Dangerously Close

School newspaper editor and pool boy living in a warehouse with his drunk dad gets recruited by the cool kids to join their vigilante group called The Sentinels. His pal Kruger, a punk metal head smells trouble but he doesn't listen and things get ugly with bodies and fights and smashed cars.

This movie looked great, had a great 80s soundtrack, and was nearly great, but the story is mangled and the ending rushed as heck. There could have been some real drama and suspense but it was just sort of bungled into a rapid stop. One part most dangerous game, one part High school movie starring people who all looked 30. But the style was on point!

Things are going very wrong at the high school attended by crusading newspaper editor Donny Lennox (J. Eddie Peck). There's a student group there named The Sentinels, ostensibly formed to act as something of a security force. But now the group is out of control, and is bent on eliminating any individual whom they deem "undesirable". Now people are actually dying.

Give these filmmakers credit for at least *attempting* to deal with serious subject matter in a reasonably sincere way. Director Albert Pyun works from a script co-written by leading actor John Stockwell. Stockwell ("Christine", "My Science Project") plays unofficial Sentinels leader Randy McDevitt. The movie features some of the trappings of the period, namely, fashions and the hip soundtrack of artists ranging from Robert Palmer to Fine Young Cannibals to The Smithereens. But it's fairly stylish and slick, and not gratuitously gory. The story is entertaining and provocative enough to draw the viewer in, and there is a potent theme about the danger of blindly following somebody's lead.

An array of recognizable faces play roles big and small: Carey Lowell ("Licence to Kill"), Don Michael Paul ("Heart of Dixie"), Bradford Bancroft ("Bachelor Party"), Madison Mason ("Dreamscape"), Thom Mathews and Miguel A. Nunez Jr. from "The Return of the Living Dead", Gerard Christopher ("Tomboy"), Carmen Argenziano ("The Accused"), Dedee Pfeiffer ("Vamp"), Karen Witter ("The Vineyard"), Angel Tompkins ("The Teacher"), and Rosalind Allen ("Ticks"). The performances, much like the movie itself, do earn points for sincerity.

Only a last minute reveal involving the Krooger character genuinely annoyed this viewer. Overall, this is a decent 1980s effort waiting to be discovered or rediscovered.

Seven out of 10.

Not a good movie. Not a bad movie. Kind of a non-movie. Had to give it a shot being from the 80s. First up we get some nearly inaudible exchange between a father and son at a kitchen table, then some hot rod punker blazes his way to school in a loud car, then some panty waist talks about the dangers of something or other, then there's a shooting at a party, then I stopped the tape. Plotless, cheaply photographed, surprised even a head honcho at Canon read this script and said "Yeah, this is up to our standards". C'mon, guys, you made much better "junk" like "American Ninja" and "Invasion USA". Film also features the oldest looking high school students in film history. Not even the fast forward button can save you here.

I wish I didn't have to write 10 lines for inclusion on IMDb, because there isn't too much to say about this movie EXCEPT that I really liked it at the time - it is a good example of mid-80's style - and the actors are very good, some have more recently become well known: John Stockwell is a noted Director now ("Blue Crush"), and he was 'Cougar' in "Top Gun" the same year, 1986. Carey Lowell, Mrs. Richard Gere, went on to "Law & Order" after a role in a bad James Bond movie. So why no DVD??? It was on VHS in the late 80's. One thing I do remember at the time, when Siskel & Ebert reviewed it they noted a strange homo-erotic overtone in many scenes (like in the school gym's locker room). Of course, you could say that about the Top Gun locker room scenes, also. But they had a point, and I think one reason this movie did stand out from the run-of-the-mill Drive In fare was that director Albert Pyun gave it some of these inexplicable, strange tones. And there was one TERRIFIC pun half-way into the movie, but you'll have to watch it to find out for yourself...

A group of right wing jingoism students terrorise the lower class classmates.

Director Albert Pyun (known for sci-fi and fantasy films) in a wave of 1980s teen delinquent films offers a teenage murder yarn in the vain of The Brotherhood of Justice and 3:15 The Moment of Truth (1986) also released the same year.

It befits from a seemingly on location small town shoot. At times stylishly filmed (with that MTV feel, flashbacks, cars, beaches and VHS shenanigans) but it's slow paced, meandering and plodding along in the adolescent world where our clever lead can't figure out what's really going on with his class mates. It heats up a little in the heavy handled last act.

It has a notable staple soundtrack including Robert Palmer, Depeche Mode and more. Pyun offers wall to wall 1980s nostalgia, with a load of familiar faces including John Stockwell (Christine, Top Gun), Carey Lowell (Licence to Kill), Tom Mathews (Return of the Living Dead) Dede Pfeiffer to name few.

Overall, worth watching if you're a 80s nostalgia hound.