User reviews

Crystal Bernard is "As Good as Dead" in this 1995 film written and directed by Larry Cohen. Before the day of home computers, Larry Cohen's grammar school-aged daughter had to write a short report. Mr. Cohen used the typing agency where I worked to type his scripts. So on a Sunday, I took a cab to his beautiful home in New York City, got the hand-printed paper, went home, typed it, got in a cab and brought the typed paper back. We also typed a couple of scripts for him in the office. He would dictate them and take on the accent or emotion of the characters. I've followed his prolific career with great interest.

In "As Good as Dead," Bernard plays Susan Warfield, who works in an office. She takes a hep, sick young woman, Nicole (Traci Lords) to the hospital and gives the desk her own insurance card so that Nicole can be treated. Otherwise, they would have to go to the county hospital.

Susan tells her office she has to have surgery (as Nicole does) and then takes off on vacation so as not to run into anyone she knows. When she returns, Nicole, assumed to be Susan, is unexpectedly dead; Susan's apartment has been cleared out, and her job is gone. The strangest part of it is that a half-brother that Susan isn't aware she has made all the arrangements. Susan has no choice but to move into Nicole's apartment and wear Nicole's trendy, too short clothes until she can find out why Nicole died and who this mysterious half-brother is.

This is actually quite an interesting film, very Lifetime, very TV movie, but entertaining with good performances. Bernard is likable, Lords is Lords, and Judge Reinhold does very well as an attractive man who becomes part of Nicole's (Susan's) life.

Mr. Cohen's daughter is undoubtedly married now with children of her own. Though this film was made in 1995, he is still very active as a writer. Thanks to the computer, I'm still typing.

So much of this film reminds me of a TV version of the Madonna/Roseanna Arquette movie: the shy conventional girl who swaps life and wardrobe with the sexy, messy hip party girl, the lanky young man who gets involved with her, etc. But it's actually more of a (mild) thriller and I thought the plot was pretty neat and well worked out. The lead character was sympathetic and the logic of why she didn't just go to the police (which so many movie heroines should) was good. I also liked how Crystal Bernard quite subtly kept hoisting down her very short skirts, just showing how uncomfortable her character felt in someone else's clothes. Unfortunately a lot of the reviews here and even the cast list give away a major plot twist; maybe I was just feeling dumb tonight, but I didn't guess it in advance and was glad I hadn't been spoiled - beware. Overall, a nice entertaining little movie to kill an hour or so with.

I chased this movie in on-line auctions and finally got it. It is a must for fans of the beautiful Miss Bernard. As for entertainment value, I would give it a 7 out of 10; as for quality of content, well, the movie is kind of predictable and were it not for the beautiful miss Bernard and the interesting role of Mr. Reinhold it would be barely watchable. If you are a fan of Crystal Bernard, you really have to see it. If not, then approach with an open mind.

Crystal Bernard is mixed up in a self-induced identity crisis with Traci Lords and Judge Reinhold. She pulls off the part quite well with her Texas charm and manages to make this an entertaining cheesy made for TV movie. Judge Reinhold plays a decent psychopath, especially with his creepy "We were made for each other" voice. As Good as Dead is comparable to Heartless with Madchen Amick, and is about as equally entertaining. This movie rates high for predictability, and its plot outline has been done repeatedly. The movie is worth seeing just for Judge Reihnold's inimitable comical presence and to see what he's been up to.

Larry Cohen has made some good films over the course his career. The films are mostly within the realms of the low budget horror sub-genre, but his films tend to be a cut above the norm. The likes of It's Alive and Maniac Cop stand up as the best films he's made to date. As his career moved on, however, it's evident that he didn't find it as easy to get work, hence this film; a made for TV thriller calling itself 'As Good as Dead'. No, it's not a description of the director's career at the time that this was made, but a thriller about a woman who, after loaning her insurance-less friend her medical insurance card, finds herself in trouble when said friend dies on the operating table. This puts our protagonist in a lot of trouble as she is, by all intents and purposes, dead to the world. However, it would seem that there's more to this story than meets the eye, and so she decides to take the identity of her dead friend while she gets to the bottom of the life-ruining riddle put in front of her.

After about twenty minutes of boring character building (boring because the characters are boring), the film really starts and despite it's poor quality - and obvious TV fodder - production values, the film actually isn't that bad. It's rather routine, and although it's categorised as a 'thriller', the film low on shocks and thrills; but the plot moves nicely and engages you enough so that you care what's going to happen (which is more than what can be said for some highly acclaimed films). It's obvious throughout that the film was made for TV, and that's not a good thing as it gives it a very low quality feel. The acting isn't very good, but it's not terrible either. Crystal Bernard is fine at first, but as her character encounters change; she looks out of place. This is good on one hand, as that realistically expresses what her character would be like that situation; but on the other hand, it doesn't make for very good viewing as far as the audience is concerned. It's obvious that Judge Reinhold rates himself higher than he should be rated, and there's an underlying arrogance to his performance that shows that. Traci Lords doesn't get to do much, but as you'd expect for a porn star; she looks good doing it. On the whole, this isn't really worth seeing - but if you do catch it, at least it isn't awful.

