While the tagline "From the makers of 'Ed Gein' and 'Ted Bundy'" does not inspire confidence, director Chuck Parello gets two incredible performances out of Nick Turturro and C. Thomas Howell.
In the late 1970's, constant failure Kenneth (C. Thomas Howell) reads psychiatry textbooks and dreams of becoming a cop in Rochester, New York, when he is not spying on girls getting undressed as part of his security job at a department store. Rejected again after applying to another police station, Kenneth moves in with his cousin Angelo (Nick Turturro) in Los Angeles. Angelo runs a car upholstery business, has five ex-wives, and eight children. He also dwells in the seedy underground of Sunset Strip, and brings Kenneth along for the ride. The two go into business together, pimping a couple of girls they have fooled into believing they were going to be models. Kenneth also sets himself up as a psychiatrist, but the guys are victims of a shakedown and their prostitutes escape. Angelo and Kenneth decide to take revenge on a prostitute who ratted them out. They kill her, then assault her, and decide to take their anger out on all prostitutes, pretending to be cops, kidnapping women, and taking them back to Angelo's house to be tortured, assaulted, and murdered. Kenneth and girlfriend Claire (Allison Lange) have a child together, the cousins fight, and Kenneth continues his murderous spree in Oregon, and is eventually caught.
In the unrated version of the film, the violence is intense. Howell and Turturro look nothing like their subjects, they should have switched roles, but their commitment to their characters is absolutely skin crawling. I completely believed the characters were capable of the evil they committed. Lin Shaye has a tiny turn as Angelo's mother, the scene does serve to show us how Angelo turned "that way," but Kenneth's past is not touched upon fully. Parello's direction is very good. The cinematography is appropriately dark, and the settings and hairstyles are very 1970's. His co-written screenplay ignores the more interesting aspects of Bianchi's capture like his faked split personality syndrome, and that their trial was one of the longest in criminal history. While the murder scenes are not for the squeamish, I wish they had been trimmed a bit, they become nihilistic after a while.
"The Hillside Strangler" case was known for the killers' boldness (or stupidity?) in publicly dumping their victims' bodies. The film is another ride through hell, but these straight to video serial killer films are beginning to blend together. Howell and Turturro lift this above the others, barely.
Friday, April 10, 2026
The Hijacking of Studio 4 (1985)
This little seen Canadian effort was shot on videotape, and tries to mix the satire and suspense of "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Network." Instead, it achieves all the tension of a stale marshmallow.
John Schrader (Jack Zimmerman) is an older man with a big chip on his shoulder. He lost his favorite son in a car accident, and is estranged from his wife and daughter. The daughter lives on the Caribbean island of Kanzaal, and is arrested after trying to help a knife-wielding boy she accidentally ran over in the film's opening big silly action set piece. The prime minister of Kanzaal, Yudi Ahshi (Hadley Sandiford), happens to be visiting Schrader's Canadian town, and Schrader decides to take action. He meets with local hotshot reporter Paul Adams (Phil Rash), and arranges an on-camera ambush of the prime minister with some documents that show the politician is corrupt. What Paul does not know is that Schrader is also packing a pistol and a briefcase bomb. Schrader then takes over the television studio and show, and a live feed of the events goes out to the three or four Hamilton, Canada residents who happen to tune in to their local news to watch. The police are called in, led by Detective Richmond (Bill Boyle), and you will kick your shoes off and chew on your toenails as the film's momentum climbs to Hitchcockian heights- yeah, I'm kidding.
Shot in 1985, writer/director Gaudet starts things off in a bad way. I do not know if it was a teaser, an artistic statement, or what, but we see a couple of minutes of Schrader taking over the show, and then cut to Schrader's daughter getting arrested. I had no idea what was going on, as the clip from the opening of the film is then played again during the "hijacking". After Schrader's daughter's arrest, we go through the excruciatingly boring sequences of Schrader coming up with his mildly nefarious plan and acting on it. Try to contain your screams during the fast paced "photocopying incriminating documents" scene. The film is top heavy with minor characters who Gaudet feels we should know more about. We have the jerk talk show host, the equally jerky TV director, the uber jerky network brass, assorted technical employees, the prime minister's staff, the detective and his partner, etc. I haven't seen a cast this big since my last Cecil B. DeMille epic. It does not help that our first glimpse of the prime minister reminded me of the Notorious B.I.G., and I began wondering if Canada had ever heard of a S.W.A.T. team. Since the film was shot on video with 1980's technology, it has the production value of porn from that era.
