Description

Born the bastard son of a hundred maniacs, demented killer Freddy Krueger is back for fresh victims in this hallucinatory shocker co-written by original creator Wes Craven (Scream 1, 2 and 3). The last of the Elm Street kids are now in a psychiatric ward where Freddy haunts their dreams with unspeakable horrors. Their only hope is dream researcher and fellow survivor Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp of the original "Nightmare"), who helps them battle the supernatural psycho on his own hellish turf. ... Read more

Reviews (129)

One of the better installments of the series
After the waste that was Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, Wes Craven returned to co-write this third installment (which thankfully ignores anything that happened in Part 2) with director Chuck Russell (The Scorpion King) at the helm. Here we are introduced to Kristen (Patricia Arquette) who is admitted in a mental institution with other teens who all share the same dreams of being stalked by a familiar razor clawed killer. An older Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp returning in her role from the original film) is now a dream specialist and she tries to help the kids, and the final solution is to enter the dream world and do something no one else has dared do: beat Freddy at his own game. Dream Warriors is one of the better installments of the series, and the return of Langenkamp and Craven as a co-writer are reasons why enough, but Russell's great direction helps elevate Dream Warriors above many of the other films in the series. My only problems are this is where Freddy began to pop out one liners and be funny, and while that is amusing itself for a while, it does get boring and Freddy just doesn't seem as scary after a while. Also, the film can be a bit cheesy at times, and don't even get me started on the theme song done by Dokken. Laurence Fishburne has a small role, and John Saxon has a brief returning role as Nancy's father. All in all, next to the original film and New Nightmare, Dream Warriors is the best in the series, but sadly most of the remaining films in the series would continue a downward trend.

Elm Street 3 delivers well designed sequel by series creator
After a lackluster 1st sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, attempts to take the series back to its roots. It has been an unmarked amount of time since part 2 and Freddy has returned since then to slaughter the children of the parents who murdered him. Our prime location changes, for the first time, from Nancy Thompson's house to an asylum full of kids who are scared to sleep. A new patient, Kristin Parker (played by Patricia Arquette) arrives and also dreams of a red and green sweatered man with knives for fingers. The doctors decide that all these kids need is a good night's rest and usually sedate them. Sadly, this leads to the children being unable to awaken fro their Freddy nightmares.

A suprise entrance by Nancy Thompson (played by Heather Langenkamp), who has not been seen since Elm Street 1, is a welcomed addition to this movie. Her past with Freddy adds immediate extra excitment to the film when the killer lays eyes on her and whispers only "... you..."

The film shows off group unity against Freddy instead of the usual kill-off-one-by-one formula. Another first for the series is the deaths become much more spectacular. And Freddy's darkness begins to fade in favor of quip one-liners.

Overall, I do not know exactly what Wes Craven's role in this movie was, but this sequel remains hailed as the best sequel in the series. A huge step up from part 2 indeed.

psycho therapy
a burnt up freak is nasty to look at and child murder is disgusting in the very least.at least theyre teens so its not quite as bad.the teens are in a asylum in this one and freddy comes to thier dreams to hack them up again.they explore dream powers and use them to ward off his attacks.if you let your kids under 12 at minimum watch this,someone should lock you up.even at 12,this is an abselute minimum.16 is far better.wes craven dreamt this one up.his movies-with the freddy exceptions-all suck!#3 is the best of them all!scary?not really.intense?you bet!a nurse chick takes off her top just before trying to kill one of the patients.she was really freddy who used the dudes wet nurse dream to lure him into a deadly trap.as with all the freddy flicks,all the male stars are losers and the chicks arefly by night hussies.the special effects rock in this one.there are 8 parts to this series now,the last one where freddy and jason went at it.who knows whats next.i thought up freddy vs jason in the mid 80s.hollywood is just so slow.

Three down... four to go
Sigh... it seems the further I delve into the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' movie series, the more underwhelmed by the 'scariness' of it all. Was this stuff really considered horrific when it first came out? Personally, I think it's more of an unintentional comedy, 'cuz I laugh most at the nightmare/death scenes, rather than get all shocked an grossed out by them.