You know not to expect too much if you know if a film playing late on BBC 1 is a TVM but AS GOOD AS DEAD did at least have actors who have appeared in relatively successful mainstream movies , and even if you don't class Traci Lords as a mainstream actress at least you've got an opportunity to see what she looks like with her clothes on ! Saying that this telefilm has a very exciting premise of what happens if an act of kindness goes astray leading to all sorts of terrible fall-out . As a couple of people have already mentioned this would have possibly worked much better as a cinematic release or failing that a thriller made by HBO . Unfortunately seeing as it's marketed more for woman who have no interest in what's on the mid week sports channel the TVM pulls its punches

But it's the lack of credibility that ruins the potential . Okay Nicole just happens to bump into Susan outside a nightclub and they become instant best friends so much so Susan lets Nicole have an operation via her medical insurance . This is one of those plot setting sequences where the audience aren't supposed to think about so that can be forgiven since most movies have this type of pre-destination , for example think how the alien from ET just happens to be found by Elliot the only friendly human he's likely to meet on Earth . But what is far less easier to forgive is the way Susan reacts to the situation or the way other people react to Susan who despite having no money or access to money can afford bus and taxi fares around town . Susan shows photos of people in a hospital and sits down at a computer but no one ever gets suspicious about her behaviour or motives , and if Nicole was able to walk into any club or attend any party doesn't that mean she has a large network of associates ? If so how come no one seems to have noticed she's disappeared . Perhaps the most unlikely aspect ( IMHO ) is that while Susan is shown at the start of the movie as being a conservative dresser she then has no qualms about dressing like a slut later on . Would a woman who wears trouser suits be the sort of person who wears thigh lengths boots and a belt masquerading as a skirt ? Yeah I know you've got to turn off critical facilities when you're watching this type of telefilm but these plot twists are irritating if not unconvincing , and what makes it worse is as I previously stated is that the premise itself showed a lot of promise

Two friends Susan (Crystal Bernard) and Nicole (Traci Lords) exchange identities so that Susan's insurance can cover the operation for Nicole. Looks like a small medical mistake causes Nicole's death. Or was there more to it? Now Susan officially dead and still in the persona of Nicole cannot go to the authorities and enlists the help of Ron Holden (Judge Reinhold) to help sort things out. It does not take long for us to figure it out and spend the rest of the time kibitzing. Of course, Susan never listens to us.

This film was made for TV and it shows in the formula story and low budget setting. However, veteran actor Judge Reinhold does his best.

If you are a cult addict like me, you'll love this film. This movie is from the same director who did the 70's cult film "Bone" (which i highly recommend). I love strange, cheesy, campy movies...And this is definitely one of them. If i wanted something serious or mainstream, I'd go rent a Julia Roberts film (that's if I could stand her). This movie is not to be taken seriously and it's pure enjoyment from beginning to end. Not a dull moment. Plus, Traci Lords is in it... how could you not expect it to be a campy movie? I'm waiting for this one to come out on DVD to add to my cult collection.

I got home from work and was about to go to bed until I turned on the television. After flipping through the channels I thought that I saw Traci Lords and that woman from "Wings" in a movie so I decided to watch it. The concept was really amazing, a woman who commits insurance fraud ends up paying for it by supposidly dying and has to remake her life into something that she wanted to be at the beginning of the movie. I know that it was a chick flick and I should've went past the Lifetime channel but this movie had Traci Lords who really knows how to act, and I was also on the edge of my seat to know what really happened. If you want to see hot girls in a suspenseful thriller, you should watch this movie.

I agree with the user above who wrote the summary of this movie. The only reason I watched this was because I found both Crystal Bernard and Traci Lords very attractive. After Traci Lords died in the movie, the only reason I kept watching it was because Crystal Bernard had to dress up in all of Traci Lords mini dresses and she looked very sexy.

Other than that, this movie takes too many twists and turns to be believable. Judge Reinhold plays what appears to be a silly character that turns out to be sinister. All I can say is that if you've got a few hours to kill, you might get a laugh out of this farce.

I don't see the thrill in watching Crystal Bernard on screen. In this vehicle she impersonates a sex-pot. Her clothes alone, what there is of them, look like they shrunk on her in the wash. Her makeup is over the hill and she has this mop of hair that belongs in THE LION KING. Sorry, I just don't get it. Judge Reinhold has the male lead and I wonder why he did this loser. He's too good for this kind of trite written and directed by Larry Cohen. Then there's Traci Lords, the porn star which is why I wanted to watch it in the first place. However, she's only in the first part and sadly we are forced to watch Bernard the rest of the time. From 1-10 in TV movies I give it a 2.

The only reason I watched this movie,where because Traci Lords was in it.As everyone knows,she is maybe the most famouse pornstar of all time.

This is just a little biography about her:She was a teen runaway and began nude modeling and making adult films at the age of 15.This lead to a big trial in America and almost all of her movies was banned and burned.She then made some adult movies when she became 18years old.She has later become a ordinary movie star and stars in a lot of tv movies.But no one will forget her past.I think she is maybe the most talented pornstar of all time,because not many pornstar have gotten acting jobs like her,when they leave the adult industry.To bad that almost all of her earlie movie has been banned because she was only 15 years old,but it is possible to get them if you have the right conection.

As far as the movie goes,it is an ordinary thriller with a few creepy moments, but nothig we havent seen before. The only special thing about it is that it has Traci Lords in it.