Escape From New York (1981)

4 / 5 Apr '10
Tagline: The world's greatest leader is a hostage in the most dangerous place on Earth. Now only the deadliest man alive can save him.
Directed by: John Carpenter
Written by: John Carpenter, Nick Castle
Actors include: Kurt Russell, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Van Cleef
Genre: Action, Science Fiction
Length: 99 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This was a rather entertaining dystopic flick that takes place in the future: 1997. Well luckily for us 1997 looked nothing like this film, here they have New York City as a maximum security prison full of thugs. When Airforce One is taken over, the current president (the very British Donald Pleasance) escapes in his pod (just like the Simpsons of course) lands in New York City. One of the biggest thugs The Duke (Isaac Hayes) takes the President hostage and offers them a finger of his in order to get attention and have their demands met. Kurt Russell plays the eye patched hero Snake who is also kind of a bad guy but they make an offer for him to safely return the President. It has some exciting chase sequences and some really impressive shots of New York and some colorful characters and a cast of impressive actors too. This isn't my favorite from John Carpenter and I actually expected it to be a little more thrilling than it was. Still it was quite enjoyable and a fair bit of fun, definitely has classic moments and is quite iconic.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Deadline (1981)

3.5 / 5 July '10
Tagline: His obsession was to create the ultimate horror story... his curse was to live it.
Directed by: Mario Azzopardi
Written by: Mario Azzopardi
Actors include: Stephen Young, Sharon Masters, Marvin Goldhar
Genre: Action, Horror, Thriller, Drama
Length: 85 minutes
Banned: Iceland

Review:
Considering this is a rarely mentioned horror film of the '80s it actually rather entertaining. It revolves around a Stephen King-like author named Steven (how clever) who is a rather large jerk. He ignores his family, friends and other obligations in order to write and before long things get confusing. See the line between fantasy and reality are getting blurred for him, visions from his films are becoming real and he's not sure what end is up anymore. The neatest part of this film are the bizarre and sometimes even disgusting and bloody bits from his movies that appear including cannibalistic Nuns, grandma abuse and many other bizarre things. The further he gets wrapped up in this the more his family falls apart and that is a rather disturbing angle actually. It's a shame that the story wasn't a tad more cohesive and explanatory (particularly when it comes to the ending), but I definitely give it credit for ambition and style. It should please most any '80s horror fan, you'll probably see a thing or two.  Oh and be on the look out for the band [Artist5948] who make quite an impression in this film with their insane performance.

Availability:  Not on DVD

Looker (1981)

3.5 / 5 Aug '10
Tagline: If Looks Could Kill...
Directed by: Michael Crichton
Written by: Michael Crichton
Actors include: Susan Day, Albert Finney, James Coburn
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Length: 93 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This definitely has some inventive ideas that actually have come to exist, and it's pretty cool in many ways. Plastic surgeon Dr. Larry Roberts (Albert Finney) has had a few weird requests lately, beautiful women wanting several slight surgeries to adjust their appearances. When three of them are potentially suicide victims of course they start investigating Larry. Only thing is, he is oblivious, but he does notice that all of the dead girls belong to a research lab. He also finds out that model Cindy Fairmont (Susan Dey) is in serious danger being the only one left alive. It's got a slight romantic plot there but mostly it's a rather exciting investigation into this research company to find out what really is going on. The big problem is that weren't given an actual reason for killing these girls, sure we find out "what's going on" but it doesn't explain the big questions. From my research I've learned there is a scene in the movie that was cut out that explained some things but why the heck would anyone cut that out of the DVD release? Anyhow I do think it's a pretty neat tale from Crichton and if you've wanted to see Dey naked you'll have another reason to watch.

Availability:  On DVD

Southern Comfort (1981)

3 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: It's the land of hospitality... unless you don't belong there.
Directed by: Walter Hill
Written by: Walter Hill, Michael Kane
Actors include: Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Length: 106 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I really expected more from this considering it has a rather good reputation, but as is it was acceptable. Definitely we have sentiments of Deliverance, the plot is about a group of army fellas sent on a mission, but they steal canoes from some Cajuns and shoot blanks on them....it's all down hill from there. The natives start picking them off and setting up eerie traps and stuff. The thing is, it seems like it's made-for-tv and more safe than necessary, also the acting isn't the greatest (though it is mainly tv actors which makes some sense). It drags for long periods of time and although I suppose it was supposed to be "tension" building, it just sort of stayed at a meh sort of pacing. Sure it has a few violent moments and the concept although derivative isn't all that bad, it's just that it wasn't very rewarding.

Availability:  On DVD

Death Hunt (1981)

4.5 / 5
Tagline:  The Saga Of Two Rivals Who Clash As Enemies And Triumph As Heroes.
Directed by:  Peter R. Hunt
Written by:  Michael Grais, Mark Victor
Actors include:  Charles Bronson, Angie Dickinson, Lee Marvin
Genre:  Action, Adventure, Thriller
Length:  92 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:
Charles Bronson is back, and this time he's a Canadian in the '30s! He plays a trapper who keeps to himself (in other words yes he's the exact same character as he is in Death Wish) that winds up in trouble with the law. He sees a dogfight going on, and decides to save one of the dogs but he doesn't pay the trapper the amount he feels the nearly dead dog is worth. Bronson brings it back to health and then continues on, but he won't have piece for long as a gang of the dog owners friends attack him. Of course he goes to defend himself, and gets blamed and from there it's one big chase through the cold Canadian climate over mountains and hills. It's rather thrilling, and the scenery is beautiful too. It's sort of like a western in many ways, though an action film it definitely qualifies as also. I think fans of Bronson films should definitely eat this right up, it's quite an exciting treat that is straightforward and very easy to enjoy.


Availability:  On DVD