On the upside, I found quite a few of the various deaths and gags shown here rather creative, if not particularly chilling. The blood-vessel-stringed marionette sleepwalk, the giant Freddy-worm tryin' to chow down on a potential victim, one little lady's "big break in TV", Freddy's syringe-finger attack, and the wheelchair-from-hell were some of the more entertaining pieces in this flick. I also kinda liked the return of a couple characters from the first 'Nightmare' to help out our little wacko-ward-imprisoned dream warriors. Might as well try to get the fans of the original flick to come on down to the 'Plex after the downright silliness of Part 2, heh. Speakin' of the dream warriors: another cool angle they threw in here was that of the heroine leading a group of teenagers against the main man to try & take him out once and for all-- which, judging from the subsequent sequels, was ultimately unsuccessful. Which reminds me of what that kid in 'Last Action Hero' said: "Ya can't die 'til the grosses go down!" And yes, I DO like 'Last Action Hero', thank you very much! And yes, I AM ashamed of this fact...

Also included-- with the help of a mysterious nun-- are a couple more revelations regarding the origin and back-story of everybody's fave undead Christmas-sweatered dreamland slasher, which judging from the films I've seen seems to be a standard gimmick they throw into each 'Nightmare' flick. Eh, I guess slow, incremental character development is better than no development at all, hmm? And I'm glad to see they improved Freddy's 'burn' makeup job, which looks a little bit better than the one in the first flick, and a LOT better than what I saw in part 2!

Following the closing credits featuring a little tune by 80s hair-metal group Dokken (remember that whole MTv "Rockin' with Dokken" dealy goin' on at the time this came out? No? Me neither), the VHS edition of this film includes a teaser trailer, and interview sessions with the various creative folks involved in the project. Ya know, the director, producer, writers, and such. I tried to watch this particular segment all the way through, but after five minutes of watching & listening to these guys prattling on about 'taking Freddy back to his roots' and other such pretentious pap, I rewound the tape and returned it immediately to the place I rented it from. Sheesh, and I thought those endless effects-laden 'traveling inside of V'Ger' scenes from 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' were tedious to sit through!

'Late

Best out of them all..!! -A clever script..!! -By Wes..
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: -Dream Warrior's.. -1987.
Is the best out of them all.. -But is no excuse too
ignore the zany Part 2. -Freddy's Revenge. -Executive
producer. -Wes Craven.. -No what he was going two do.. -Is two
deliver a power house bomb.. -So he did.. -With the

clever.. -Dream Warrior's. -I herd that Robert Englund
did a pitch.. -Which was; -"Welcome too Prime time..!
Bitch..!" -Great line.. -Mr. -Englund.. -I've also
enjoy the beginning sequence.. -Such as Kristen ho
gets two sleep.. -Wake's up in the yard of the old
Thompson House.. -Now decaying and Rotting.. -Kriten
here's scratching noise.. -Which is Freddy's own

Claw.. -Kristen walk's up two the house.. -What is
the best thing of this sequel.. -That we get the Elm
street children.. -Jump roping.. -Singing that 1, 2
Freddy's, -comming for you.."? -I loved that tone it
has.. -A lot better then what Jesse Walsh's
sister in her bedroom..!

I also love the scene where Kristen is running from

Freddy after a huge explosion in the furnace.. -As
we see the skulls of dead children.. -What a moment..!
that was.. -And, -finding the butchard children
hanging in his hellish room.. -Which has full of
them..! -Really creepy..!

Then Kristen wakes up a scream.. -Run's in the bathroom..?
she turns on the sink.. -As Freddy's arm pops up two
life.. -A memorable moment their..? -But their are a
lot of memorable moment's in the Mental Hospital..?

Such as the girl getting her head suck in the T.V.
Set.. -By the powerless evil Freddy..? -I've also enjoy
where the kid walk's like a puppeter at the begining of
the hospital..! -And Freddy make's him fall's too
his timely death..

Freddy soon know's how the kid's work on their power..?
but the kid's won't know how too defeat him.. -One by
one they die off.. -The kid's are not that smart..!
but Kristen.. -Joey and Kincaid survive two.. -A
Nightmare on Elm Street -4: -The Dream Master..