"The Hijacking of Studio 4" is a lame attempt at sermonizing about the evils of television and corruption. The only point it makes is that it should not appear on your television any time soon.
John Schrader (Jack Zimmerman) is an older man with a big chip on his shoulder. He lost his favorite son in a car accident, and is estranged from his wife and daughter. The daughter lives on the Caribbean island of Kanzaal, and is arrested after trying to help a knife-wielding boy she accidentally ran over in the film's opening big silly action set piece. The prime minister of Kanzaal, Yudi Ahshi (Hadley Sandiford), happens to be visiting Schrader's Canadian town, and Schrader decides to take action. He meets with local hotshot reporter Paul Adams (Phil Rash), and arranges an on-camera ambush of the prime minister with some documents that show the politician is corrupt. What Paul does not know is that Schrader is also packing a pistol and a briefcase bomb. Schrader then takes over the television studio and show, and a live feed of the events goes out to the three or four Hamilton, Canada residents who happen to tune in to their local news to watch. The police are called in, led by Detective Richmond (Bill Boyle), and you will kick your shoes off and chew on your toenails as the film's momentum climbs to Hitchcockian heights- yeah, I'm kidding.
Shot in 1985, writer/director Gaudet starts things off in a bad way. I do not know if it was a teaser, an artistic statement, or what, but we see a couple of minutes of Schrader taking over the show, and then cut to Schrader's daughter getting arrested. I had no idea what was going on, as the clip from the opening of the film is then played again during the "hijacking". After Schrader's daughter's arrest, we go through the excruciatingly boring sequences of Schrader coming up with his mildly nefarious plan and acting on it. Try to contain your screams during the fast paced "photocopying incriminating documents" scene. The film is top heavy with minor characters who Gaudet feels we should know more about. We have the jerk talk show host, the equally jerky TV director, the uber jerky network brass, assorted technical employees, the prime minister's staff, the detective and his partner, etc. I haven't seen a cast this big since my last Cecil B. DeMille epic. It does not help that our first glimpse of the prime minister reminded me of the Notorious B.I.G., and I began wondering if Canada had ever heard of a S.W.A.T. team. Since the film was shot on video with 1980's technology, it has the production value of porn from that era.
"The Hijacking of Studio 4" is a lame attempt at sermonizing about the evils of television and corruption. The only point it makes is that it should not appear on your television any time soon.
No Time to Die (1984)
There's also no time to make a decent film as John Phillip Law proves appearing with Jane Fonda in "Barbarella" was not the lowest point of his career; this stupid German-Indonesian action monstrosity comes close. Law plays Ted, a wild and crazy guy awaiting an assignment in Jakarta. He spots pretty reporter Judy (Grazyna Dylong), and pursues. She is hot on a story involving a local company's development of a laser cannon. A competing company hires state department suit Jack Gull (a sad Christopher Mitchum) to steal the plans...or something, my mind started to wander. Ted gets the call to drive the laser cannon to a mine for a test, and is accompanied by the corporation's vice-president Martin (Horst Janson). Gull hires Jan van Cleef (Francis Glutton) to hijack the cannon. It helps that Jan has a personal vendetta against Ted. After watching this film, I have a personal vendetta against anyone involved in its production. The laser cannon truck hits the road with Ted, Martin, and some young guy whose name sounded like "Retinol." Jan and his goons never seem to be able to stop the truck, despite automatic firepower and land mines. Judy is helicoptered in and travels with Ted and Martin, who now must reach a local mine because some miners and Martin's brother are trapped, and they need the cannon to get them out! Will the truck make it in time!?!
