Ain't No Way Back

My review was written in June 1990 after watching the film on Raedon video cassette.

Solid thesping by Campbell Scott uplifts this survival drama, retitled ungrammatically for home video after lensing two years ago as "No Way Back".

Young stockbroker Scott and his buddy Bernie White are out on a hunting trip discussing commitment and life when they become enmeshed in a squabble among clans of hill people.

The picture alternates between "Deliverance" action and a pastoral romance culminating in tragedy. Filmmakers Michael Borden and Morgan Sloane attempt awkward framing devices that render the picture cryptic: the whole affair is narrated by a dead character and Scott has a mystical, out-of-body experience in which he finds his own corpse Straightforward storytelling would have sufficed.

Scott, currently starring in "Longtime Companion", adds depth to the shallow central character, and Virginia Lantry acquits herself nicely as the plain mountain girl who falls in love with him. Pic benefits from an eclectic musical score.-

Sort of like Brigadoon meets the Hatfields & McCoys... This is a ghost story and a romance story wrapped up in one, all set in the backwoods of God-Knows-Where. Cambell Scott stumbles upon a mysterious family embroiled in a feud, and -- this is not a spoiler -- falls in love with the beautiful daughter. (Florence Nightingale syndrome.) While no one would peg this as Oscar material, it is as nicely written and directed as any grade B movie. More importantly this is a must-have for any Campbell Scott fan, as it is probably his first starring role, released right before Longtime Companion. As of late 2007, this movie can be found at Amazon or on E-Bay for cheap.

The actors give very good performances in a story that becomes more and more intriguing. What looks like a low budget picture shot on a short schedule is helped hugely by a good story, good cast and direction that lets you get involved in the story. While being a story about a city boy in a country situation, it develops into a ghost story, a romance and an action movie - as the city boy realizes he's in the middle of two families feuding. The nice twist is that they are ghosts fighting the same feud over and over at one particular phase of the moon. The love of the city boy for the country girl causing him to weigh in, kill the bad guy and break the pattern. And that's how he gets the girl. Very clever and satisfying.