Hostile Takeover

From the looks of it, "Hostile Takeover" (aka "Office Party") really is still a relatively undiscovered 80's gem. It's directed by George Mihalka, the same man who brought us everybody's favorite 80's Canadian slasher flick "My Bloody Valentine". I had "Office Party" lying around for some time now, and finally came around to seeing it. And with this viewing, I managed to discover another film that pleasantly surprised me. This is one of the most unusual hostage-movies I've seen. As much as it is a poetic hostage-drama, it also is a weird psychological thriller with subtle touches of the horror, the disturbed & the traumatized. It moves at a fairly slow pace, bit still managed to keep me interested. It's best to know nothing about the plot. Obviously, the film deals with a hostage situation in an office building, but this time it has nothing to do with terrorists or criminals invading a public building. This is not an action movie, as some alternate posters might lead you to believe. All acting performances are very good (with David Warner probably being the most famous actor of the bunch). Michael Ironside is in this one too, and he was perfectly cast for this roll (nope, he's not the hostage-taker). Relatively unknown cult actor John Vernon also pops up in it. So genre fans are bound to have some fun with the cast. "Hostile Takeover" also features one of the bloodiest shotgun-blast splatter effects I've ever seen. My bet is this is a love-it-or-hate-it flick. I enjoyed it quite a lot. It's very offbeat and has an atmosphere to it that progressively grows stranger near the end.

"Hostile Takeover", in my country inconspicuously released on DVD as "Office Party", is a curious and slow but nevertheless captivating little thriller that – somewhat understandably – became forgotten amidst the tremendous offer of grim thriller/horror flicks during the late 1980's. I wouldn't go as far to call this a hidden gem, but it definitely deserves some recognition from cult fanatics for a couple of reasons. The premise is quirky but tense, the atmosphere is unsettling throughout and – most of all – the cast list contains the names of no less than three iconic but still sadly underrated B-movie veterans. Any 80's genre flick uniting David Warner ("The Omen", "The Company of Wolves"), Michael Ironside ("Scanners", "Visiting Hours") and John Vernon ("Killer Klowns from Outer Space", "Chained Heat") is bound to raise the interest of people, right? Even the director's name George Mihalka might ring a bell inside horror regulars' heads, as he directed the slasher classic "My Bloody Valentine" earlier that decade. But actually I have to stop promoting "Hostile Takeover" as a film in the horror genre. It's an urban drama/thriller with psychological ambitions and a strong emphasis on character development. David Warner is impressive as Eugene; a lonely and colorless individual who works as an insignificant office clerk for a company full of egocentric and hungry-for-power people. After working overtime on a Saturday, Eugene unexpectedly seals off the exit and holds three of his colleagues – including the manager - hostage at gunpoint. Police forces and local authorities arrive at the scene, but Eugene strangely doesn't make any demands. He just wants to be the one deciding when the hostage is over and literally doesn't respond to any of police commissioner Smolen's attempts to negotiate. Inside the office building tension rises particularly between the hostages and it rapidly shows that Eugene is actually the employee with the least amount of mental issues. As said, "Hostile Takeover" is an admirable effort, but in case you're looking for bloodied action and/or non-stop violence you might feel cheated in the end. The script, apparently adapted from a novel, accentuates the greed and selfishness of the business world and the indifference of politicians & Special Police Units, but these themes certainly aren't new and also rather unusual for a B-movie. The climax does feature a bit of extreme violence, but that's not what the movie should be remembered for.

I saw the film on cable one day and it still stays with me a little. Sure, everything was under produced, the lighting dark, and the overall acting, story, and dialogue incoherent in many places, and the story has a whole depressing. However, maybe that's how the story was suppose to take place as seen through the eyes of the protagonist, Eugene. Eugene is the typical quiet man in suspenders who finally has enough of his sad, lonely life and takes people three people to be hostage just to be heard by someone who gives a damn. His exact reasons are never explained just alluded to in one scene, but watch how Sally and he begin an honest relationship that ends perhaps as it should. Also note Jayne Eastwood's performance as an older woman with scars of her own. All very strange, but it all fits its own logic.

After watching this film, I was left with the impression that there were two competing interpretations of the script - and the director tried to film both. Interpretation one could be summed up as "horror/hostage/screams/blood" - Interpretation two: "psychodrama/disturbing/thought provoking."

There are some very terrifying moments in this film that can have you gripping the edge of your seat and holding your breath hoping that the worst ISN'T going to happen....and then suddenly you are in the middle of a quasi Greek Tragedy with the players making profound orations while the plot stands still. (Exactly what the poems of T.S. Eliot have to do with the plot is never made clear).

I found it a very interesting view with some very genuinely deep moments - but the ending was almost an anti-climax and the schizoid handling of the script did not help matters. It is worth at least a look but you probably won't come back for seconds.