The biggest problem with this film is its dubbing. With all of these nationalities trying to carry on conversations in English, it is very hard to understand anybody. Ted's last name is Barner, according to the end credits, but I swear I heard "Marshall" and "Farmer" bandied about. I wrote down "Horst" when I first heard Martin's last name, and "Jan" is pronounced "John." Gull became "Gall." The action is okay for a B flick, but Jan and his henchmen carry off what amounts to the longest truck pursuit ever put on film. It literally takes days to catch up to it. The laser cannon, when finally unveiled, looks like a giant hair dryer, and the special effects probably cost just as much. At different times, you have to ask the question: why does a giant multinational corporation trust its biggest project to just three yahoos driving a truck on the bumpy Indonesian highways? The cast often refer to Ted's handy bottle of whiskey he sucks on as "his milk." This isn't funny the first time you hear it, and it ain't funny the fourth time you hear it, either. "No Time to Die" is a quickie flick made to cash in on the video boom of the mid-80's. While there may be no time to die, make no time to watch. Also known as "Hijacked to Hell."
The biggest problem with this film is its dubbing. With all of these nationalities trying to carry on conversations in English, it is very hard to understand anybody. Ted's last name is Barner, according to the end credits, but I swear I heard "Marshall" and "Farmer" bandied about. I wrote down "Horst" when I first heard Martin's last name, and "Jan" is pronounced "John." Gull became "Gall." The action is okay for a B flick, but Jan and his henchmen carry off what amounts to the longest truck pursuit ever put on film. It literally takes days to catch up to it. The laser cannon, when finally unveiled, looks like a giant hair dryer, and the special effects probably cost just as much. At different times, you have to ask the question: why does a giant multinational corporation trust its biggest project to just three yahoos driving a truck on the bumpy Indonesian highways? The cast often refer to Ted's handy bottle of whiskey he sucks on as "his milk." This isn't funny the first time you hear it, and it ain't funny the fourth time you hear it, either. "No Time to Die" is a quickie flick made to cash in on the video boom of the mid-80's. While there may be no time to die, make no time to watch. Also known as "Hijacked to Hell."
High Crimes (2002)
Claire (Ashley Judd) is a flamboyant defense attorney trying to have a baby with hubby Tom (Jim Caviezel).
One night, strolling along, Tom is arrested by the FBI for multiple murders in El Salvador in 1988. Turns out Tom is really Ron, an ex-Marine who was in El Salvador in 1988, but he did not kill those people. Tom blames the crime on his superior, the killings were part of a terrorist interrogation raid gone wrong. Claire moves close to the Marine base where Tom is being held for court-martial. She hires boozy ex-Marine lawyer Charlie (Morgan Freeman) to help her and their military attorney (Adam Scott) get Tom off. From this slapdash opening, rewind films like "A Few Good Men" and "The General's Daughter" in your head.
Of course, Tom's arrest is part of a giant nationwide military cover-up, as the defense team is physically attacked but never killed, all while trying to prove Tom's innocence. Wait after the false ending for the big whoopdee-doo, gasp out loud, oh my heart, palm to your gaping open mouth surprise ending.
Much like "The General's Daughter," "High Crimes" gets very little right about the military. I don't know about the background of the novel's author, or the screenwriters, but going on my two decades growing up on military bases around the world, and attending a number of court-martials in high school as part of a fleeting interest in a law career, I do not see a whole lot of research going into the film's portrait of military justice. Also much like "The General's Daughter," this film hates the military. All the Marines here are trained killers who could flip out at any moment and "do what they were trained to do." Claire arrives, and suddenly has the run of the base, literally- at one point she takes to jogging around the base visiting the military lawyer. In all my years, I never saw any civilian lawyers taking a trot through base housing and calling on unsuspecting personnel. Claire also receives the fastest base pass in military history. She tries her gruff civilian manner in military court, something else no civilian lawyer I saw would try.
