Meurtres sous tensions

During the 1980s and 90s, several of Hollywood's leading men of the classic era kept making film appearances...and in really, really terrible films. Anthony Quinn made dreck like "Ghosts Can't Do It", which is a soft-core porno film! Robert Mitchum made LOTS of terrible late career films, including "Woman of Desire". And, Glenn Ford made "Casablanca Express" and this film, "Raw Nerve". These films were so bad, so low budgeted that it makes you wonder WHY...why would these respected actors make crap films instead of just enjoying their retirement? Perhaps they needed the money...perhaps they were too vain to call it a day. All I know is that during this period of time, a lot of bad films starred these and other actors like Kirk Douglas, Mickey Rooney and others who simply were better than the material they were given.

When the credits began to roll as the film began, I realized this would be a bad movie. After all, in addition to Ford, the film also features Traci Lords, the ex-teen porn queen as well as Jan-Michael Vincent whose career clearly was on the skids.

The plot is strange...not bad, not good...just strange...and a story you would NOT expect Glenn Ford to do. A race car driver finds he cannot see to drive during a race as he keeps seeing flashbacks of some serial killer murdering some woman. He goes to the police about it, but not surprisingly they just assume he's some crank. But some pretty lady takes a REAL shine to him and takes Jimmy home for some good lovin'...which is odd since she just met him AND he could be a weirdo. But even then, the weird visions continue and Jim thrashes about wildly as he sees these murders.

So where does Glenn Ford come into this...especially since he received top billing? Well, he plays a cop but doesn't even appear in the movie until well into the story and really isn't the star. I'm sure they put his name first in order to give an air of legitimacy to the project.

So is this film any good? Well, not particularly. It looks cheap, features only okay acting and could have been a lot better. In fact, aside from seeing Ford in his final film, I can't think of much reason to watch the movie. But, if you are curious (and a bit of a masochist), the film is currently posted on YouTube.

Although given first billing for his box office name Glenn Ford is a strictly a supporting character in Raw Nerve. He plays a police captain and superior officer to Jan-Michael Vincent who is part of a triangle involving himself, former wife Sandahl Bergman who is an investigative reporter and stock car driver Ted Prior. And Prior is a chief suspect in a string of brutal murders of some pretty young women.

In Peter Ford's recent biography of his father he says that Raw Nerve was his father's final big screen appearance. All I can say is after seeing Raw Nerve it's a good thing for posterity that Glenn Ford did the made for television film Final Verdict after this one got inflicted on the public on the big screen. And what really surprised me is that Peter Ford did not mention Final Verdict at all in his book. That was a work his father could have been proud of.

Prior who is on the surface sunny and affable and a good guardian for sister Traci Lords down deep has a whole lot of issues, really big issues. He also gets visions of the various murders and they seem to point to his mechanic Tex Cobb.

Raw Nerve is trashy and exploitive and certainly not a film I'd like to be remembered for.

I only watched this because Glen Ford plays the sheriff character. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the simple yet stylish cinematography and flow of the story. There is a slight comic book element but somehow it doesn't follow the usual US made formulas. That's a good thing.

Time isn't wasted on building up complex characters except the necessary background of the suspects. The script is simple, the action is believable and the story is interesting.

On the negative side I didn't have any nail biting experiences or thrills. The outcome was predictable quite early on, so no surprises there.

Raw nerve is a good b movie with a solid cast: Jan Micheal Vincent , Traci Lords , Sandhal Burgman , Randell Tex Cobb , Red West , and Glenn Ford in his last role . It's not a slasher movie but a psychological thriller with a plot twist . Women are being killed all wearing red high heels . It's always a pleasure to see The beautiful Traci Lords Jan Micheal Vincent and Glenn Ford as no no nonsense police officers. Well ford is his supervisor both are very gruff and serious . Ted Prior also in the cast has minimal acting experience.

This is an incredibly bad movie. I didn't expect anything of it and I still felt short changed. Not the worst £1 I ever spent but it's close. Ted Prior has to be the worst actor i've ever seen. I have to say the ending was a surprise but it still dumb. Traci Lords was okay for a while but her performance goes downhill. Anyone else think Jimmy and Gina were a little too 'close' for family members? It's a shame Sandahl Begman and Traci Lords had to make movies like this. They'd both been in far better movies than this (Conan and Cry-Baby, respectively). I wouldn't watch it again and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. 1/10.