Held for Ransom

I will never see that $4.25 again. Why did I rent this movie?

I sit here, in utter shock at just how terribly awful this movie was, on practically all accounts. Oh, how naive I used to be, to think that even the worst movie would have some redeeming qualities. This one had none whatsoever.

The wretchedness of the acting was obscured only by the abysmal script. The basic plot line (high school students from wealthy families, kidnapped and held captive in the Everglades), if it had been used to its full potential, could have become a C-minus teen thriller.

I would typically call a poorly developed character "two dimensional." Now, to call ANY of the characters in this waste of perfectly good celluloid as "one dimensional" would be an obsequious compliment. There WERE no characters in this movie. Just bad guys and worse guys.

My recurring thought throughout the movie was "Please, please, Mr. Alligator, just eat SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY." In this small thing I was not disappointed.

Stay away from this movie! Stay away! Please, please, for the love of all that is good and decent, STAY AWAY!

I only rented this movie to see Morgan Fairchild and Joan Van Ark, who turn out to each have about three lines of dialogue in the movie as the kidnapped teens' moms. I don't understand why these well-known women were hired only to be given three lines... Anyway, this is one of the most boring, stupid movies I've seen in a long time. It was absolutely awful. It's confusing because Dennis Hopper and Debi Mazar, who are in lots of other things, are in this trash. Why would they bother with doing such a low-budget movie?

This film had quite a bit of action and a good cast. I was especially impressed with the plot twist at the end. Overall, its nothing incredible.... But, Dennis Hopper still did a great job in this one. Hopper's eccentric characterization of "J.D." was pretty awesome -- it made this direct-to-video film rate above average (in my opinion, anyways).

Held For Ransom starring Zachery Ty Bryan, Jordan Brower, and Randy Spelling, among others is set in the swamps of Florida. It centers around five high school students whose school bus is hijacked on the way home when they are the last of the passengers. The five teenagers taken off the bus, tied up, and taken deep into the swamps to a small house where they are to be held hostage. The kidnappers take an instant disliking to their male hostages. While the girls are untied, the three boys have their hands tied behind their backs the entire movie. The boys spend more than a few scenes locked in a small, hot shed. Bryan is even threatened with an alligator. The film has a basically good story. However, it is ruined by frequent use of foul language.

A strait to video release, you have to give it some credit. HELD FOR RANSOM is based on the Lois Duncan novel and you can obviously tell that it is a low-budget film. But the fact that it was based on a book helped give it some more famous actors to star in the film.

The film was a little suspenseful you have to admit, but I still don't understand why everyone hated this movie so. I mean, we get to see Tsianina Joelson strip down to her bra and panties. No, but seriously the film was pretty enjoyable for me. It is very realistic as to what some people might do in a hostage situation. It is somewhat different from the book as the film takes place in the sweltering Everglades and the book is in the icy cold mountains.

I seriously didn't think it was that bad. HELD FOR RANSOM gets 4/5.