Ashley Judd and Jim Caviezel spend most of the film crying at each other. They have no chemistry, and overplay their parts. Hmm, the boozy over-the-hill lawyer who gets that one big case to redeem himself, where have I seen this role before...oh, yeah, every network television and filmed legal drama from the last twenty years. Freeman plays the part, but this role is something anyone could do, why did Freeman sign up for this? Amanda Peet stops in to play peek-a-boob with an open shirt and colorful panties before calling in her role as "the successful attorney's flaky sister." Franklin's direction is certainly pretty to look at, but he spends too much time right in Judd's face. Could we pull the camera back, please? I wanted lots of screen room so I could watch the Plot Convenience Police storm in and arrest the cast for Premeditated Leaps in Logic. Coincidences that periodically stunned me into hysterical blindness, stock characters whose lines I was able to mouth along with the actors, and less accurate portrayals of the military than last century's "Beetle Bailey" comic strip. Throw in the globe-hopping evil general (Bruce Davison), who is always just two hours from Claire, close enough to have lots of hushed and threatening conversations, and you have one loser of a movie.
"High Crimes" is so desperate to make you feel warm and fuzzy for the heroes, it makes the villains all the more evil. In the process, it bored me stupid whenever I could recover from my uncontrollable fits of laughter. It is a shame when such a good cast gets tied into a ludicrous flick. "High Crimes" for low times.
One night, strolling along, Tom is arrested by the FBI for multiple murders in El Salvador in 1988. Turns out Tom is really Ron, an ex-Marine who was in El Salvador in 1988, but he did not kill those people. Tom blames the crime on his superior, the killings were part of a terrorist interrogation raid gone wrong. Claire moves close to the Marine base where Tom is being held for court-martial. She hires boozy ex-Marine lawyer Charlie (Morgan Freeman) to help her and their military attorney (Adam Scott) get Tom off. From this slapdash opening, rewind films like "A Few Good Men" and "The General's Daughter" in your head.
Of course, Tom's arrest is part of a giant nationwide military cover-up, as the defense team is physically attacked but never killed, all while trying to prove Tom's innocence. Wait after the false ending for the big whoopdee-doo, gasp out loud, oh my heart, palm to your gaping open mouth surprise ending.
Much like "The General's Daughter," "High Crimes" gets very little right about the military. I don't know about the background of the novel's author, or the screenwriters, but going on my two decades growing up on military bases around the world, and attending a number of court-martials in high school as part of a fleeting interest in a law career, I do not see a whole lot of research going into the film's portrait of military justice. Also much like "The General's Daughter," this film hates the military. All the Marines here are trained killers who could flip out at any moment and "do what they were trained to do." Claire arrives, and suddenly has the run of the base, literally- at one point she takes to jogging around the base visiting the military lawyer. In all my years, I never saw any civilian lawyers taking a trot through base housing and calling on unsuspecting personnel. Claire also receives the fastest base pass in military history. She tries her gruff civilian manner in military court, something else no civilian lawyer I saw would try.
Ashley Judd and Jim Caviezel spend most of the film crying at each other. They have no chemistry, and overplay their parts. Hmm, the boozy over-the-hill lawyer who gets that one big case to redeem himself, where have I seen this role before...oh, yeah, every network television and filmed legal drama from the last twenty years. Freeman plays the part, but this role is something anyone could do, why did Freeman sign up for this? Amanda Peet stops in to play peek-a-boob with an open shirt and colorful panties before calling in her role as "the successful attorney's flaky sister." Franklin's direction is certainly pretty to look at, but he spends too much time right in Judd's face. Could we pull the camera back, please? I wanted lots of screen room so I could watch the Plot Convenience Police storm in and arrest the cast for Premeditated Leaps in Logic. Coincidences that periodically stunned me into hysterical blindness, stock characters whose lines I was able to mouth along with the actors, and less accurate portrayals of the military than last century's "Beetle Bailey" comic strip. Throw in the globe-hopping evil general (Bruce Davison), who is always just two hours from Claire, close enough to have lots of hushed and threatening conversations, and you have one loser of a movie.
"High Crimes" is so desperate to make you feel warm and fuzzy for the heroes, it makes the villains all the more evil. In the process, it bored me stupid whenever I could recover from my uncontrollable fits of laughter. It is a shame when such a good cast gets tied into a ludicrous flick. "High Crimes" for low times.