Though.. -This is a great script..! -We've have the
nune ho talk's about Freddy being raised up by his
1'000. -Maniac's.. -Which is my favorite thus far
from the movie.. -I've also enjoy the ending.. -Which
down right suck's.. -Such as Nancy being gutted by
Freddy..

Director.. -Chuck Russell give's us a strong movie.
and the music is differ from Part's, -1, -2..

But; -Dream Warrior's.. -Knew what it was doing..
It just want's two entertain us with it's own imagination.. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good Action With goldberg;s sense of humor is a good combo
A fast talking smart mouth cop investigates a cocaine ring who specalizes in a lethal form of cocaine and sells it to the highest bidder. Basically what the viewer has here is the female version of BEVERLY HILLS COP With Goldberg having the same dialouge Eddie Murphy had. The violence and bloodflow never stops from the opening scene right to the climatic finale. The best part was the massive shoot out in the mall. The film has one weak point Sam Elliot, wasn;t really convincing as a bodyguard who ends up falling for Goldberg. Whoopi Goldberg pulled off a very funny genuine performance. The film is worth seeing and is much,much better than BURGLER realased the same year.

One of my favorite Whoopi films
I'm surprised at the bad review Amazon gave this. I really enjoy watching the film over and over. Whoopi is as funny as ever in her "character" rolls and the drama adds another dimension. There is profanity, but not inappropiate to the movie. I think she did a great job and if you liked Jumpin' Jack Flash, I think you'll like this one. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Great chiller
Lou Diamond Phillips plays an LAPD detective who pursues a serial killer who has somehow obtained "The First Power". Though Phillip's character has nabbed the guy and ensured his execution, a string of brutal murders suggests the perp has come back from the dead. With the help of a psychic and a nun with an agenda of her own, Phillips comes to realize that the killer has obtained the power to become anybody, go anywhere, and scariest of all - attained immortality. (The flick tosses in an added chilling detail - the killer communed with the powers of darkness, but it was his execution that sealed his link with the ultimate power. Phillips tracks the killer with an anonymous tip, one that refuses to cooperate unless he can guarantee that the killer won't face execution.)

This flick is much better than it has the right to be. The plot tosses in the indestructible annihilator, yet doesn't do much with him - he'll just keep on killing, keeping the heroes alive long enough for them to appreciate his brutality. The flick tosses in a mystical icon with the power to destroy the first power, but doesn't define what it can do, and spend little time with it.

Still, "Power" was a lot of fun. Good use of mood music and heavy atmospherics create true tension, even in scenes when there shouldn't be any. (One excellent scene has Phillips visiting the home the killer shared with his elderly mother, one in which he learned the secret root of the killer's evil). If you want something that will keep you up for a long night, the "First Power" can't be beat.

Unforgettable
This film is one that I'd never forget. The story is very intriguing and really gives you the creeps. The idea of having these kinds of powers is really creepy. A classic must have DVD for horror and suspense lovers!

THE FIRST POWER
I LOVED THIS MOVIE, AS A MATTER OF FACT I JUST WATCHED IT YESTURDAY. LOU IS A GREAT ACTOR AND I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT I HAVE ENJOYED ALL OF THE MOVIES I'VE EVER SEEN HIM IN. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME REVIEWING A MOVIE BUT NOT MY LAST!!

sEE yOu aroUnd buDdy Boy
this movie is with out a doubt one of the most unique films i ever seen..well at that time. its about a detective on the hunt after the pentigram killer. after the detective ruins the killers ritual before killing the victim they capture him and later on he gets the gas chamber..after that his demented soul lurks around jumping through bodys basicly making the detectives life a living hell..now thats all im going to say on that. but the thing that i really like about this movie is the fact that it was orignal at the time.. and its wicked..

