Whitmans Rückkehr

I am stumped... What can I say? Didn't we see this exact same role in the movie "The Prophecy". At least there was some good acting in that movie.. I can't say too many good things about this film. It looked like it was slapped together in a month. I did not buy the blonde girl's acting at all, and by the end.. I could have sworn I had just seen a porno. However, I was convinced by my friend that I shouldn't have expected much from a Mario Van Pebbles film. After all, he did do "Highlander 3". *shudders* However.. I must admit, it kept me watching, as most Mario Van Peebles movies tend to keep me doing. I think it has something to do with the cheeziness of the plots. The movie did not follow any police procedure. Three words: Witness Protection Program.

A very beautiful movie, with a villain who you truly feel remorse for. (even more so then for the hero.) James Remar was heartfelt and breathtakingly dramatic in this tale of a tragic lost soul. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, but I think the violence was just right (unlike some other slasher movies), and every thing turned out ok in the end.

A cop scarred by his last case begins to investigate murders that are very similar to the biblical serial killer he caught and killed years before. With a series of taunting notes and scriptures left beside death scenes made to look like the death of martyred saints, Morrell begins to suspect that this may be more than a copycat – but in fact the very killer back from the dead.

Stupid, stupid story! The setup is ok, but when we start talking about the killer being a serial killer who was trained by the FBI but then went nuts again – or the fact that he didn't really die originally – then you know the film's just looking for any excuse to make itself a serial killer movie and go to video! The plotting is so dumb that even the final reel's attempt to give the killer a motive is based on stupid logic. The dialogue is just as bad and could come from any dtv movie.

Mind you – it doesn't help that its delivered by actors who make planks look like they could do Shakespeare. Peebles once did a few OK movies – those days are gone! Here he is a cardboard cut out of a cop `haunted by past' although he just walks round and looks shocked by the murders. Remar is an OK killer – he's good at times and does well despite a poor character but the rest are just fodder for gory deaths.

Overall this is poor – watch Se7en or Silence of the Lambs. But direct-to-video serial killer movies like this are two-a-penny and should be avoided on the whole.

Hey all you sadists - here's the film you've been waiting for! Rare opportunity to catch a couple of pretty young girls stripped to the waist and roped up to a wooden cross under threat of extreme pain from a maniacal religious freako wielding a nail-gun!

Van Peebles steps down a rung with this "by the numbers" cop-after-the-mega-sicko tale that cannot possibly enrich the life of a solitary viewer. It's not even particularly interesting.

Low budget, cliche'd caper to test the patience of the most undiscerning viewer. Pretty much straight-to-video little number that is as underwhelming as it is tasteless.

Van Peebles and Remar were re-teamed in the equally unenthralling GUARDIAN.

Okay, if you fast forward through the chase scenes and the sex scenes you will have about 20 minutes to watch. The plot is there but it takes 70 extra minutes to complete it. The idea that you can revive a dead man executed by the state in a gas chamber is still sci-fi. Too many holes to be an enjoyable experience. Be glad you didn't rush out to the nearest video store to rent this one.