The Hours (2002)
Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep take viewers on one weird, misunderstood trip. The film begins with Virginia Woolf's suicide in 1941, then takes us back to the 1920's, when Woolf (Nicole Kidman) was beginning her novel "Mrs. Dalloway" while living with her husband and angry household staff in a small village in England. Virginia was brought there to impossibly recover from severe mental illness, and she and her husband run a small printing house. In the 1950's, pregnant and plain Laura (Julianne Moore) dotes incessantly on her young son (an excellent Jack Rovello), and dutifully waits for her WWII vet husband Dan (John C. Reilly) to bring home the bacon. Laura is reading the novel "Mrs. Dalloway," which mirrors her own unhappy existence. In 2001, Clarissa (Meryl Streep) is an enabler who is helping her friend Richard (Ed Harris) by throwing him a party to celebrate a literary award. Richard is dying of AIDS, his mind is going, and his pet name for Clarissa is "Mrs. Dalloway," as Clarissa almost seems to be living the tale Woolf is writing. The connections between the three stories do not consist of just the novel. All three women are dutifully playing out their roles and lives, doing everything for others, and being dangerously selfless. Woolf, in the horrors of mental illness, allows her husband to put her best interests at heart and moves her from London (a city she detested) to Richmond (a city she detests even more). Laura is a complete blank. Her sick friend Kitty (Toni Collette) turns her nose up at the novel she is reading, she just plays the happy mom and wife role, feeling worthless inside. Laura has a great line that since WWII veterans risked their lives overseas, they somehow deserved a wife and a good life when they came home. Clarissa ignores her deteriorating relationship with lover Sally (Allison Janney), and throws herself into the dinky details of Richard's life. They were lovers once, and Richard's ex, Louis (Jeff Daniels), visits Clarissa to stir up some emotions she has been holding back for much too long.
I did not see "The Hours" (the title refers to the time we have between events in our lives, and the time we have left) as a typical "chick flick." If anything, it does not empower women to do much of anything on their own without the help of an evil man. All three stories involve a lesbian subplot, kisses meant to show men the ladies are doin' it for themselves, but all three times nothing seems to change afterward. Woolf was literally crippled at many points of her life with her illness. It is thought she did not want children -her marriage was one of convenience, she was bisexual- so her illness would not be passed on to her children. This sincerity is monumentally sad. Nicole Kidman (enough about her fake nose already) is very good as Virginia Woolf, although Irish actress Fiona Shaw was born to play the role since they look exactly alike. Julianne Moore has a wonderful tension in her scenes, as her young son's character watches his mother's seemingly flighty behavior and tries to help her. Meryl Streep proves once again that she is one great actress, like her or not. A special mention should go to Ed Harris, who literally looks like he is dying. There are no "Love Story"-type sterile hospital settings here, his seedy apartment reflects his own mental deterioration. As the three stories intertwine and relate to each other, it still manages to pull out a surprising plot twist near the end. Philip Glass' score is melancholy and meandering, but always there, tying the three stories together. He does not big band it up for the 1950's, or throw in a rap for 2001, it is a wonderful constant. Daldry's seemingly standard direction seems appropriate to these women's standard lives. Who needs flash and zoom when you live from one day to the next without doing anything new or stopping to take notice? While a few slow spots keep this from being a perfect film, "The Hours" does have strong performances and direction. It ultimately just nudges us and reminds us that the hours are all we have left here.
