Au coeur de la fournaise

While viewing a multi-pack of action DVD's I stumbled across what appears to be a little known film that I certainly had not heard of before. The only actor immediately recognizable is Dean Stockwell who has only a small and rather featureless part as Mayor Bill Klinger. Despite this I found the scenery and acting well above average for what was ostensibly a low budget production. Panoramic views of the sweeping forestry were well executed and while the special effects were not up to blockbuster standard they were adequate and in no way detracted from the experience. The plot revolves around new Rural Fire Chief Darcy Hamilton played by the incredibly sexy Janet Gunn. The move brings tension between Darcy, her daughter, the mayor and the local firefighters. All the while a random arsonist is making life difficult. The story itself is sound with some believable action heating things up. Overall I found the movie absorbing with above average acting and reasonably strong plot lines.

I was in a hotel in Bangkok trying to stay awake all night for a morning flight, and trying to focus on packing my bags to end a trip in SE Asia.

This was the only thing on TV, and I needed some noise in the room.

Just plain terrible. I laughed out loud numerous times at the awful acting, predictable and outrageous plot twists, second-rate effects, and threadbare storyline.

Don't waste your time. It hardly served its purpose as a device to keep me awake.

This was my first and only gig as an extra. Our local contra dancing club was recruited for the final scene, filmed on one of the hottest days of the year in a building about 30 feet from the original location of Sutter's Mill (the one that started the CA Gold Rush). It was about 100+ inside, then they had to turn on the lights, close the doors and we had to go into high gear and not sweat.

It was frankly, a lot of fun. But we waited for a couple of years for the thing to be released, and thankfully it went direct to DVD.

It is just a cheese-ball effort. And one wonders how stuff like this ever gets bankrolled.

I saw this movie on LMN and it was titled "California Firestorm". They usually run high quality movies that deal with prominent social issues, many of which are true stories. Unfortunately this time they really chose badly. Two of the lead characters were a mother and daughter. Normally when you watch a movie there are actors that play the part of a person and do so very well to the point that you cannot tell that they are actors because they play the part so well. That is not the case with this movie. It is so obvious that these are actors trying to play two real-life people and they do it very badly. It is like watching a high school play and the actors sound like they are over-dramatizing the lines. The mother plays a chief of a fire jumping crew in California during a fire. Much of her dialog is so unnatural sounding that I wanted to switch channels after the first ten minutes, but there was nothing else on so rather than turn off the TV I kept watching hoping that it would get better, but it never did. For example, while they are playing a scene where they are in the forest fighting the fire there is CONSTANT dialog between the actors much of which is everyone telling everybody else what a good job they are doing. The way it was done sounded very unnatural and "staged", like they were saying it for the benefit of the camera. Even the scenes portraying the typical conflicts between a mother and teenage daughter are over-acted and when the confrontation is over it seems like there is something missing, like they cut out a part of the scene that should have been left in. LMN is probably the channel that I watch the most so I was really disappointed that they ever ran this movie. Do yourself a favor and if it is ever run again watch something else, ANYTHING else. It was so bad that I went right to IMDb and posted this review, something that I very rarely do.

I think I'd rather burn in an inferno than sit through this film again. I can deal with the horrendous script, the appalling acting, the incompetent directing and the sinful waste of an excellent actor like Jeff Fahey, but what I can not excuse is the fact that "Inferno" is overwhelmingly dull and boring.

The first half of Inferno is as riveting as watching paint dry. Poor Janet Gunn looks completely at sea with the ridiculous role of Darcy, a single mother/fire jumper. When Darcy isn't jumping from planes to watch other people put out fires, she's busy fighting with her daughter, Kylie. The girl who plays Kylie is truly one of the least talented actresses I have ever seen. To describe her acting as wooden would be an insult to wood. And yet, Kylie is not the most poorly acted role in the film. That title undoubtedly belongs to the girl who portrays Mary, surely the worst child actor since Curly Sue.

I'm not sure what is actually more offensive, the acting or the pathetic special effects. In the director's commentary of Ladder 49, Jay Russell says that fire is about the only thing that CGI can not adequately create. After watching this film, I have to agree. The fires look like they have been drawn on the screen with a child's crayon.

I can really only think of two uses for "Inferno" - as landfill or as a handbook on how not to make a movie. Only for die-hard fans of Jeff Fahey, Dean Stockwell or Janet Gunn.