Under Pressure

Classic B-movie action movie from the 1990s.

Classic B-movie action movie from the 1990s.

Under Pressure is a fun, simple movie that has all the aspects of a 90s movie.

Charlie Sheen gives a good performance as the psycho type from the movies of the time, if you look closely, and the type of camera/close-ups they use in his scenes are interesting.

I don't know why the rating is so low, it's not a bad movie, I believe it's average for the genre and time of the movie.

If you like Charlie Sheen and want to have fun, this movie might be a good option. I was actually really happy to watch this movie, I've been wanting to see it for years...so here's my recommendation.

Los Angeles firefighter Lyle Wilder (Charlie Sheen) having recently been honored for saving an infant from a blazing meth house on the surface is a respectable hero, but underneath the heroic façade Wilder conceals a dark abusive nature justified by his own twisted interpretation and justification of religious doctrine, which has left him divorced and estranged from his ex-wife and son due to a restraining order. Wilder has regular feuds with his neighbors the Bravertons consisting of husband Reese (David Andrews), wife Catherine (Mare Winningham) and their two children Zach and Marcie (Noah Fleiss and Chelsea Russo respectively). Wilder voices his annoyance at petty grievances such as parked cars, noises of children playing, or various other sources and uses these gripes as justification for increasingly abusive behavior on the Braverton's personal and professional and eventually to more lethal actions.

One of the final films released by JVC backed Largo Entertainment before they folded in 1999, Bad Day on the Block (also known as Under Pressure) was one of many psychological thriller/home invasion/stalker films that populated much of the 90s with the success of films such as Fatal Attraction, Single White Female, or The Hand that Rocks the Cradle sparking a glut of these types of movies covering every kind of stalker you can imagine and then some. While Bad Day on the Block was intended for a theatrical release, Largo's position at the time lead to distribution problems with their final films with both Bad Day on the Block and Finding Graceland going direct-to-video and Grey Owl getting only a limited run. Even if Bad Day on the Block had been released theatrically, it probably wouldn't have done all that well thanks to the movie's rather clumsy "product-like" nature that leaves the film hanging together pretty poorly.

I will say that Charlie Sheen is intimidating in the role of Lyle Wilder with his authoritative voice and intense looking eyes make him well suited for this type of unhinged psychopath. The role doesn't have all that much depth to it with Sheen mostly called upon to quote bible verses about "spare the rod spoil the child" and while he can come across as intimidating, later scenes where he goes to almost boogeyman like extremes of hiding in closets make the character unintentionally hilarious. Outside of Sheen most of the cast are pretty much non-entities with the Bravertons basically being a typical family with nothing all that much distinguishing them making them proxies for the audience to position themselves in rather than actual characters, and the two cops who deal with the feuds between the Bravertons and Wilder are pretty stupid and useless even by the standards of this kind of movie, though John Ratzenberger did give me a laugh at how his cop character spells out the motivation behind Wilder's crazed behavior which felt like an admission that the movie didn't really create much resonance for that character. We then come to a ludicrous climax involving roleplay and Russian Roulette that brings the movie to levels both stupid and needlessly meanspirited while having the audacity to try and milk sympathy for Wilder before the end.

Bad Day on the Block (aka Under Pressure) is lazy and derivative. It's basically a retread of Largo Entertainment's Unlawful Entry from earlier in the 90s but replace an obsessive cop with an obsessive firefighter. Even by the standards of a home invasion thriller the characters and script are pretty stupid with some massive logical leaps and face palm moments. If you're starved for a cheap laugh with friends you'll get your money's worth, but if you're looking for a thriller that hangs together look elsewhere.

Lot's of inconsistencies in this film. People soaking wet in one room & dry when then enter the next. Charlie is seen pushing the neighbor's car down the street because he didn't want it in front of his house. Problem is he's in the middle of the street with a parked car on his side of the curb. How'd he get this car away from the curb & be able to push it without keys? The setting is during a record heat wave & the neighbor's air conditioning is broke. Yet when Mom puts the kids to bed, they are under sheets & comforters. It's an unintentionally funny movie.

During a heat wave, a decorated firefighter (Charlie Sheen) has his wife and son leave him because of his violent tendencies with his wife and child . Only trouble is he believes that the loving neighbor couple (Mare Winningham, David Andrews) and their two children (Noah Fleiss, Chelsea Russo) are to blame for them leaving by filling his wife's head with nonsense . As a happy family is about to face the worst nightmare of their lives on the outskirts of a big city . He's destroyed everything close to him !. Now he's going next door !. Everyone has a breaking point.

Creepy psycho-thriller has lapses but builds to effective climax . It's a treat to watch Charlie Sheen giving overacting and twisted faces while harasses or attacks his victims . This is a violent picture about a decorated fireman who goes awry, holding a strong confrontation with his neighbours , packing shocks , die hard scenario , grisly killings , suspense , emerging twists and turns , at the worst possible time. The film contains a claustrophobic atmosphere , hair-raising frames when our unsettling starring goes crazy , including playing a game of Russian Roulette. This ¨Bad day on the block¨ belongs to ¨Home Invasion¨subgenre as ¨Michael Hanake's Funny Games¨, ¨Secuestrados¨ by Miguel Angel Vivas , Enric Alberich's ¨Transgression¨ and especially ¨Trespass¨ (2011) by Joel Schumacher with Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman , though it bears remarkable resemblance to ¨dangerous neighbour¨ theme with two films shot at the time ¨Unlawful Entry¨ by Jonathan Kaplan with Kurt Russel , Madeleine Stowe and the threatening Ray Liotta and ¨Pacific Heights¨by John Schlesinger with Melanie Griffith , Matthew Modine and evil Michael Keaton , being filmed in similarly violent and realist style.

The motion picture was professionally directed by Craig R Baxley, though it has some shortcomings and flaws . This artisan has a long career as a prestigious stunt coordinator and subsequently as a filmmaker as TV movies : A-team, Raven return of the Black Dragons , Chameleon II , The Triangle , The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, Beckett last mission, Storm of the Century , as cinema : Action Jackson , Dark Angel , Left Behind III: World at War, Kingdom Hospital, Stone Cold , among others. Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and passable. The pic will appeal to Charlie Sheen fans.

When Sheen started out in acting in such films as Platoon and Wall street he was a bratpacker and very much the boy next door as he as got older he has become more sharper and can play mad men like this guy with a good effect too.