see you around buddy boy

The perfect killer is one who cannot be stopped
Writer director Robert Resnikoff's action thriller is about the battle between Lou Diamond Phillips as a LA cop and a serial killer who's mark is the inverted pentagram, which he knives into the flesh of his victims. LDP thinks he has the upper hand when the killer is captured and executed in the gas chamber, not knowing that he will return as an entity with "the first power" ie the ability to inhabit the body of others. Therefore the problem arises - how do you stop something that is techically dead? The killer feels a personal connection between LDP and himself and chooses his future victims as people associated with LDP, that is when others with a "lesser sense of reality" like the homeless, junkies and drunks, aren't available. Resnikoff gets his biggest laughs when a baglady is possessed and taunts LDP with "Give us a kiss" and "It's not nice to hit a lady". Resnikoff makes good use of the atmospheric Stewart Copeland music score (nearly as effective as the one he did for Frances Coppola's Rumble Fish) and moves things along pleasingly, taking great satisfaction in the stuntwork, since the killer is remarkeably agile, and adding more of the supernatural in the form of LDP's helper Tracy Griffith as a smarmy red-headed psychic, with partly overcomes the general silliness of the concept. Resnikoff also scores laughs from the killer's grandmother, with Julianna McCarthy giving lines like "He was not illegitimate" and "You're that cop" a comic hiss. There is also much hissing of cats, optical and aural hallucinations, a demonstration of Griffith's predictive vision and then the playing out of it, an unsafe abandoned water sewer with an available waterslide, and a nun brought in to explain the differences between the first and subsequent powers which hold the key to the destruction of the demon. One might question the logic of running from a being that is able to transport itself to your destination before you can get there, a kind of anti-chase joke, and also firing into a fan when the bullets ricochet off the spinning blades, and Resnikoff overplays the animosity with matching eye closeups. LDP is said to be "surrounded by a shell", cynical and nihilistic after the death of his father and perhaps rather burnt out from his third serial killer. However that still doesn't excuse LDP's pugnacious attitude or flat acting. He's the kind of protagonist that you enjoy seeing hurt, and I was grateful that Resnikoff cut his romanctic scene short. However the ending is left unresolved, as if a setup for the sequel. ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Penn,Wright & Travolta meet the Cassavetes.
It took me a couple of viewings before I realised what a good film this is. It's satisfying in so many ways. The theme is love of course, but don't let that put you off. It's the kind of intense soul-mate love, Cassevetes' style. Nick Cassevetes does a nice job & very stylish too. The great thing about this movie is the performances. Sean Penn is outstanding,as usual,& Robin Wright pulls off her best performance as Sean's wife~(deja vu). Travolta is Travolta, which is fine by me & a comfortable role for him for a change.

Disparity of response
If you read the various reviews of this movie, you will find an amazing array of responses to it. I think this is largely a function of the horrid marketing of this movie. When my friend recmmended that I watch it, I did a once-over of its packaging and decided I wasn't interested. He insisted, and so I reluctantly agreed to watch it. Despite it's packaging, this is not a sentimental romantic comedy in the "Pretty Woman" or "Look Who's Talking" vein. If this is the sort of movie you like, you should move on and not waste your time with this.

The movie is divided into two parts. The first focuses on the troubled relationship of derelict couple Eddie and Moe (played by real-life spouses Sean and Robin Wright Penn). Penn's character is dissolute, and puts Moe in the bad position of being vulnerable to the sleazy advances of a neighbor (played well by The Sopranos' James Gandolfini). When Eddie finds out what happens as a result, he becomes steadily unhinged. His performance in a barroom scene is one of the most convincing portrayals of drunken progressive madness I have seen on film.

The second part of the film benefits mainly from the introduction of John Travolta in a role that mercifully pulls back from stretching his limited acting range. This IS the Travolta we guiltily derived pleasure from before he decided he was a mega-action flick star. What follows is a somewhat unlikely but morally and emotionally challenged dilemma for Moe (Robin Penn Wright). While viewers who tend to view life in rather black-and-white terms will be horrified by this portion of the movie, open-minded viewers will have the opportunity to analyze the various components of the ensuing relationships and positions of the players. It is troublesome and problematic and so avoids easy answers or judgements. What's great about the film, unlike other indie films that revel in their dispassion, is that it is not afraid to allow you to feel for these characters deeply, despite their many flaws. The performances are great, and the movie stands up to repeated viewings, so I highly recommend the film. Besides, it's probably your only opportunity to find out how to make a "Siberian Mist".