I did not see "The Hours" (the title refers to the time we have between events in our lives, and the time we have left) as a typical "chick flick." If anything, it does not empower women to do much of anything on their own without the help of an evil man. All three stories involve a lesbian subplot, kisses meant to show men the ladies are doin' it for themselves, but all three times nothing seems to change afterward. Woolf was literally crippled at many points of her life with her illness. It is thought she did not want children -her marriage was one of convenience, she was bisexual- so her illness would not be passed on to her children. This sincerity is monumentally sad. Nicole Kidman (enough about her fake nose already) is very good as Virginia Woolf, although Irish actress Fiona Shaw was born to play the role since they look exactly alike. Julianne Moore has a wonderful tension in her scenes, as her young son's character watches his mother's seemingly flighty behavior and tries to help her. Meryl Streep proves once again that she is one great actress, like her or not. A special mention should go to Ed Harris, who literally looks like he is dying. There are no "Love Story"-type sterile hospital settings here, his seedy apartment reflects his own mental deterioration. As the three stories intertwine and relate to each other, it still manages to pull out a surprising plot twist near the end. Philip Glass' score is melancholy and meandering, but always there, tying the three stories together. He does not big band it up for the 1950's, or throw in a rap for 2001, it is a wonderful constant. Daldry's seemingly standard direction seems appropriate to these women's standard lives. Who needs flash and zoom when you live from one day to the next without doing anything new or stopping to take notice? While a few slow spots keep this from being a perfect film, "The Hours" does have strong performances and direction. It ultimately just nudges us and reminds us that the hours are all we have left here.
Hideaway (1995)
Author Dean Koontz tried to get his name taken off this adaptation of his novel, and with good reason. Before we start, this entire review is a spoiler. Hatch (Jeff Goldblum) is killed in a car accident. He is revived by Jonas (Alfred Molina), but he begins to "change," much to the consternation of his wife Lindsey (Christine Lahti) and gum-smacking dummy teen daughter Regina (Alicia Silverstone). Apparently, Hatch has made some kind of connection with serial killer Vassago (Jeremy Sisto), and both men can see what the other is doing. Vassago becomes obsessed with Regina, and Hatch and the killer run around the Pacific Northwest chasing each other until they meet up in a clicheed finale.
This film should have been better than this. Goldblum is all wrong as Hatch, playing him with wide-eyed wonder and laid back charm. He never gets overly concerned that he can see what a serial killer sees, and when he does explode into anger or emotion, it comes off as supremely fake. Lahti is given nothing more to do than follow a sweaty Hatch around the house asking him what is wrong. Molina is equally unimpressive as the doctor who serves as the connection between the two men. Sisto is good as the killer, but he is not given anything different to do. You have seen this serial killer a hundred times before. Rae Dawn Chong, as a psychic, has two whole scenes before getting dispatched, and she was the most interesting character here. Once again, I ask the eternal question of all psychic characters in these films: "If they are psychic, can't they see that they are about to die?" Alicia Silverstone is another matter. I never became enamored with her back in the day just because of a couple of music video appearances. Here, she plays a sixteen or seventeen year old as if she was twelve. Half the time I was not concerned for her safety, I just wanted to smack her. In a car accident near the beginning of the film, a truck sideswipes our heroic family. Lahti and Goldblum are bug eyed and screaming, but you can see Silverstone in the back seat SMILING. How did she get away with this? Did editing not see this? Is a spinning car on a wet highway supposed to be funny to her character? The car ends up over on the shoulder of the road, Silverstone pops out pouting, and then the car rolls back down a ravine and ends up in a river. Oh, now I see why Alicia was smiling, the scene is unintentionally hilarious. If you can remember how Dead Meat bought it in "Hot Shots," this is just as silly.
Director Leonard also makes liberal use of computer effects to show us what Heaven and Hell look like. Hell is a giant orange ball of goo. I think Heaven is a blue tinged Oriental lady, I may be wrong. I wonder if Leonard decided "The Lawnmower Man" had some good ideas not entirely fleshed out in his two and a half hour director's cut, and he stuck them in here for no real reason. Eventually, the viewer will become as listless as the cast. Whole scenes go by with little or no energy. Major plot points are not revealed by any intelligence on the characters' part, but based on coincidence- watch for Hatch's discovery of the motel the killer is staying at simply because HE HAPPENS TO DRIVE BY IT. By the time the silly resolution rolls around, you will not care. As one last stab at the audience's interest, stay tuned after the final credits, where Leonard tacks on some cheesy scenes that the producers of "Bloody Murder" probably would have rejected as old hat. Hide away "Hideaway."
