantasies. Repeatedly.

As an aside here, during one of her fantasies, Eric Roberts looked screamingly ridiculous wearing face paint and doing some sort of ill-conceived bump and grind.

I adore Kari Wuhrer and this movie didn't disappoint. I have seen her in quite a few different roles and she demonstrated very little dramatic range in any of them. Nonetheless she possesses a screen presence that more technically skilled actresses would kill for. Wuhrer is clearly at ease in front of the cameras and almost always maintains an easy, natural sexiness. She has a voice that is simultaneously charming and sultry, and a very nice array of facial expressions. And, of course, a killer body.

If you're looking for a thriller with substance beyond your typical made-for-TV movie, don't bother here. If you enjoy beautiful women in general or Kari Wuhrer in particular, watch Sensation the first chance you get.

Good start, then it falls apart

[Tito-8 · 4/10 · 23 May 1999]

Despite a promising start and an intriguing premise, this film falls apart, and winds up being little more than a fairly routine and predictable thriller. Kari Wuhrer does a good job as the lead, and Roberts and Perlman are solid as usual, but all the good ideas in this film were used up in the first half-hour. The killer seemed obvious to me for much of the film, and things were further hindered by the needless character that was played by Ed Begley, Jr. Considering how impressive the opening was, this turned out to be quite the disappointment.

Hazy, lurid eroticism

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 5/10 · 13 September 2016]

Sensation is a very erotic thriller that breathes hot, heavy and hard all over its audience, almost overpowering the murder mystery at it's center with the large number of sex scenes throughout. It's essentially trash, and wouldn't be worth much of a mention if it weren't for some great actors, and an opening score that sets an eerie mood the film hardly deserves. Eric Roberts is Dr. Ian Burton, a college teacher who is looking for people with vague psychic abilities, for some sort of research. Enter stunning Lila Reed (Kari Wuhrer), a student with the unique ability to experience an object or person's past simply by physical contact. Roberts is in fact looking for the person who murdered his lover, unbeknownst to her, and jumps at the chance to use her talent for his investigation. Many suspects run about, there's sex scenes between Roberts and Wuhrer, in which her abilities flash back to... even more sex scenes from the past, and it's all a wee bit disorganized, but oh well. Ron Perlman, always welcome, shows up as a Detective who thinks he can crack the case, winding up in over his head as well. There's also a bizarre and inexplicable cameo from a creepy Ed Begley Jr. who hassles Kari in a bar and runs off as quick as he showed up, never to be seen again. It's sleazy late night cable fun, without much to go crazy over except the actors, and that score I mentioned. Oh and.. you know... all the naughty bits, of which there is an overload

Sexsational

[=G= · 4/10 · 3 December 2002]

B-movie stars Roberts and Wuhrer are appropriately cast in this slick B-flick which tells of a young woman who has psychometric visions in which she sees her college professor as a sex crazed murderer. As one might expect, Wuhrer vamps it up showing off oodles of skin while Roberts teeters between legit and psycho in an attempt to hold audience interest in the absence of a real story. Titillation and psychobabble are the hallmarks of this lame hodge-podge of murder, sex, and the paranormal. Okay for adult couch potatoes in the mood for a sexsational no brainer. (C-)

Better than average B erotic thriller,twice interesting:for Roberts,and for Mrs. Wührer.Eric Roberts movies—(2): Sensation (1995)

[Cristi_Ciopron · 15 September 2007]

The Kari Wührer fans should rejoice also—as she is the real star of Sensation (1995).Being one of those fans myself,I can testify that Sensation was a treat.On the scale of the straight-to-video 'sexploitation movies,this one gets a 7 ½ .(It is useless to try rating these movies in an artistic context ;so,we apply a pragmatic rating, independent of those used for other classes of films.)It's pretty well paced. My only objection is against Roberts' stupid apparitions as a feline sexy macho—they did not work.

A very interesting woman is Mrs. Stansfield as "Paula"–her jugs are visible a couple of times,as Sensation (1995) does something for showcasing her charms also.

The film is the regular cocktail of soft-core eroticism+thriller+ mentally ill characters, psychiatric undertows and undercurrents+supernatural.The two actresses that show their tits are fine.Now,after so many years,this movie looks like a B classic.It has a fine pace and some scenes are pretty suspenseful in a conventional way—those who ought to.It offers what it promises.Some suspense,a few pairs of jugs,some suspense, bizarre people,etc..

Sensation (1995) belongs to the era that preceded Kari Wührer's mainstream breakthrough.But she continued to be a B movie cult actress even after that.

Murder mystery that steadily slides down hill ......

