Review: Hard Target

1993
Directed by: John Woo
Category: Badass Cinema

Hard Target is the quintessential Van Damme flick. If you ask most people what there favorite Van Damme flick is, they'll more than likely tell you it's either Hard Target or Kickboxer. For me, it's Hard Target. For this film, it seems like all of the things that make John Woo and Van Damme great come together perfectly for this film at just the right time in both of there career's. Woo was hungry to make a name for himself in the U.S. and filled this thing with so much over the top style and visual panache (often times unnecessarily) complete with all of his trademarks like his obsessive use of doves, long tracking shots, slow-motion and inventive crane work. There's even some classic Woo gunplay here with scenes looking like they came right outta The Killer and Hard Boiled, only usually Van Damme ends a two-handed shootout with a roundhouse kick. Awesome. Van Damme, knocking these big budget action flicks out one after the other while going head to head with Steven Seagal really shines here too. I  don't know if it's because he was young, on top of the Hollywood action A-List or Woo's direction, but here it's all in the delivery and it's refreshing. You see him in anything lately and the guy just looks tired, like he's going through the motions. I mean, even his facial expressions on most of his recent DVD covers. Look at his face and it's the same look.....tired.

Nat Binder (Yancey Butler) arrives in New Orleans during a police strike looking for her father who's gone missing. After running into a group of thugs, she's saved by Chance (Van Damme) who agrees to help her find her father and act as kind of a guide around New Orleans. They soon find out that her father was homeless and used as sort of a "human" target for an organization headed by Emil Fouchon (Lance Henrikesen) who pays homeless vets with no family $10,000 to be a target for wealthy clients looking for a thrill kill. If they make it to the designated destination alive, they keep the money. Unbeknownst to them the last target they hired indeed had a daughter who's come to town asking questions (exactly why they stress the "no family" clause) with a hired guide who knows a thing or two about survival, tracking, hunting and apparently martial arts who ends up being the last guy they want to fuck with.

Hard Target represents the perfect marriage of style, substance, action and good ol' fashioned stunt work. No CGI bullshit in here, just an insane amount of explosions, bullets and expertly choreographed action sequences. John Woo is in top form here, visually giving us a ballet of violence unlike anything we had seen up until that point. The big action sequence right in the middle of the film where it starts in the square with Chance doing that bit where he kicks the poor schmo off of the moving motorcycle and taking the bike out to the expressway where he's met by Foulchon's (Henrikesen) men in one unbelievably badass and awesomely long sequence is simply stunning. You think there's no way they can top that and in a creative sense, and they don't, but they do add an equally long and equally badass action sequence at the end with so much blood, bullets and mayhem that these two sequences alone are worth the price of admission. Luckily we're given a  pretty outstanding supporting cast along with Van Damme in top form (complete with insanely ridiculous mullet) including Henriksen as head bad guy, Arnold Vosloo as his right hand henchman, Yancy Butler (Witchblade) and even the great Wilford Brimley as Chance's uncle who sports a completely unconvincing (though funny) cajun accent. Henriksen "always" delivers the goods, no matter what he's in; the guy is just a badass. Vosloo does really well also as the South African henchman to Fouchon (Henriksen). He's not big or anything, he's actually kind of skinny underneath the many layers of clothes they have him in, but there's something in the eyes. He just creeps the hell out of you with those eyes. Brimley is a treat to watch, even if you don't buy the accent. Kind of a weird role for him to take, I mean in an action film. But then again, I never would have guessed he'd be in a horror film, and he nearly stole the show in John Carpenter's The Thing. Speaking of weird, I must also mention how strange I thought it was for Woo to make this film as his first foray into Hollywood filmmaking. An action film about a Canadian (?) in New Orleans taking on an assortment of villains on horseback and a motorcycle? Maybe it's just me, but I thought he would have gone for something more mainstream his first time out. Not to say that it doesn't work though, because it does, and awesomely!