This film should have been better than this. Goldblum is all wrong as Hatch, playing him with wide-eyed wonder and laid back charm. He never gets overly concerned that he can see what a serial killer sees, and when he does explode into anger or emotion, it comes off as supremely fake. Lahti is given nothing more to do than follow a sweaty Hatch around the house asking him what is wrong. Molina is equally unimpressive as the doctor who serves as the connection between the two men. Sisto is good as the killer, but he is not given anything different to do. You have seen this serial killer a hundred times before. Rae Dawn Chong, as a psychic, has two whole scenes before getting dispatched, and she was the most interesting character here. Once again, I ask the eternal question of all psychic characters in these films: "If they are psychic, can't they see that they are about to die?" Alicia Silverstone is another matter. I never became enamored with her back in the day just because of a couple of music video appearances. Here, she plays a sixteen or seventeen year old as if she was twelve. Half the time I was not concerned for her safety, I just wanted to smack her. In a car accident near the beginning of the film, a truck sideswipes our heroic family. Lahti and Goldblum are bug eyed and screaming, but you can see Silverstone in the back seat SMILING. How did she get away with this? Did editing not see this? Is a spinning car on a wet highway supposed to be funny to her character? The car ends up over on the shoulder of the road, Silverstone pops out pouting, and then the car rolls back down a ravine and ends up in a river. Oh, now I see why Alicia was smiling, the scene is unintentionally hilarious. If you can remember how Dead Meat bought it in "Hot Shots," this is just as silly.
Director Leonard also makes liberal use of computer effects to show us what Heaven and Hell look like. Hell is a giant orange ball of goo. I think Heaven is a blue tinged Oriental lady, I may be wrong. I wonder if Leonard decided "The Lawnmower Man" had some good ideas not entirely fleshed out in his two and a half hour director's cut, and he stuck them in here for no real reason. Eventually, the viewer will become as listless as the cast. Whole scenes go by with little or no energy. Major plot points are not revealed by any intelligence on the characters' part, but based on coincidence- watch for Hatch's discovery of the motel the killer is staying at simply because HE HAPPENS TO DRIVE BY IT. By the time the silly resolution rolls around, you will not care. As one last stab at the audience's interest, stay tuned after the final credits, where Leonard tacks on some cheesy scenes that the producers of "Bloody Murder" probably would have rejected as old hat. Hide away "Hideaway."
Hellraiser: Inferno (2000)
Scott Derrickson, the director of horror films "Sinister," "Deliver Us from Evil," "The Black Phone," "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" as well as "Doctor Strange" and the remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" had to get his film genre chops somewhere. He did that by directing and co-writing "Hellraiser: Inferno," the fifth film in the "Hellraiser" series. This film is on par with Clive Barker's original nightmare, and it shamefully went straight to video.
Joseph Thorne (an outstanding Craig Sheffer) is a Denver detective with a knack for solving complicated puzzles and cases. He also has a knack for snorting cocaine, stealing crime scene evidence, and visiting prostitutes. He ignores his wife and young daughter, wrapping himself up in every case. His partner, Tony (Nicholas Turturro), is more grounded, with a wife and two kids of his own. In the beginning of the film, the pair investigate the brutal murder of an acquaintance from Joseph's high school years. The man was literally torn apart, and also found at the scene was the finger of an unidentified child, and a strange wooden puzzle box. Joseph takes the box, later picks up a hooker, and after another night of debauchery, solves the puzzle box in a seedy motel while the hooker sleeps. Joseph launches into a nightmare where he hears a child call for help, and hallucinates grotesque creatures. He awakes and leaves, but returns to the room after getting a call from the prostitute, who is violently murdered while on the phone. Joseph cleans the scene of any evidence he was there, but plants some items belonging to Tony to control the situation and the partner he should, but does not, trust. Joseph investigates the hooker's murder, his acquaintance's murder, and finds himself hunting down both the missing child whose fingers are being found at the crime scenes, and a mysterious figure with the street name the Engineer. In the meantime, a featureless killer (save a hideous mouth) hunts down the people close to Joseph.