She's So Lovely
I didn't like this movie. I watch it and the very next day I found myself thinking about how that movie ended and how it bothered me. I will never watch this movie again and I will let my friends and family know. For someone to actually leave their life behind, a wonderful family, and children for a crazy person who can't even stable himself out is pathetic. I just don't like the fact that she pick a messed up person to replace probably the best 4 people in her life. They should have ended it differently and maybe then I would like it, but for a moive to bother me after a night of viewing, I wished that I would have never stayed up to watch it.

Sean Penn and John Travolta rock the hizay
this is about Maureen playd by Robin Wright Penn(married to SEan Penn in real life) and her boyfriend Eddie Quinn(Sean Penn) and he goes crazy and he is sent away in a mental institute for ten years, realizing that Maureen divorced him, married Joey(John Travolta) and had 2 kids with him and she also had Penn's daughter Jeannie as well. the story sorta bores until Penn snaps and delivers a honest and true performance as Eddie, and its also boosted up by the snapping John Travolta(man is he good). other cast includes Harry Dean Stanton, Debi Mazar, James Gandolfini, Burt Young, Gena Rowlands and Chloe Webb. a good view and the 2 lead males are perfect, like in your face style.

Robin Wright rocks!
Watch this movie if just to admmire Robin Wright's excellent performance in the first half. The second half didn't require that much acting from her. In fact, in my opinion, the whole movie falls apart after the point where Eddie is released from the institution. The first part of the movie really draws you in and it feels real. You may not admire the characters but it's an accurate depiction of how life is for some people. I consider this a very good, entertaining movie, compared to all the usual [stuff] that's out there. ... Read more

Description

A racist LAPD officer loses his girlfriend to a black lawyer.When the lawyer is murdered, his heart is transplanted into the officer, who has just suffered a heart attack.When the officer awakens from the transplant, he finds the lawyer's ghost is his constant companion. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Heart Attack!
Beware of purported "comedies" with big-name stars but a no-name director. You might just get burned.

HEART CONDITION (1990) fits that cautionary note all too well. Starring Bob Hoskins, coming right off his star-making role in the innovative, popular and wonderful WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1998), and Denzel Washington, coming right off his Oscar-winning supporting performance in GLORY (1989)---one of the greatest films of all time, by the way---this mismatched nightmare of a "comedy" was directed by no-name James D. Parriot; actually misdirected is a more accurate description. Having looked like a spritely, funny romp from the commercial trailers on TV, I rented it soon after it first became available on video.

Boy, how wrong trailers can be! At the very beginning, during the opening credits, I was immediately puzzled by the tone of the film, as it appeared dark and out-of-focus, certainly not the "spritely funny romp" I had expected. But it got worse---much worse as it went along. Bob Hoskins stars as racist L.A. cop Jack Moony who chases burgler Napoleon Stone (Denzel Washington), then suffers a major heart attack; so major, in fact, that he needs to undergo a transplant, stat! Well, unbeknowst to Jack (at first), bad ol' Nappy Stone got killed soon after (don't ask me how, it was so long and so much interest ago), and---whaddya know!---he's got the same exact blood type as the racist cop, so the surgeon transplants his heart into Jack! Ho, ho. Oh, and for whatever unknown reason, Stone's ghost begins to follow Moody wherever he goes, demanding justice for his murder. They argue, occasionally fight (usually in front of perplexed onlookers who stare at the pudgy police officer apparently wrestling with himself), and before long---surprise, surprise!---become unlikely friends. Oh, and somewhere along the line, they (I think) actually get around to finding out who did Napoleon Stone in, but by that time, we're long past the point of caring.

Some of HEART CONDITION'S numerous major flaws:

1) It's not funny; in fact, it is desperately unfunny. A film that is billed as a comedy---which HEART CONDITION clearly was, as it featured a scene where Hoskins is wrestling a hamburger from ghost Denzel and the camera shows the third-person perspective of Hoskins wrestling with himself.

2) The visual aspect is all muddy, and completely wrong for a comedy.

3) The *sound* is muddled; sometimes it is impossible to hear some of the lines of dialogue, particularly from obligatory female romantic interest Crystal Gerrity (Chloe Webb, in what is among the very worst all-time performances by a film actress).

4) This movie was made as an obvious quick cash-in on Bob Hoskin's newfound success in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (see #1 for the particular scene that was featured most prominently in the movie's trailer).

