Leofwine_draca

A strange little film, seemingly made by various members of JK Simmons' family on a tiny budget as a starring role opportunity for the character actor. I've always liked Simmons since he stole his scenes in SPIDER-MAN a couple of decades ago, and of course he's good here too in a rare opportunity to shine in a villain role. The rest of the film is less assured and almost tawdry in a way. Simmons plays a psycho who goes around menacing everybody in sight, but the characters they put up against him are largely uninteresting and as a result the stuff taking place just isn't as riveting as they'd want you to think. The end result? Just about acceptable, but nothing more than that.

TWO MOON JUNCTION is one of those '80s erotic dramas by Zalman King which seem to have aged horribly in the years since. This one's best known for featuring Sherilyn Fenn in her debut performance; of course, she would on to win fame and applaud for her turn in TWIN PEAKS in years to come. Much like 9 1/2 WEEKS, there's very little plot to mention in this one; Fenn plays a woman due marry some upper-crust guy who ends up bedding a rough type instead. I'm not sure Richard Tyson (best known as the baddie in KINDERGARTEN COP) is a very good choice for the male lead, as he has the physique but no screen presence, but given this film's lack of depth and repetitive feel, it doesn't really matter much.

I saw this one getting heavily slated online, but I felt that SURVIVAL GAME was a pretty decent stab at an '80s action thriller that gets most things right. The plot is a fluffy little thing with the usual setup involving an innocent woman getting caught up with gangsters and criminals, all of whom want to get their hands on her, and hooking up with a guy (who she randomly meets during a car accident) who promises to protect her whatever. The main strar is played by Mike Norris, son of Chuck, and he displays all of the high-kicking prowess you'd expect from his father. This is a film that runs away with the chase premise and presents one fun fight after another, the bit in the shopping mall probably my favourite scene. It won't win awards, no, but it does the job all the same.