Derrickson has crafted an ugly looking film along the lines of "Seven." He crosses the taboo line in that children are victims of this world (and the afterlife). He also rivets the viewer, as the case's turns become more and more unexpected. Derrickson cowrote the screenplay with Paul Harris Boardman, and they come up with both a clever police procedural as well as a spooky demonic film. Craig Sheffer plays Joseph incredibly well. There is nothing sympathetic about him, and Sheffer's cold distance works. Joseph is dead inside, coming alive when pursuing his suspect, but not when dealing with his family. The rest of the cast do great jobs, with even small roles like Nicholas Sadler as Joseph's snitch Bernie standing out, making quick but lasting impressions. A special mention should go to James Remar as Joseph's police counselor. His calm demeanor and appearance will fool you, and Derrickson wisely uses him just long enough. Doug Bradley, as always, is excellent as Pinhead, the lead Cenobite, but fans of the series might be disappointed in how little he is onscreen; a couple of minutes at most. Again, Derrickson and Boardman use him when needed, not turning him into a quipping villain without menace. This film is Joseph's story, a thoughtful direction the series had to take in order not to repeat itself, unlike so many other sequels in this genre- can anyone tell me the difference between the middle three "A Nightmare on Elm Street" entries? I didn't think so. While some of the computer generated special effects are a bit weak, the climax runs a few minutes too long, and Joseph's voice-over narration is unnecessary, "Hellraiser: Inferno" is by far the strongest sequel in the series, full of horror and interesting ideas, as well as some excellent performances and suspenseful plotting. Good stuff all around.
Joseph Thorne (an outstanding Craig Sheffer) is a Denver detective with a knack for solving complicated puzzles and cases. He also has a knack for snorting cocaine, stealing crime scene evidence, and visiting prostitutes. He ignores his wife and young daughter, wrapping himself up in every case. His partner, Tony (Nicholas Turturro), is more grounded, with a wife and two kids of his own. In the beginning of the film, the pair investigate the brutal murder of an acquaintance from Joseph's high school years. The man was literally torn apart, and also found at the scene was the finger of an unidentified child, and a strange wooden puzzle box. Joseph takes the box, later picks up a hooker, and after another night of debauchery, solves the puzzle box in a seedy motel while the hooker sleeps. Joseph launches into a nightmare where he hears a child call for help, and hallucinates grotesque creatures. He awakes and leaves, but returns to the room after getting a call from the prostitute, who is violently murdered while on the phone. Joseph cleans the scene of any evidence he was there, but plants some items belonging to Tony to control the situation and the partner he should, but does not, trust. Joseph investigates the hooker's murder, his acquaintance's murder, and finds himself hunting down both the missing child whose fingers are being found at the crime scenes, and a mysterious figure with the street name the Engineer. In the meantime, a featureless killer (save a hideous mouth) hunts down the people close to Joseph.
Derrickson has crafted an ugly looking film along the lines of "Seven." He crosses the taboo line in that children are victims of this world (and the afterlife). He also rivets the viewer, as the case's turns become more and more unexpected. Derrickson cowrote the screenplay with Paul Harris Boardman, and they come up with both a clever police procedural as well as a spooky demonic film. Craig Sheffer plays Joseph incredibly well. There is nothing sympathetic about him, and Sheffer's cold distance works. Joseph is dead inside, coming alive when pursuing his suspect, but not when dealing with his family. The rest of the cast do great jobs, with even small roles like Nicholas Sadler as Joseph's snitch Bernie standing out, making quick but lasting impressions. A special mention should go to James Remar as Joseph's police counselor. His calm demeanor and appearance will fool you, and Derrickson wisely uses him just long enough. Doug Bradley, as always, is excellent as Pinhead, the lead Cenobite, but fans of the series might be disappointed in how little he is onscreen; a couple of minutes at most. Again, Derrickson and Boardman use him when needed, not turning him into a quipping villain without menace. This film is Joseph's story, a thoughtful direction the series had to take in order not to repeat itself, unlike so many other sequels in this genre- can anyone tell me the difference between the middle three "A Nightmare on Elm Street" entries? I didn't think so. While some of the computer generated special effects are a bit weak, the climax runs a few minutes too long, and Joseph's voice-over narration is unnecessary, "Hellraiser: Inferno" is by far the strongest sequel in the series, full of horror and interesting ideas, as well as some excellent performances and suspenseful plotting. Good stuff all around.
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