5) The acting performances are, by and large, awful. Hoskins pretty much plays the same character as he did in WFRR; however, his character here is more blustery, bullying (not to mention racist) and completely unlikable. Washington, so marvelous in CRY FREEDOM (1987) and GLORY, I'm sure would like this movie dropped from his resume, as it makes him look like a horrible actor. Roger E. Mosley, the veteran African-American actor who has done some great work in his career (such as the 1979 Peter Strauss TV-movie THE JERICHO MILE, plus the popular TV show "Magnum, P.I." as well as the excellent 1992 Ray Liotta psycho-cop thriller UNLAWFUL ENTRY), here plays Hoskins' captain and is basically used as a prop (ho, ho, the racist cop's boss is black). As for Chloe Webb, please see #3.

Well, there you have my 2 cents on this POS. If you want to subject yourself to 100 slow minutes of bad cinema that passes like 200, then by all means go waste your time with HEART CONDITION. You have been warned; it comes with a no-laugh guarantee (non-refundable).

AVOID

One star is too good for this turkey
Denzel Washington and Bob Hoskins tested many critics' high opinion of them by co-starring in this awful supernatural comedy. Hoskins is a racist cop with a weak heart. Washington is a slick lawyer who dies and has his heart transplanted into Hoskins. Denzel's ghost haunts Hoskins. Picture "Watermelon Man" and "All of Me" combined, and done stupidly. The low point comes when Hoskins awakes after his operation and finds a huge black dildo his prankster buddies have planted in his pajamas. The two antagonists must work together to catch Denzel's murderers and save Hoskins' hooker sweetheart Chloe Webb. Denzel won his Oscar for "Glory" not long before this was released; if not for that, it probably would've gone straight to video. It would be a waste of time and money even to rent this (never mind buy it) to see for yourself how bad it is.

Good story for light entertainment
Bob Hoskins plays Jack Moony, a policeman following a suspicious criminal lawyer played by Denzel Washington. The lawyer is murdered. The policmen has a heart attack and receives his heart from the lawyer. Now the spirit of the murdered lawyer wants the cop to capture his killer--he also wants his transplanted heart to be taken care of. Nice summer movie, light entertainment ... Read more

Description

In this action-packed western, Assante is Canaan, a roving gunfighter, blinded in the Civil War. But justice isn't only blind, it's deadly. Canaan takes on the ruthless Alacran who is holding a small town hostage for a stash of government silver. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Superb western with great appeal
The plot of this 1994 HBO movie is fairly simple with a sprinkling of more complex sub-plots, but essentially this movie is about a blind man (played by Armand Assante) on a quest. This western works very well with the exception of one mediocre performance in the female role, but very few [if any] of us watch westerns for the love interest. The strength of this movie is in Assante's excellent performance, as well as the universal appeal this movie will have across the board for fans of traditional American westerns and European [spaghetti] westerns alike. The director seems to borrow heavily from earlier ideas of Corbucci, Garrone and Colizzi, with a healthy measure of John Ford and Howard Hawks influence combined, to create a unique film in the western genre. I have no idea what HBO intended when they funded this film, but in a 2003 era of Dungeons and Dragons and a post-democratic society a little grit, guns and gore goes a long way! Highly recommend.

Richard Spence's Blind Justice
Although derivative of many Oriental films, this short little western still packs a punch.

Assante is a nearly blind gunfighter traveling with a baby. He is looking for the baby's mother, asking everyone he finds about the town she is supposed to be in. He stops in one town where a group of soldiers is guarding a shipment of silver, which is being eyed by the local banditos. The soldiers, trapped, send Assante out for help. All hell breaks loose.

Assante is very good as the embittered gunfighter (and often very funny). His blindness never becomes gimmicky, although one has to wonder how he can ride a horse. He uses his hearing and sense of smell to shoot, how does he know in which direction the horse is going? Adam Baldwin, as the soldier's sergeant, is great, as he distances himself even further from the Baldwin brothers (no, he is not one of them, he can act). Robert Davi has his best role since "Licence to Kill" as the main villain. The one cast liability here is Oscar nominee Elisabeth Shue.

