High-octane/low-mileage action/revenge trash is, inexplicably, good violent fun with hunky, hirsute, torso-torqued Lorenzo Lamas returning to the big screen after five years. (Growing the chest hair back?) Released just months before Patrick Swayze’s ROAD HOUSE/’89, it might be begging to be its Drive-In second feature mate.* Director George Erschbamer, unfazed by narrative lacunae, an amateur supporting cast or multiple off-screen saves in the nick of time, shows decent action chops as wiseguy city cop (and ex-Marine Special Forces ‘Snake Eater’ Lamas, heads to White Trash county (think DELIVERANCE/’72) where a motley crew of inbred brothers have murdered his vacationing parents and abducted his sister. Locked in a swampy shack, guarded by the boys’ love-starved little sister, you can guess the rest. But the sheer gusto in boundary breaking bad taste, along with the Lamas bod and weirdly ‘off’ line readings of lame comic comebacks, was entertaining enough (perhaps objectionable enough?) to suffer two sequels. (neither seen here) And you know what you’re in for right from the start when the credits come backed by pure ‘80s synthesizer sounds. The film so up-front about itself, you root for it to work on some level. And, in its fashion, it does.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Realize that Drive-In double bill with your own Midnight screening of ROAD HOUSE.
No comments:
Post a Comment