Coldfire

Well I can't say I wasn't warned about this film, I read David's review and ignored it cause i've heard lots of action-packed films called boring so that didn't stop me from buying this film for 2.99 off Ebay, though now I can see that David was mostly correct in his review and Easton and Reyes(who both were shot to super-stardom in One Life To Live later on) are both pretty good,though it's kinda hard to root for his character. Though i'm not bothered by the film's low budget look, I knew it was gonna be low-budget as i've heard that most early PM films are like that. What I didn't expect was for the film to be so goddamn BORING, I swear this felt more like a drama then an action film, especially with the heavy focus on the love/hate relationship with Jake and Nick and they're relationship with Dix, it felt too drawn out and took too much focus away from the main plot. Though the film isn't a total waste, it has it's funny moments, like when Jake randomly yells Attica! near a jail cell for no reason, there's some nice nudity, Easton and Reyes are both pretty good, and the climax is pretty nicely done actually and manages to generate some actual tension and the main villain manages to become intimidating despite his annoying voice, but despite those good things, I can only recommend this film to PM completists who feel the need to see every film they've produced, or for those who will see anything with Wing Hauser's name on it.

coldfire is a typical low-budget title that supposed to tell us about a drug that makes people go crazy instead it tells a story about 2 cops (kamar DE los Reyes and Michael easton from the one life to live fame)who are rookie cops who are out on the hunt for the people who created the drug coldfire.

the other actor is wings Hauser who supposedly the lead actor of this group instead sits behind a desk until the final 20 minutes of this movie. the acting from the two leads are good wings Hauser on the other hand is what you see as what you are going to get. the direction is not bad, not much action but sometimes humor and emotion. this film is rated:R for violence, sexuality/nudity and language. if it wasn't for Reyes and easton we will probably see wings Hauser sit on his butt all day.

Both Michael Easton and Kumar De Los Reyes are beautiful in this movie, and the camera loves, loves, loves them.

Easton gives a decent performance, though lack luster when doing the Starsky "I'm a criminal" routine or playing drunk. Kumar gets 5 shirtless scenes, Easton unfortunately none. It seems he thought himself too thin (or others did) for the full beefcake routine at this time. Sad.

The drug plot is a little too involved, but a reasonably entertaining MacGuffin. (It's not just drugs, it is a Russian plot to undermine America.)

The lispy gay villain is a bit too much, but okay for its time.

All in all, a quite good example of it's genre, which is direct-to-video cop actioner/procedurals of the 80s/90s with a much much prettier male leads than most of these. Good work, Mr. Hauser, though not getting Easton's shirt off during this early stage of his career was a dick move.

Wings Hauser directs himself behind a desk while two rookie detectives deal with a new designer drug hitting the streets. Problem is, beyond the opening scenes the drug becomes irrelevant. It's reduced to just a thing in a case, the very thing the movie is named after could be anything or nothing at all. The pair of unconvincing detectives are matched by a couple of equally unconvincing bad guys, one has a peculiar voice while the other hams up every word of dialog. There are characters who just disappear or are abruptly removed, with little to no recognition by anyone, and moments that have no relevance or meaning beyond padding out a scene. The ending manages to step things up to something mildly entertaining, Wings finally shows up and does the bare minimum. The whole movie just feels unconvincing and at times borderline amateur.

My review was written in January 1991 after watching the movie on PM video cassette.

Wings Hauser's debut as director, "Coldfire", tries to cover too much ground but emerges as an offbeat cop drama about the drug world. Film was released direct-to-video last summer.

Like his second recently released directorial effort, "Living to Die", this film displays Hauser's interest in character development rather than narrative. Chief among numerous subplots is the relationshp of young buddy cops Michael Easton and Kamar Reyes, each too gung ho for his own good.

They're working undercover at a high school as anrcs when a new designer drug from Russia, Coldfire, hits the streets. It turns out to be an isidious plot by renegate Soviet scientisht Albert Cutt to undermine America.

Hauser's own role, as an over-the-hill fellow cop, is relatively small. Behind the camera he coaxes quality performances from the cast, which includes Cynthia Brooks as a tough-nosed fellow cop and sexy Darcy DeMoss as Reyes' main squeeze; latter graduated to female lead in "Living to Die".

Easton is particularly impressive in the lead role and easily could be up for a co-starring assignment on a youth-oriented tv cop show. Addison Randall, also a director, has a fun time playing against the macho stereotype as a gay drug kingpin.