If you want to nitpick the film apart, it's incredibly easy to do. I mean, the shit that happens here is just completely ridiculous, but as with most of these films, you have to just suspend all disbelief and enjoy the ride. Like, why the hell are they all wearing trench coats (Van Damme and Henriksen namely) when it's clearly like 120 degrees out there. I mean, everyone is sweating up a storm, but they're sporting thick black trench coats? And  I know there's a police strike supposedly happening, but being able to run around town in broad daylight shooting and killing people left and right through extensive set pieces is a little .......... out there. And that whole snake sequence is really silly, but funny too. There's a scene where Fouchon and company track down Chance's old war vet buddy to a crowded New Orleans street one night where all the bars are at. They shoot him to death in front of everybody and  get away with it? And I don't think the whole mullet thing is ever explained. I mean, "that" is a fuckin' mullet!

My good buddy Ingo over at Hellford 667 Movie Reviews recently hooked me up with the Workrpint Version of this awesome action classic and it was interesting, but didn't really offer anything to the story that was sorely missing. I like the cut that was released theatrically and feel it works just fine. You really couldn't ask for anything more in a 90's straight up action film. Maybe some nudity? But seriously, everything works. The cast, the action, the stunts, the camera work and most importantly Jean-Claude Van Damme kicking some serious ass and seriously rocking a southern mullet.

Review: The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)

1991
Directed by: Stuart Gordon
Category: Cult Classics

I've always been a so-so fan of director Stuart Gordon. I'm a huge fan of Re-Animator, From Beyond, Fortress and even Robot Jox (just for the sheer B-Movie campiness of it all). But films like Dagon, Castle Freak and King of the Ants have left me severely underwhelmed. When I see those films, I don't see the brilliance that was behind his earlier work, most notably the one-two punch of Re-Animator and From Beyond. The Pit and the Pendulum I feel falls into the category of "missed opportunity". I think mainly because my expectations were a little high. I think because I assumed since it was a Stuart Gordon film and it dealt with a gothic tale from Edgar Allan Poe that a blending of the two would result in a gory and bloody retelling of the Pendulum story. To my surprise, there is very little blood in this film. Instead it looks like Gordon's attempt at making an honest to goodness straight up period piece with a pretty decent story, but on a very low budget. It all looks ok for the most part. Though on an obvious limited budget the sets, scenery, costumes and even restrained camera work all look pretty good; not impressive or anything, but much better than you would expect it to look.

Synopsis via Wikipedia:
Set in Spain, 1492, Grand Inquisitor Torquemada leads a bloody reign of terror, torturing and killing in the name of religion. Upset with the way the Church is practicing torture, Maria speaks out during a public burning and whipping of a title-stripped family. Maria's own beauty leads Torquemada into temptation and brutal atonement. Confused over his desires, he accuses Maria of being a witch and to be tortured until confession. During Maria's interrogation, Torquemada cannot help but to stare at her naked body leading him to order her put in the prison. Imprisoned, Maria is befriended by Esmerelda, a confessed witch. Together they struggle to save themselves from the sinister Torquemada.

Outside the castle walls, Maria's husband Antonio breaks into the castle to rescue his innocent wife. After a failed escape, Antonio is imprisoned for his actions and Torquemada decides to test his new machine of pain on him; The Pit and the Pendulum.

I remember seeing this when it first came out on VHS back in 1991, but couldn't really remember whether I liked it or not. For the most part, if I can't remember whether I liked a film or not then it's safe to say that there was a reason why it never left a lasting impression on me. On the plus, I liked all the talent and hard work that went into creating this gothic world and how good everything looks, but on the negative side I found it all very bland and boring. I still think most of it comes from my expectations of thinking I was going to see a "horror" film from master horror director Stuart Gordon based on a legendary story by Edgar Allan Poe. Instead what I got seemed more like a drama than anything else with absolutely no horror elements anywhere and nary a drop of blood. So you can say I was pretty damn disappointed when it was all over.