Shue delivers all of her lines in a flat monotonal vaguely-Valley Girl accent. She should be banned from doing any period films ever again. She has one embarassing nude scene, if you can call it that. At one point, she is sitting on a bed in her corset, and you can see part of her nipple mashed up out of her undergarment. It does not look erotic, it looks painful. Assante and Shue's forced romance is also the weakest part of the script.

One scene to watch for is in the climax as a major character is blown through the doors of a building. I rewound that three times just to bask in an action shot I had never seen before.

This feels like the first film of a proposed series that never came to fruition, and with an 85 minute running time, you have to wonder what they cut out. However, I do recommend "Blind Justice."

This is rated (R) for physical violence, strong gun violence, some sexual violence, some gore, profanity, very brief female nudity, and some adult situations.

The Greatest Movie Ever Made
BLIND JUSTICE is, without a doubt, the greatest movie ever made. More color sequences than CITIZEN KANE, fewer Italian thugs than THE GODFATHER, and by far more horses than CHINATOWN. Above all, it is superbly written. Knauf is a genius.

Daniel Knauf, Writer, BLIND JUSTICE ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Nothing's shocking
Shadow Hours tells that story of Michael (Balthazar Getty), a recovering alcoholic who has a pregnant girlfriend at home (Rebecca Gayheart and an uncredited pillow under her shirt) and a dreary night job working in a gas station in L.A. In the opening scenes, the film actually does do quite a good job of capturing both the monotony and the underlying menace of working nights though eventually the continual montages of crazy homeless guys and rising gas costs grows almost as monotonous as Michael's life -- it's as if the director stumbled across something that worked once and then couldn't stop himself from repeating it over and over again.

Anyway, the film picks up once Peter Weller drives his porche into Michael's life. Weller plays a guy named Stuart who claims to be a writer and who, in one of those scenes that seems to take place exclusively in movies like this, quickly befriends Michael and takes Michael on a journey into the seedy underside of L.A. -- a world of perversion and temptation and nothing you haven't seen before in films ranging from Blue Velvet to Fight Club to the Matrix Trilogy to whatever happens to playing on Cinemax right now. Indeed, the main weakness of Shadow Hours is that in today's world, nothing's shocking and simply using a whole lot of neat little film school tricks isn't going to make the mundane any more interesting.

Natrually, Getty's character must chose between a life of stable, boring stability with Gayheart or the life of self-destruction offered by Weller. However, since the film makes both choices look positively dull, who really cares? Since the film never really bothers to give any build-up to Getty's plunge into decadence, it's pretty much impossible to judge just exactly what it is he's rebelling against beyond working in a gas station and living with a Noxzema spokesmodel with a pillow under her blouse. It doesn't help that Getty sleepwalks through his role.

However, I would recommend seeing this film for one reason and one reason only and that is the brilliantly bemused performance that Peter Weller gives as the film's perverse version of Virgil. Smirking like an aneroxic Jack Nicholson and never giving into the temptation to take any of his overbaked dialogue too seriously, Weller manages to breathe new life into a familiar character and he even manages to bring a few moments of genuine menace into an otherwise dreadfully silly film. Eventually, the film lets Weller and his character down but Weller never lets the audience down. It's rare that one actor alone can redeem an entire film but that is what Weller manages to do in Shadow Hours.

Shadow Hours is a film that was obviously designed to be a "cult classic" but ultimately it only serves to highlight the difference between a well-made, unconventional film that might take a while to find its audience and a flashy, derivative con job that tries to hide its lack of depth behind a whole lot of flashy camera moves and sub-Intro. to Philosophy-style monologues. However, if the film doesn't deserve a cult, Peter Weller's performance definitely does. Nothing's shocking except that such a silly film could contain such a rare piece of genius.

