Held for Ransom

This film had quite a bit of action and a good cast. I was especially impressed with the plot twist at the end. Overall, its nothing incredible.... But, Dennis Hopper still did a great job in this one. Hopper's eccentric characterization of "J.D." was pretty awesome -- it made this direct-to-video film rate above average (in my opinion, anyways).

I will never see that $4.25 again. Why did I rent this movie?

I sit here, in utter shock at just how terribly awful this movie was, on practically all accounts. Oh, how naive I used to be, to think that even the worst movie would have some redeeming qualities. This one had none whatsoever.

The wretchedness of the acting was obscured only by the abysmal script. The basic plot line (high school students from wealthy families, kidnapped and held captive in the Everglades), if it had been used to its full potential, could have become a C-minus teen thriller.

I would typically call a poorly developed character "two dimensional." Now, to call ANY of the characters in this waste of perfectly good celluloid as "one dimensional" would be an obsequious compliment. There WERE no characters in this movie. Just bad guys and worse guys.

My recurring thought throughout the movie was "Please, please, Mr. Alligator, just eat SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY." In this small thing I was not disappointed.

Stay away from this movie! Stay away! Please, please, for the love of all that is good and decent, STAY AWAY!

Held For Ransom starring Zachery Ty Bryan, Jordan Brower, and Randy Spelling, among others is set in the swamps of Florida. It centers around five high school students whose school bus is hijacked on the way home when they are the last of the passengers. The five teenagers taken off the bus, tied up, and taken deep into the swamps to a small house where they are to be held hostage. The kidnappers take an instant disliking to their male hostages. While the girls are untied, the three boys have their hands tied behind their backs the entire movie. The boys spend more than a few scenes locked in a small, hot shed. Bryan is even threatened with an alligator. The film has a basically good story. However, it is ruined by frequent use of foul language.

I actually enjoyed this old-school suspense thriller. Better than most, not as good as some -- but all in all a good rental when HBO, "Skinemax" and Showtime are running re-runs! Dennis Hopper is his normal, crazy self and many 70's stars appear.

I only rented this movie to see Morgan Fairchild and Joan Van Ark, who turn out to each have about three lines of dialogue in the movie as the kidnapped teens' moms. I don't understand why these well-known women were hired only to be given three lines... Anyway, this is one of the most boring, stupid movies I've seen in a long time. It was absolutely awful. It's confusing because Dennis Hopper and Debi Mazar, who are in lots of other things, are in this trash. Why would they bother with doing such a low-budget movie?