Fatal Delusion Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Fatal Delusion Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 23, 2025

1995’s “Fatal Delusion” is a sensitive study of wartime PTSD and the corrosive nature of violence as it penetrates mind and body, sending a simple man to extremes as he processes his time in the military. Just kidding. This is a W.A.V.E., shot-on-video production from creators Gary Whitson and Ray Longo, who use the cruelties of battle to launch another fetish video for the company, quickly returning to their love of restraint, bathing, and unspeakable violence committed against women. A serial killer story is offered in “Fatal Delusion,” as Longo scripts himself a starring role as a madman with a military past, taking out his “rage” on females who vaguely resemble part of his nightmare experience in Vietnam. Perhaps there’s something to follow in such a tale of insanity, but W.A.V.E. doesn’t roll that way, merely using the fiendish inspiration to maintain a steady view of kinks for their customers, paying minimal attention to the basics in dramatic intensity.

David (Sal Longo) is a killer on the hunt for women who remind him of atrocities he committed while serving in the Vietnam War. He’s desperate to rekindle the thrill of tearing bodies apart, using his fear of females to inspire unstoppable rage, amassing a lengthy list of victims. Finally caught, David is sent to prison, where he puts on a show of rehabilitation for Dr. Woods, who ultimately recommends the murderer be relocated to a minimum security facility. Instead of being helped, David returns to horror, stalking and killing sympathetic Nurse Benson, escaping from captivity. Now a free man, David quickly restarts his murderous ways, testing the system by joining it, acquiring a job as a police profiler assigned to find himself. As cops Nancy and Fred try to locate the escapee, David works to eliminate any leads and witnesses, making sure the women of Port Huron suffer as much as possible.

“Fatal Delusion” presents David as a sneaky man of mystery, but one shadowed by evil thoughts. He served his country and was sent through hell, or at least something along those lines, as the writing doesn’t cut too deep when exploring military trauma. Basically, something happened to David that’s been brewing for two decades, and he’s finally ready to release it, putting him on the hunt for females with long black hair and no situational awareness. “Fatal Delusion” is made up of stalking sequences, including David’s pursuit of a stranger out on a summertime walk, and his cornering of a victim inside her hotel room, eventually disemboweling her in a bathtub. Gore is present in the slicing of flesh with clumsy props, and the removal of innards, keeping this slimy visual a supporting character in the feature.

David is eventually captured and charms his doctor with his itinerary crafting skills (no, really), allowing him a chance to escape his minimum security prison. Along the way, more female victims are encountered, and the W.A.V.E.-iness really comes out to play, as Whitson and Longo focus on lengthy sequences of women struggling with their restraints and attempts to evade strangulation. And there’s plenty of bathing and showering to keep the target audience invested in the film, as “Fatal Delusion” presents the cleanest victims around. For added oddity, particular fetishes are highlighted, as David elects to menace a stripper who’s enjoying braless time on a treadmill. And there’s Nancy, the only cop on the force who shows up for duty in a leather miniskirt.

Fatal Delusion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "Fatal Delusion" remains in line with other shot-on-video productions. Frame information is aged and soft, offering a very basic sense of the characters and their clothing, along with all the horrors that occur in the feature. Interiors are acceptable, maintaining some understanding of various offices and living spaces. Exteriors are rare but mildly appreciable. Colors retain some age, but mostly register as intended, working with active outfits and a few offerings of greenery. Source encounters a few moments of damage.

Fatal Delusion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix supplies a simple understand of dialogue exchanges, which often battle with background noise. Intelligibility remains, but technical simplicity dominates. Scoring offers basic synth. A few brief audio dropouts are encountered, and damage is present.

Fatal Delusion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary #1 features W.A.V.E. founder Gary Whitson and actress Laura Giglio.

• Commentary #2 features author Richard Mogg.

• "No Delusions" (10:23, HD) is an interview with actress Deana Demko, who recounts her adolescent years in Pennsylvania, growing up a "goth kid" with few friends, developing her interest in art. Sharping her skills in sculpting, Demko was drawn to making monsters, showing up to convention shows in tight outfits to help booth sales, eventually attracting the attention of W.A.V.E. founder Gary Whitson. The interviewee details her appearance in "No Delusions," immediately sent into a hotel bathtub to be covered in animal organs. The relationship between Whitson and director Sal Longo is identified, finding competing visions for the picture triggering tension on the set. Talk of custom videos is offered, keeping Demko employed, and she examines her position as a "scream queen," still making convention appearances and accepting acting gigs.

• Interview (8:49, SD) is a 1994 clip from "Splatter Chatter Video Magazine," with host Dave Castiglione welcoming actress Tina Krause to the program. The interviewee supplies questions about her life and thespian ambitions, also sharing some info about her new film, "The Shrink." Convention appearances are also identified. A montage of Krause's work closes out the conversation.

• "W.A.V.E. Video Centerfold" (8:50, SD) presents a custom video from Tina Krause, who shares a scene in which she brushes her hair while topless.

• "Extended Tina Krause Death Sequence" (10:52, SD) spends extra time on a violent scene from "Fatal Delusion" featuring the actress, portraying a character simply looking for a basement workout, not a fight for her life.

• Bonus Movie: "Virgin Sacrifices" (84:19, SD) is a 1996 W.A.V.E. production, starring Dave Castiglione, Tonya Cooper, Laura Giglio, Tina Krause, G.W. Lawrence, Billie Jo Lloyd, Sal Longo, Clancey McCauley, Dawn Murphy, and Pamela Sutch.

• Bonus Movie: "The Hypnotic Spy" (41:56, SD) is a 1997 W.A.V.E. custom endeavor, starring Deana Enoches, Dawn Murphy, Debbie D, and Tina Krause. Spoiler alert: the kinks involved here include hypnotism, chloroform, showering, and strangulation.

• A Trailer has not been included on this release.

Fatal Delusion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite possessing an exact resemblance to the wanted killer, David somehow finds his way into a job with the police, playing the part of a profiler who understands the danger coming for all. In a different movie, perhaps this idea would be good for a couple of cheap thrills, but that's not how W.A.V.E. works. They're after sexploitation, always sold in the flattest manner imaginable for an audience desperate to see their dark fantasies played out on the small screen. And "Fatal Delusion" provides these sequences, graduating to incapacitation through secret drugging and climatic chainsaw viciousness. There's a point to all this incredibly slack nonsense, but heaven forbid Whitson and his team actually make the effort to achieve some modicum of excitement during these painfully inert movies.