Dangerously Close

An underprivileged teen (J. Eddie Peck) attends an upper-class school near the coast in SoCal where a group of students, organized by a teacher who's a Vietnam vet, guard the school from thuggish behavior. The leader of the Sentinels (John Stockwell) tries to woo him into his increasingly arrogant group.

"Dangerously Close" (1986) had the same producer as "Massacre at Central High" from ten years prior. I point this out because the plots & settings are similar, albeit this one doesn't have the awkward twist of the second half of "Massacre" and is an all-around improvement. It's similar to "Tuff Turf" from the previous year, but more focused ("Tuff Turf" is entertaining, but tried to be too many things). There are also bits reminiscent of "Eddie and the Cruisers," minus the band angle.

The soundtrack is a highlight, featuring 80's pop rock and new wave bands, with notable songs like "Stripped" by Depeche Mode and "Blood and Roses" by The Smithereens.

Carey Lowell is serviceable on the female front, as are Dedee Pfeiffer and Karen Lorre, but not enough is done with them. On the other side of the spectrum, Don Michael Paul is effective as a member of the Sentinels marked by "toxic masculinity."

If you like similar 80's teen movies like "Valley Girl" and "The Karate Kid," you should appreciate this undeservedly obscure one. It influenced "Some Kind of Wonderful," which came out the next year, but focuses on the intense clash of the male students rather than romance.

The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in the greater Los Angeles area, including Glendale (high school), Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas, Marina del Rey and Redondo Beach.

GRADE: B+

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.

"Dangerously Close" is one of those silly flicks that are almost enjoyable as it knows how to give us some tension while treating issues revolving safety during high school years. It talks about a troubled prep school that uses of its own student body to enforce laws on reckless students who destroy school property, vandalism and robbery among classmates. But it's a very obvious film where you know exactly where the threat comes from, therefore all the tension required disappears in thin air and you keep on waiting for its end just to confirm your predictions and ease the pain after the painful misery of everything.

One-dimensional characters from the start, which is acceptable to audiences who like those kind of devices. J. Eddie Peck plays the nerd-looking and responsible good guy who is torn apart from his punk rebel friends as he's invited to join the security group formed by John Stockwell character, one of those rich kids who likes to cause controlled mayhem in order to enforce law and order. Truth is that the group runs secret attacks on the "undesireable" students after school hours, late at night, where they make a trial mockery, convicting those rebels and teaching them some hard frightening lessons.

It's not like all students like a fascist kind of security enforcement, there's opposition even from a teacher, and Peck's character (editor of the school paper as well) is used by the others to present a less negative view of the infamous group. Doesn't help much, as their obscure attacks becomes more and more dangerous, and when students start disappearing from view, our hero becomes intrigued.

Everything is so obvious with "Dangerously Close" that it's annoying. While I liked the limited acting of everyone involved, but they're all playing a formula (the good guy is good and without flaws; the bad group is bad but it comes with a redemption; the punk friend is only there to cause riot and bring a humorless humor; and the pretty girl is there to cause a rift between the new buddies). Kudos to Stockwell for picking the most "challenging" of the roles, but he's also one of the screenwriters so he knew what he was doing and it's a nice way to see him outside of "Christine" (1983) or "Top Gun".

But I couldn't stand each and every action and fighting sequence. Abrupt and ugly editing cuts where it's hard to tell why a beaten character is up and without injuries when there's change in the shot, or why they move to a different direction; the head of security (or school director, the movie wasn't clear about his function) can physically assault a student without consequences; the local police was a joke; the series of bizarre things makes it all look weird and slightly funny to follow.

Besides the "entertainment" parts, was there an actual good discourse while dealing with how students can secure their own environment and help themselves and the community? Not really. The adults in the room were so absent in this utopic dream that I guess it only proved that teens shouldn't be allowed to enforce anything but their proms. It was basic a clear case of right versus left, and it's easy to tell apart who's right and who's wrong, and the only thing missing were the uniforms. 4/10.

Standard bubblegum high school thriller in the vein of "Massacre at Central High", "Wolfpack" and having a touch of "The Most Dangerous Game". This little, gritty b-grade outing from Cannon productions and low-budget filmmaker Albert Pyun is a true time capsule of the 80s period, where a whole bunch of films of a similar ilk flooded the screens. However these exploitative teen revenge films ("Savage Streets", "Class of 1984", "The New Kids", "3:15" and such) acted on its nastiness. However Pyun's film while it can be unpleasant, actually felt a little more thoughtful (despite formulaic and simple minded) in its narrative and struck up a mystery angle (even though predictably done) that added another element to it. This probably took away a bit of mindless fun, by upping the talkative nature; sticking with a grim air and deliberately letting the pace mellow out. As our protagonists (J. Eddie Peck and Carey Lowell) try to put the dots together, but we the audience are always ahead of them to the very final frame. There it pulls out a twist in an anticlimactic finale, only to top that one with another freeze frame closing. Foreseeable, but nonetheless bleak. The plot follows that of a group of students known as "The Sentinels", who combat the vandalism occurring in their school. However it's what they do outside of school, as this deputised group has turned into a violent neo-fascist army who pick out the kids that don't fit in. School newspaper editor Danny Lennox finds himself caught in the thick of it, as his best friend Krooger is a trouble-maker, but the "The Sentinels" leader Randy wants to get Danny of his side. It's a promising set-up, but not as exciting as it could have been. It feels all build-up and it takes a while to really get into it, so when it comes to it there's little in the way of a pay-off. Pyun presents some impulsively atmospheric scenes, especially when the "The Sentinels" are toying around with their victims. These guys really do love their school. But for most part it never gets out of first-gear. The performances are acceptably done (although there are some unconvincing looking high school students). John Stockwell (who also co-wrote the story) is fitting as Randy, who underneath that cool persona boils a menacing edge. J. Eddie Peck and Carey Lowell are agreeably likable in their parts. Bradford Bancroft (who was in "3:15") adds some defiant energy. Also for "Return of the Living Dead" fans; Thom Mathews (one of "The Sentinels" who begins to have second thoughts) and Miguel A Nuriez Jr. (one of their victims) add to the curiosity. A bubbly Dedee Pfeiffer also pops up. Then there's game support by Carmen Argenziano, Madison Mason, Anthony De Longis, Greg Finley and Karen Witter. Then we got this pumping rock / punk soundtrack, which have some notable tracks - namely Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love".

Nothing we haven't already seen before, but in its abuse of power it has its moments and a capable cast to boot.

"What an arsenal."

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...