Les Forces du mal

Solid B-movie with OK performances and slam-bang special effects. This is one of those neglected little thrillers that set out not to offer anything new to the genre, but at least to give fans of those movies their money's worth. And this one generally seems to know its business (although it does get a little too loud near the end). (**)

Manic depressive artist George Miller snaps one Halloween night, decides he wants to end it all and jumps from the top of the inner-city fleabag motel he calls home. Across town, small-time gangster Vito Minelli finds out the hard way, what happens when you don't pay off your gambling debts, as his vengeful cronies blow out his kneecaps, then douse him in gasoline and set him on fire.

Somewhere between life and death, George's and Vito's lives intersect, and both will be changed forever. This is not a good thing for George, and even worse for Vito's assailants, as they will each discover to their horror and dismay...

As low-budget supernatural thrillers go, RETRIBUTION manages to strike a nice balance between the yen of those horror fans who like character-driven stories, and the gorehounds who like to see "folks git blowed up real good." TV and movie vet Dennis Lipscomb, who very rarely gets to carry a picture, delivers a scary and sympathetic performance as the troubled George. He has the chameleonic ability to disappear into his character, which is both a blessing and a curse to the best character actors. They make it look so easy, most people don't even consider what they do to be "work," and that's the trouble.

Another out-of-print, hard-as-hell-to-find but worthy entry into the B-movie hall of fame.

I first saw this movie years ago when it was released on Virgin Video and I seem to remember that it was a pretty scary movie. Years later, in 2006, I finely get to see it again and unfortunately it wasn't as good as I remember it. The premise is a man called George (Lipscomb) decides to commit suicide on Halloween night. He jumps off of an apartment building and barely survives. After spending 3 months in a hospital, George has a new lease on life and kind of starts off with a fresh new start. The problem is when George falls asleep his body is taken over by a spirit with demonic powers and the spirit is out to kill the people who murdered him in life. This is actually a well directed movie with some great acting and good cast. The problem I had with the movie was for one, it is a very dated film. For instance, the music for the movie was so typical of the era it takes away from the seriousness of the story. And the ending seemed way to rushed. This movie runs almost two hours with some great build up to the climax but in the end the movie falls on its face. It is to bad because this really had some great potential and the makers of the film probably could have easily made this a 2 and a half hour movie and still keep your attention. I do, in the long run, recommend this movie because it is still an enjoyable experience. 6/10 stars

After an incident that should have been fatal, starving artist, George Miller (Dennis Lipscomb) begins exhibiting odd behavior and certain mental abilities. George sets out to use these powers to enact grisly RETRIBUTION on a few "old friends", even though he's never met them before. What's going on? Is George possessed? Cracking up? Both?

As 1980's horror cheeeze goes, this is a double mozzarella masterpiece!

IT CONTAINS: #1- Supernatural, telekinetic terror! #2- George's romance with Angel (Suzanne Snyder), the proverbial "prostitute with a heart of gold"! #3- Hoyt Axton as Lt. Ashley!

EXTRA POINTS FOR: George's glowing green eyeballs!

Drop everything and watch this right now!...

Starving artist George (Dennis Lipscomb) decides to end his life by jumping off his apartment building on Halloween night. As he lays dying, his body receives the spirit of a man who shares his birthday and is killed at the exact same time (confused?). He lives and the spirit takes over when George goes to sleep and seeks retribution on folks who burned him alive (Freddy who?). Of course, his psychiatrist Dr. Curtis (Leslie Wing) thinks he's crazy and Lt. Ashley (Hoyt Axton) thinks he is the killer. This is a pretty solid horror flick that I liked even more watching it now than back in the 80s. You can hear the filmmakers whisper, "It is like ELM STREET, see?" (the burned villain even looks like Freddy), but writer-director Guy Magar does enough to make it stand apart. The only misfire is a visit to one Doctor Rasta, a Rastafarian voodoo doctor. Oh, and lots of 80s neon. Was it really that prevalent? Lipscomb, looking like a nerdy Christopher Walken, is an interesting choice for a leading man and I like that casting. On the technical side, there is lots of great camera work and some interesting use of lighting. The gore appears to be cut, but is still plentiful. Magar cut his teeth on TV work and this was his first feature. He went on to do THE STEPFATHER III, which I also thought had great cinematography, and one of the CHILDREN OF THE CORN sequels.