[merklekranz · 5/10 · 22 January 2011]

With talent on board, Eric Roberts, Kari Wuhrer, Ron Perlman, Ed Begley Jr., and Paul LeMat, this pseudo-science based thriller starts strong, but ends up a mess. Intriguing at first with Roberts employing Wuhrer to test his theory (Psychometry) that objects retain impressions of the past, the middle part seems very repetitive and drags, while the rushed conclusion is really an "are you kidding me?". Roberts is his usual quirky self. Wuhrer is sexy with several erotic scenes and plays a character who can see the past by touching things, similar to Christopher Walken's in "The Dead Zone". Perlman is under used as a police detective, while Begley Jr., and LeMat are totally wasted in unnecessary roles. - MERK

Sensationally bad

[beavernuggetextension · 3/10 · 23 May 2021]

Sensation is an early 90's erotic thriller with a great cast and quite a unique premise. Lila (Kari Wuhrer) is a college student and an artist whose picked for a very unique study. She is tasked by psychologist Ian Burton (Eric Roberts) to sense items for feelings or who they belonged to. Soon she begins seeing violent and sexual visions caused by the items which leads her to believe he must be the killer.

All of the above got me interested and hankering watching this and I was severely disappointed. I like erotic thrillers and this era was the goldmine for them Color Of Night, Jade, etc. Etc. Sadly the only good thing about this film is the cast and introduction. There is little to no substance to this film, nudity took up an unruly amount of time and felt like it was there to pad the weak script. I generally appreciate the mystery aspects of these style of films, but even that aspect was quite boring and predictable.

This film is one you should skip, the performances are good but forgettable. However the rest of this film is very much a waste of time. I hate being hard on film makers because it's an art and artists want their pieces of art to express something however this expresses nothing of value or interest in my opinion.

3 out of 10 for the great cast and good acting.

Nicely erotic - mucho skin + Kari Wuhrer

[redrum911 · 6/10 · 5 April 2006]

First of all, you don't pick up movies like this for high drama or auteur (check Fellini or Goodard if you want that)...you get them because they combine a nice combination of eroticism, skin and a plot that holds your attention. This one succeeds. It's a slight notch above your average skin-a-max flick, largely because of the luscious Kari Wuhrer, who's made a (surprisingly long) career out of being a sexy brunette that the screen loves.

Here, we see much skin and some nice action, as she plays a woman w/ psychic abilities, caught up in a murder mystery. Nice simulated sex scenes, Kari and Claire Stansfield are hot (great boobs), and Eric Roberts (one of the all-time great scenery chewers, and I mean that w/ love) make this worth a look. As a thriller, it's pedestrian, but holds attention.

If you're looking for something really raunchy, get a Surrender Cinema flick or something from Penthouse. If you want high art, get the Unbearable Lightness of Being (or something). If you're looking for a mildly entertaining movie that titillates, check this one out.

Oh my...

[blondemusicpuffin · 2/10 · 20 July 2000]

I think that this is a very icky movie. Too much flesh and not enough acting. Another reviewer thought Kari Wuhrer did a good acting job...um, no. It was good to begin with, and then in the end she turned into B-movie actress of the year. Plus the movie makes no sense. And what is with the ceiling fans? Really, skip this one if you are considering it.

Splendid

[bombersflyup · 7/10 · 26 August 2018]

I love me some Kari Wuhrer and this would have to be one of, if not her best leading role.

This actually has an engaging plot, I usually figure out who the killer will be, but for some reason this possibility didn't even cross my mind. Unfortunately, Eric Roberts was bloody terrible and Lila's friend Maryann seemed so out of place. However, Denny and Ron Perlman were good in the lesser roles. I wondered where I had seen the guy playing Denny before, he was Timmy in that episode of "Seinfeld," double dip the chip. The ending's abrupt and odd to me with all that build up, but it's a quality film for what it is. Also quite a few humorous lines if you're paying attention to the dialogue.

LOL: now I remember why we called it "Skinemax"

[ejonconrad · 6/10 · 11 March 2021]

This popped up in my Prime recommendations. Seeing the talent, I decided to give it a watch.

Not terrible, but I literally had to laugh at how dated the "erotic thriller" genre has become. There's just an absurd amount of gratuitous nudity and soft core sex (you know, the kind where the...um..."parts" don't quite line up right). When they're not having soft core sex, Kari Wuhrer is dreaming about soft core sex - like, a lot.

This genre drove cable subscriptions ("Cinemax: we have more breasts than HBO"), and always got a lot of real estate video rental stores, but in the modern internet age, it just comes across as kind of tame and silly.

If you strip out the gratuitous titillation, it's basically a 70s-esque plot about a (hot) college student who has paranormal abilities and gets recruited but a (hot) college professor surreptitiously uses her to try to solve the murder of his former girlfriend (did people really say "lover" in 1994?) - or is it to cover up his own involvement?

Anyway, the acting is decent, and they throw in enough red herrings that I really didn't see the end coming.

ick

[Popcornwench17 · 4 January 2002]

This movie was nothing more than predictable and boring. And i can not believe it was rated R.... there are so many risque things that could be considered NC-17 in quality.... strange. I definitely would not recommend this movie to anyone.