[7] Mel Gibson returns as the iconic Mad Max, joined by Tina Turner in a fun, villainous role. But the third film in the series is also the weakest, first signaled by the PG-13 rating, a ridiculous attempt to make a hard-edged action franchise more family-friendly. The script splits the story into two distinct parts that then converge on each other in the third act. …
[6] A sexually infatuated twelve-year-old boy does what his teddy bear tells him to, which includes feeding the locals to a pack of monsters who dwell in a pit in the woods. I don’t know what the teddy bear and the pit monsters have to do with one another, but the first half of The Pit is remarkable in its depiction of a nascent psychopath. …
[6] The ‘alternate universe’ aspect of Lovecraftian horror is something I don’t think I’ll ever appreciate, but if that’s your bag, Stuart Gordon’s From Beyond might float your fancy. I like the psycho-sexual stuff going on, especially when everyone’s pineal glands are unknowingly stimulated, causing Barbara Crampton to don a dominatrix outfit and straddle an unconscious man. I’d like the movie to have been more …
[8] Brian DePalma serves up a twisty Hitchcockian thriller about a female slasher hunting a prostitute who witnessed her last murder. Michael Caine stars as the shrink who tries to help the call girl, who’s played by Nancy Allen (Mrs DePalma at the time). But it’s Angie Dickinson who delivers the film’s most memorable performance as a married woman who nervously initiates a one-night stand. …
[6] When a WWII vet returns home to find his true love in the arms of another man, the town scores a legendary double-murder. Thirty-five years later, the town decides to throw the same dance… and the killer decides to pay a return visit. It may not be as famous as Jason or Michael’s outings, but The Prowler is a quintessential slasher film nonetheless. Tom …
[7] Formulaic romantic comedies don’t usually fly with me, but when you place a genuine, sincere element into the formula, an element like Paul Hogan, it sometimes doesn’t matter how old the story is. And I have to credit Hogan and his fellow screenwriters for writing a central love relationship that doesn’t belabor itself. The characters don’t have to talk a lot for us to …
[4] George C. Scott stars as a police officer who follows a murder case that gets him embroiled in a mystery involving the Nazis and big oil. The film’s ahead of its time in vilifying the oil companies, represented here by none other than Marlon Brando. Scott’s character hits the nail on the head when he tells Brando: “You’re not in the oil business, you’re …
[7] Richard Gere plays a navy cadet who falls in love with a factory worker played by Debra Winger. The romance part of the story doesn’t work as well as Gere’s combative relationship with his drill instructor, played by Louis Gossett Jr. Director Taylor Hackford (Dolores Claiborne, Ray) does a remarkable job grounding the melodrama, especially in the tragic third act, but I have a …
[8] Director Hugh Hudson (Chariots of Fire) delivers an emotionally compelling adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ vine-swinging legend. The first half of the movie, depicting Tarzan’s childhood up through his discovery by an Austrian explorer (Ian Holm), outshines the last, but the movie still works well overall. Christopher Lambert (Highlander) does a good job bringing out the extreme pathos of a character caught between two …
[5] Clint Eastwood plays a detective (who isn’t Dirty Harry) assigned to a case involving a serial rapist and murderer whose victims begin to include Eastwood’s acquaintances. This is a paint-by-numbers serial killer movie, full of all the old cliches — like the closeups of the killer’s feet, the old ‘close the refrigerator door to reveal the killer’ gag, and bare breasts galore. Eastwood’s performance …
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