Bad Influence is a 1990 American psychological thriller film directed by Curtis Hanson starring Rob Lowe and James Spader.

In this noirish film, Spader plays a yuppie who meets a mysterious stranger (Lowe) who encourages him to explore his dark side.

A man leaves a naked woman sleeping as he disappears into the city, throwing away a bag of things to cover his tracks.

Michael Boll, a shy, socially awkward doormat, finds important work data missing.

Frustrated, he hides in his office - only to be confronted by his fiancée Ruth, whose prattling about their upcoming wedding serves to create further anxiety for Michael.

Suddenly, the man from earlier appears, breaks a beer bottle, and defends Michael, menacing the thug until he leaves.

At home, Michael’s older brother Pismo borrows money - a frequent occurrence he blames on being unable to get anywhere because of a drug conviction.

He makes a video of himself murdering Claire off-camera with Michael’s golf club and leaves her body in his apartment.

Trapped, and unable to go to the police, Michael enlists Pismo’s help to get rid of the body in the La Brea Tar Pits.

Claire's body is found by the police, and Michael finds his golf club in his office - both a message from Alex.

[2] Director Curtis Hanson stated that the film bears similarities to his earlier movies, The Silent Partner and The Bedroom Window.

[4] During rehearsals for the film, Lowe found himself embroiled in a public scandal when news broke of a videotape he had made having sex with two women, one of whom was sixteen.

[11] He wrote the film "is a much superior exploitation of a theme that Koepp used in his screenplay for last year's 'Apartment Zero': A passive hero falls for the spell of a virile man who enters his life under false and deadly pretenses.

'Apartment Zero' was lurid and overwrought, almost a self-parody, while Hanson's direction of 'Bad Influence' makes it into a sombre, introspective study of the relationship.

"[11] Vincent Canby of The New York Times also lauded the acting and wrote, "There's a crucial point at which the audience either will turn away from Bad Influence, or consciously elect to stick with it in spite of common sense.

"[12] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of B+ and said, "Hanson establishes a ripe sense of temptation.

They’re luridly topical — they’re meant to subvert a world in which people have begun to organize their erotic lives by Filofax".

[13] In a more critical review, Leonard Maltin gave the film 2.5 out of a possible 4 stars, describing it as a "slick, high-tech variation on Strangers on a Train.

"[14] He added it "knows what buttons to push and when; Lowe is convincingly creepy, but he won't make you forget Robert Walker.

"[15] Curtis Hanson said he was "very fond" of the film but "it was an unhappy experience when that picture got released, because it coincided with that ridiculous Rob Lowe videotape scandal.