G-Men from Hell

G-MEN FROM HELL (2 outta 5 stars)

I *wanted* to like this movie, I really did... I've always been a great admirer of Mike Allred's comic book work... and this movie was based on an early, odd strip of his. The movie is actually pretty faithful to the "plot" of the original... even down to the nonsensical appearance of a superhero known as "Cheetah Man". There are a lot of familiar names in the cast (William Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait, Paul Rodriguez... and Robert Goulet as the devil). The story is about a pair of overly-zealous FBI agents who die, get sent to hell and escape back to earth so that they can do some good deeds and earn a place in heaven. Sounds like fun... but it just doesn't quite work. Director Christopher Coppola (yes, he's related to all those other Coppolas... go figure) likes to frame everything in weird angles reminiscent of the old "Batman" and "Monkees" TV shows... but filming shots from odd angles doesn't necessarily constitute a "stylish" film. The script doesn't have much going for it... outside of a few good lines (most of which probably came from the comic). The acting is either lamely amatuerish... or is too wildly over-the-top... with the exception of Forsythe who does a pretty good deadpan, hard-boiled tough guy and Gary Busey as a weird, gay cop. Sure, Robert Goulet playing the Devil is a pretty cool idea... but I don't think the execution exactly lives up to the promise. It's a nice enough movie if you are really into wacky, low budget, cult comedies... but it all sounds better on paper than it actually looks onscreen.

Gunned down in cold blood, 2 corrupt FBI agents wind up in Hell. Finding a way back to Earth, they begin a campaign of good deeds which will 'square them with the big guy' and allow them to enter Heaven.

G-Men From Hell is a pleasing little film. Overlong at times, it still looks good for the money - like a seedier version of Dick Tracy. It has it's flaws, particularly Vanessa Angel's atrocious dialogue and the re-appearance of Zach Galligan after many years in a role that could just as easily have been left out. Where it shines though is in it's casting of William Forsyth, Gary Busey and Robert Goulet as the Devil, delivering ordinary lines with such panache that it's hard not to repeat them as you go along. In particular, Busey's delivery of 'I am a sadistic, leather-clad master homosexual' and his frequent groping of Galligan will have you wondering why we see so little of this premier nutter on our screens. Goulet and Forsyth are no slouches either and what would have been another forgotten oddity is saved by a couple of great performances.

Watch out for an unrecognizable David Huddlestone as a mad scientist - I'm glad to see he's still going strong.

I usually like B movies and i really love movies based on comic books. So why did this not fly with me? Well unlike allot of b-movies it wasnt funny bad but just bad. For starters the sets were horrible you could tell they had little money to go on, i was under the impression that the movie was set around the 50's but yet im seing ripped posters for the backstreet boys in an alley. Not to mention all the villians were horrible. I think the breaking point came when we see a man in a very bad superhero outfit jumping rooftop to rooftop only to jump on a ledge and be held steady by the hand of a crew member, there it was plain as day not even a shred of dignity to try to hide it. Even Vanesa Angel and Kari Wuhrer couldnt shine in this mega flop. If you enjoy movies like Toxic Avenger only dumber (as if that was possible) then you will love G-men from Hell other wise please stay away and save your sanity.

G-Men From Hell is.. well, pretty much exactly what the title suggests. Based on a comic book, I think, it concerns two melodramatic 1950's FBI Agents named Dean Crept (William Forsythe) and Mike Mattress (Tate Donovan) who are gunned down by mysterious assailants, and sent off to the inferno to rot, only they aren't finished their business earth- side, and escape using some magic dimension opening crystal. Once back in the realm of the living, they set up their own private detective agency, forced to keep up their good deed quota in order to prevent from being dragged off again. The Devil (Robert Goulet, hilarious) is furious and dispatches an agent of his own to retrieve them. Meanwhile, a relentless and fairly nutty police detective (Gary Busey) is also hot on their trail. Busey, as usual, flips the script into the dustbin and does his own warped thing with the dialogue, making scene partners visibly try to hold in laughter and bewilderment, proving once again that any film he appears in will never get boring. Forsythe and Donovan play it like Looney Toons in noir mode, two campy gumshoe performances that are so knowingly tongue in cheek that it almost seems like a stage play. Cameos include Bobcat Goldthwait, David Huddleston, Kari Wuhrur, Charles Fleischer, Frank McCrae and Vanessa Angel. I feel like the whole thing is just a bit silly to work, even as one big riotous in-joke, but it's a colourful diversion nonetheless, and any film with that title deserves a watch as an ode to it's sheer commitment to blatant inanities. Please excuse the pitiful lack of high def photos in my collage, whoever was in charge of screen caps and production stills on this should be shot in the face.

Two G-Men (William Forsythe and Tate Donovan), returning from hell, must perform good deeds to save themselves from a doomed fate.

This film has been generally panned, and I can understand why. The filming is a bit odd and the plot is a bit of a mess (but just a bit -- it is still coherent). But the problem really stems from being adapted from a Mike Allred comic -- how do you stay true to a comic without coming across cheesy? That is hard to pull off, and quite often it backfires. This time, I actually think it went okay.

The strength is in all the great actors -- Bobcat, Zach Galligan, Gary Busey and even Robert Goulet as Satan himself. With that much personality in one movie, it is guaranteed to be worth watching, even if the sum is not greater than its parts.