One thing that this film does have going for it above all else are it's two leads, the great Lance Henriksen as Torquemada and the incredibly beautiful and sexy Rona De Ricci as Maria, the woman Torquemada brandishes a witch who he demands to be arrested, tortured and tried for the crimes of witchery but who he ultimately becomes obsessed with.
This is Lance Henriksen at his finest. Though he pretty much rules in almost every single film he's ever been in, it's here where he's really let loose delivering an eerie and over the top performance as the tortured Grand Inquisitor Torquemada. Rona De Ricci, who amazingly has only ever made 2 films in her career, is simply stunning as the bread maker with a heart of gold Maria. The girl can certainly act and given the fact that she appears nude often, the very fact that you can even remember she can act is a testament to her natural talent. I have no idea why she never made anything else after this film, but I'd sure love to find out.

I know this film has a lot of fans, but considering the source material and the talent in front of and behind the camera, I would have expected something more grande that delved much further into the horror genre. Lance Henriksen delivers a performance of a lifetime and raises this film from just above obscurity, but in the end it doesn't save it.

Review: The Horror Show aka House III

1989
Directed by: James Isaac
Category: Horror

For some reason, the studio felt the need to tag this as House III everywhere else other than the U.S., where it's simply known as The Horror Show. First of all, it has absolutely nothing to do with the two previous installments of the House franchise, but I suppose they were just trying to capitalize on the name since it did in fact make them money. But I can tell you I'm pretty sure that wasn't the initial intent when they went in to make this.

Most people will agree that this is almost a carbon copy of Wes Craven's Shocker, which came out the very same year. Both have to do with villains who are put to death by the electric chair and afterwards are transformed into an electrical entity where they are allowed to travel via electric currents to taunt and torment there victims. I remember being excited about the concept of Shocker and the fact that horror master Wes Craven was making it, but was somewhat let down by how mediocre it all was. Shocker made it to the theaters while The Horror Show went straight to VHS. In my personal opinion, I have to be honest and say this is the better of the two. It's not great by any means, but still a solid direct to video horror film.

Unlike Shocker, this film has two standout leads that really shine in the always great Lance Henriksen and Brion James, a great character actor who's been in everything from 48 Hours, The Fifth Element and Nemesis to Tango & Cash, Flesh & Blood and a ton of television work, but will mostly be remembered as the replicant in the beginning of Blade Runner who blows that guy away during an interview when asked about his mother. Here he's allowed to go all out and really delivers the goods as serial killer "Meat Cleaver Max" who's captured by Det. Lucas McCarthy (Henriksen) and sent to the electric chair in arguably the best sequence in the entire film. After getting fried the first time he simply says "All that did was give me a hard on", to which they fry him again and not being able to put him down, he busts out of his restraints as his skins melting off his body walking over to Det. McCarthy and tells him "I'm going to tear your world apart" before collapsing on the floor to his "apparent" death. Classic stuff with Brion James clearly having a blast with the role. McCarthy thinks it's all over until he starts having strange and horrific hallucinations, nightmares, electrical surges in the house, and scary phone calls. He thinks he's going crazy until he teams up with a science teacher who's convinced that Max has somehow transferred his soul from the living to the spirit world through electricity and now he's stronger than ever being able to pass from place to place through currents and even able to manifest himself into the physical world, though it's never explained how he was able to do that. They show he was practicing at home with a homemade electric chair before the big day, but they never explain how he was able to transfer his spirit or what kind of magic he used or anything like that. And the fact that he was able to manifest to the real world was really confusing. But whatever, it's a decent little horror film with a decent budget with a few standout effects shots and the power of Lance Henriksen and the late Brion James behind it. It reminded me a lot of Renny Harlin's excellent Prison (check out my review here) in terms of style and budget, just not as awesome.

In the end it did some credible work with it's modest budget and though not great, it had a bigger impact than Shocker ever did. I found the ending completely confusing (still not sure what it meant or what did and didn't really happen) and the pace a little slow, but these two leads are such a blast to watch. My biggest complaint, besides the nonsensical script, would be Brion James incredibly annoying laugh, which was supposed to invoke fear? I think? Even when he's not around you hear that annoying little laugh, kinda like the "ch ch ch ch, ha ha ha" of Friday the 13th. Buuuuut, it doesn't work. It just drives you nuts.