Il diavolo abita nel Texas

The weirdest things happened during the process of me trying to watch "Through the Fire". It was as if my brain, and all my five senses, continuously tried to reject this film from getting registered. Started watching once on a Saturday night, but then paused because an unforeseen drinking-with-buddies opportunity presented itself. For months I forgot I began watching this, and accidentally found out because the tape was still in the (seldomly used anymore) VCR-player. Then, a few days ago, I started over but fell asleep because it gets quite boring around the half hour mark. The next evening, I once again didn't remember much. Even during my final and alert viewing, my mind constantly wandered off and could hardly recall the events that happened just a few minutes before.

My takeout of "Through the Fire"? An incredibly tedious and uninvolving mishmash of satanic horror, buddy-movie, and supernatural mystery with bland lead characters and an unforgivable shortage of action. I read in the trivia-section the film was completed in 1988 but released only a decade later. Well, they had good reasons to let this uninspired rubbish linger on a shelf. And then still, when "Through the Fire" eventually got released, the distributor stole the "Gates of Hell 2" title from a genuine Fulci classic ("City of the Living Dead", aka "Gates of Hell") and the cover-art from the unrelated "Funeral Home". All in vain, since the film righteously went into oblivion.

A woman desperately seeks for her missing sister, together with a police officer who took her home without abusing her after she got drunk and aggressive in a bar. They come in possession of an amulet, and then find themselves pursued by the most boring and anti-charismatic Satanic cult I have ever seen. Oh, there also might be a demonic creature roaming around in a basement, but the screen was too dark to actually see it.

The only involved person who deserves some praising words is the sexy "actress" Peggy Preston, who is credited as "Girl in Nick's bed" and made the courageous career choice of appearing completely and gratuitously naked at the beginning. Hers is the only remotely memorable moment, in fact.

Sandra Curtis (Tamara Hext) hires off-duty cop Nick Berkley (Tom Campitelli) to help her find out what has happened to her missing sister Marilyn. Their investigation puts them in danger from a cult of evil devil worshippers, who have summoned a demon to do battle with 'destroyers' (people appointed by God to rid the world of evil).

Through the Fire is disappointing on almost every level, with a sloppy script, poor direction, choppy editing and awful acting resulting in a meandering and totally baffling experience. There's zero atmosphere and no scares, the two back-to-back shower scenes fail to deliver the expected gratuitous nudity, and despite some reasonably fun special make-up effects, the final act is as dire as everything that precedes it, somehow making a gun battle with Uzis and shotguns about as exciting as cleaning the lint from your belly button.

2.5/10, rounded down to 2 for the 'WTF?' scene in which Sandra and Nick, having discovered that the wheels of their car have been stolen, fail to requisition a vehicle from a gun-toting driver and then carjack a ride from an old lady.

This movie had nothing going for it... its boring, nothing happens until the last 5 minutes or so and its still very confusing.

A woman's search for her missing sister results in the discovery of a strange cult of demon-worshippers who accidentally unleashed a monstrous creature and must fight it off in order to survive.

This here was just utterly pitiful and plain bad. The detective investigation angle makes for absolutely nothing at all of any interest as the two go around and basically come away with nothing, taking up nearly half of the running time to wind up right back at the starting point and leaves it entirely useless since it's suddenly interrupted by a third party hunting the group all-along, making it unsure why that was introduced so late into the film. That makes it completely lack anything in terms of action, being restricted to a paltry gunfight in the house and the final encounter in the abandoned warehouse, which admittedly does have some good points as its dark, dank location, forever-expanded hallways and numerous rooms provides a nice battleground for a few suspenseful moments here and there, which is mixed with some energy and enthusiasm to provide some fun that way. Even still, the criminal lack of gore, either through off-screen attack/on-screen splatter thrown onto the walls, rapid-fire editing or obstructive angles makes for very little that will invite gorehounds in, and the fact that the creature is relegated to the final ten minutes makes it a non-factor in its own film and looks ridiculous when it appears. Really only has the finale to be watchable, the rest is just worthless.

Rated R: Adult Language, Graphic Violence and Brief Nudity

There's a cast of thousands in the first 20 minutes, which leads the way to an indeed confusing (or should we say senseless ?) plot. To sum it up, a few mysterious disappearances happen in smalltown, USA (New Jersey ?). The sister of one the victims hires a cop to investigate her disappearance. They discover that an evil cult is involved.

The muffled audio does not help to make sense of this lost little gem. This begins as a slasher, then turns to evil cult, then monster movie with a small detour into action. Overall, there's never a dull moment in this oddity, regardless of the lack of gore or nudity. You will need a HUGE suspension of disbelief to make it through, but the two leads are surprisingly capable and endearing. The special f/x, if cheap, are not ridiculous and everything is done with its heart in the right place. Enjoy at midnight, with a martini.