A passable, mostly enjoyable drama...
Take note, I really give this movie ***1/2 out of *****. "Shadow Hours" is certainly one of the more notable films to come out of the vaults at City Heat Productions, the best DTV company in my opinion. It is about a young gas station clerk Michael (Balthazar Getty) who meets Stuart Chappell (Peter Weller) one dreary night in LA. Chappell is a writer, and takes to Michael because he reminds Chappell of his younger brother who supposedly died in a plane crash. He exposes Michael to an underworld with sights that stick in the mind for a while. The script is very engaging and moves quick, for the most part. The acting is mediocre except Peter Weller, who's fantastic as the scheming Chappell. It's interesting to me that the man is stuck making these DTVs when it's obvious he has Oscar-worthy talent. Maybe he'll get another big break. "Shadow Hours" is definitely good, if not painfully predictable. Director Isaac H. Eaton does a very commendable job weaving the story together with frightful images of night-life underground in LA. The Los Angeles of this movie is a far cry from the Hollywood glamour seen in movies like "L.A. Confidential" and "Get Shorty." This is a dark, bleak California. If you're looking for a great performance from Weller and a neat artistic feel, then I suppose this movie's not a bad decision. It's quickly becoming a cult hit.

An Obscure Gem
This film was entered into Sundance I believe and from there it went to the shelves of Blockbuster Video. Literally, that was the only place you could find it for nearly a year. It seems they declared it an exclusive rental or something. I was lucky enough to find a ten dollar copy in their previosly viewed section and immediately bought it. Amazon now seems to have it and I suggest if you have any interest in the film to buy it here and now because this movie has a weird tendency to be hard to find. The film itself was panned by critics but so were several of the great cult classics and I would love to see Shadow Hours become one. Despite the obvious low budget, the film has an excellent cast. Balthazar Getty, who plays the lead, was in David Lynch's film Lost Highway. People continually call him the poor man's Charlie Sheen but he really does have talent. And yes, Peter Weller was the guy who played Robocop. But forget that. In Shadow Hours, he is suave and convincing as the mysterious writer who is a bit more underground than, say, Bukowski. Rebecca Gayheart is here, too, in what might be the best performance in the film and she plays a woman in this movie, not some whiny high school ditz like in Jawbreaker. And Brad Douriff is, well, Brad Douriff. Peter Greene plays a police detective and is probably the best "tough guy" actor since James Caan or James Cagney. He played Ben Stiller's drug buddy in Permanent Midnight. As far as plot is concerned: Michael (Getty) meets Stuart Chapelle (Weller) while on the night shift at a 24 hour Los Angeles filling station. Stuart befriends Michael and, with Stuart as his guide, Michael is led straight into a private apocalypse with the strange LA underground as a backdrop. Gayheart is Michael's pregnant wife who is understandably concerned. But she never comes off as whiny like all other movie wives. And Greene gets involved because Chapelle may or may not be a murderer.
In all, Shadow Hours is close to the vein of David Lynch but without the intricate plot and excessive symbolism. And you have to love how the film uses the classic idea of the Devil as a debonaire.

Faust comes to the City
Great new take on the Faust legend. While Getty doesn't literally sell his soul, there's no doubt that Weller is playing a mephistopholian character. Many people don't even remember Weller from Robocop and the great work he has done since, but
he has matured into one heck of an actor, displaying poise and confidence that the role calls for. If the underbelly of L.A.
is not too harsh or weird or sick for you, do check out this film.

Shadow Hours- A Strange Pic
Actors: Peter Weller( Looks like James Woods ), Rebecca Gayheart.
Plot: A victim of the city( Michael )violence is turned around by leading a more moral life, sharing it with his wife that has a baby on the way. He struggles with finances, and works at the night shift of a small gas station in the middle of city havoc. One night he meets an elderly writer/friend Stuart. Stuart is smart and suspicious, and begins to show Michael the dark sides of the city. Micheal now has a moral choice to make; live the family life, or relive the evil city shadows.
Acting Comments/Insults: The acting is exceptionally well in this movie. Great preformances by the leading actors and actresses. The only big name in this movie was Rebecca Gayheart, a thumbs up actress. I cant decide which was better, Balthazar Getty or Peter Weller, they both did a fine job.
Famous lines: "Have I failed you, Michael?"
Music: The music went well with the city plot. The song at the end was cool.
Words: The pros of this movie are the acting, the plot, the character reactions, and the diolouge throughout.
The cons of this movie are that some of the dark sides of the city were defenately not for everyone, some worth turning away for.
Last Words: In all, this movie takes too many chances and takes too much from other movies, yet it is original in it's own ways and it maintains honesty through the expliotation scenes. Especially for those who could relate to the dark sides of the city, and struggles. ... Read more