Tear It Down

I caught this on late-night cable, and I was familiar with Richard Eden from Santa Barbara so I watched it. Fortunately, it was right at the beginning, because it would've been hard to pick up in the middle. Anyway, this turned out to be a tense, taut suspenser from beginning to end. The suicidal hero and the gangsta's woman (who's trying to get out of the life) are pursued through the labyrinth of a run-down Hollywood residence hotel. The assortment of characters they meet as they run from the storm of gunfire add layering to the story. My only quibble is with the end--we don't really get the emotional payoff we expect, although one could say the actual ending is more realistic. Regardless, this is well worth a look.

I first became aware of this taut, action-suspense thriller on of all places, imdb.com, and was very lucky to find a used copy on Amazon from a video warehouse in Rochester, New York. 'Tear It Down' for anyone who is not familiar with this low-budget movie is a treat not to be missed. Almost like Rick in 'Casablanca', Matthew Weston's character arc in 'Tear It Down' goes from dead to alive. He begins the movie in such pain and anguish from his wife's adultery that he has no choice but to blow his brains out in the same room of a once prosperous hotel, now a destitute and dilapidated eyesore, that he had his honeymoon. Through a series a coincidental gunshots he meets Carrie, a protected witness who is read to testify against her ex-lover and crimeboss, Nathan. Herewith Matthew and Carrie begin an adventure through the dilapidated Eldorado Hotel trying to escape from Nathan's henchmen and a few corrupt L.A.P.D. officers. Only when Matthew relates to a very hip, and very insightful transvestite hooker does he reverse his slide into destruction and despair and begins to live again. The heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat and over-the-top climax between Matthew and the murderous Nathan each clutching at gunpoint the person most dear to the other tops everything that comes before it. I loved this movie for the dialogue too! Largely profane but very realistic and gruesomely hysterical and somewhat profound. The scene between Matthew and the transvestite hooker had to be one of the best scenes I've ever seen in this type of genre video. This is one gritty, riveting and compelling drama, and the cast of terrific actors, led by Richard Eden who comes off as good as Robert DeNiro in this movie, are amazing. Purchase this gem wherever you can online and watch it today!

This is a pretty damn cool direct-to-video flick.

It's all about this gangster who is after his ex-woman before she snitches him out. A mentally disturbed, and suicidal man ends up in the same place as the woman and saves her life from one of the gangsters hoodlums. In a way, she saves his life to because he has to remain alive to help her.

The whole film is set in a very run down apartment complex. It makes for some really interesting scenery. The place was definitely a beautiful building at one time and in each scene you can see how it has changed over time.

The acting was fairly well done for a movie of this budget and full of unknowns. I would recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of grittier independent pictures. This film even has a few slightly funny moments ala Reservoir Dogs.

I sincerely hope the creative team behind this goes further in their careers. Id really like to see how they progress in a few years from now.

7/10