When watching the opening scenes in Paranoid, you begin to think the whole story must be going to revolve around the fashion world. Not so. Paranoid has other places to go and things to do, most of which are not very pretty. John Duigan, who wrote and directed, seems intent on proving the old saying "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there's not somebody out to get you."

Jessica Alba as Chloe, the fashion model who is the focal point of this film, seems to have her fair share of - shall we say - admirers. One of these, Clive (well-played by Kevin Whately), a middle-aged married man who lives across the way, uses binoculars to check her out through the windows of their respective townhomes. Another guy who she's been dating, Toby, is more interested in her than she is in him, but there's a fashion photographer, Ned (Gary Love) who has her attention...

After getting some harassing phone calls from Clive and who-knows-who else, Chloe goes away for the weekend with Ned to a lodge in the country. Bad mistake. When she arrives, she finds a house seemingly full of strange things and strange people and - you guessed it - strange things begin to happen.

Paranoid takes a turn here that starts it down the path of being another "girl-slave captive in manor house" retread - it gets rather bleak and dreary through this part, with Iain Glen giving a creepily chilling turn as Stan, the aging rock star turned sadistic control freak. But as the film winds on, it gets a little more interesting and less formulaic. The characters of Gordon (Ewen Bremner), Rachel (Jean Tripplehorn) and Theresa (Mischa Barton) are given more than one dimension and some purpose besides weirdness. Once past the somewhat slow start and the rather bleak middle, the last half of this film gets more interesting, and worth watching.

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Paranoid (2000, Sky Pictures) (out of 4)
written and directed by John Duigan
Jessica Alba as Chloe
Iain Glen as Stan
Jeanne Tripplehorn as Rachel
Ewen Bremner as Gordon
Mischa Barton as Theresa
Kevin Whately as Clive
Oliver Milburn as Toby
Amy Phillips as Michelle
Gary Love as Ned

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