Race with the Devil

Race with the Devil [1975]

Wow, you know, the title says it all. Roger (Peter Fonda) and Frank (Warren Oates) decide to take their wives and vacation in Frank’s new RV. While camping out for a night, Frank and Roger wander in the brush and see what appears to be a ‘wild orgy’ in the distance. Giggling and taking turns with the binoculars, their tomfoolery turns to horror as they realize they are actually watching a satanic cult preform a human sacrifice.

As their wives yell for them to come back to the RV, the satanic cult realizes they have been watched. The rest of the movie, they are chased from highway to highway, town to town, trying to escape the murderous cult.

Race with the Devil has a campy appeal that is sure to thrill those knowing what they are in store for. Low budget, strange premise, and a knack for cheap thrills make this a classic ‘B’ movie.

The action and stunts in this movie stone cold awesome! Also, the acting isn’t half bad. All the players here are seasoned pros. Even the bit parts. Where the movie falls short, would be in the middle. Like having the best looking car in the world, with a mediocre engine option.

The middle is riddled with ’suspense’ that really doesn’t captivate the mind much. For instance, they receive a satanic note with half written in code. After going to the library to search for a meaning to the symbols, they never really get it figured out. They also play off strangers quite a bit. Everyone is a suspect, so I guess they felt the need to do suspicious staring contests over and over.

But you know what? That first class action and premise I was talking about makes up for quite a bit! Even with its slow parts, there was no bad pacing whatsoever. It moved along like melted butter on hot corn-on-the-cob! Before I wrap this up, let give a common warning for 60s and 70s movies. If you plan on watching this movie, DO NOT SEE THE TRAILER. It shows you all the best parts. However, if you don’t want to watch the movie, and want a general idea, watch the trailer as it really is a super compact version of the full feature!

Race with the Devil gets 3 stars. But before viewing, make sure you are in the total mood for this type of flick to get the full effect.

The Big Hit

The Big Hit [1998]

The Big Hit stars Mark Wahlberg as Melvin Smiley. Despite being a professional contract killer, Melvin is a little teddy bear. He is such a push over in fact, he will do ANYTHING to keep people from disliking him.

Low on cash, he decides with his co-workers, to take a kidnapping side job. Little do they know that the girl they are kidnapping is the goddaughter of their boss. But the biggest thing on Melvin’s mind is keeping everyone around him happy.

Everything falls apart for him when he is fighting with his mistress, his gold-digger fiances’ parents disapprove of him, the kidnapping goes to shambles, and his coworkers decide to throw him under the bus so they appear innocent.

Lucky for Melvin, the kidnapping victim teaches him a valuable lesson. You cannot please everyone.

The acting in this movie does not stand out. And many scenes are so in the time period, it would be hard for someone outside of the 90’s to understand it. There is a lot of ‘green screen’ action and fake smoke and mirrors. Sometimes, it tries so hard to be visually ‘hip’, and doesn’t realize that years down the road, it just looks like a joke.

However, on a similar note, the script seems ahead of its time. The style of the comedy and parody of a hit mans life is well balanced. Although corny at times, the jokes are for the most part, dead on. The movie is sprinkled with many inside jokes to keep it interesting. The movie was also very well paced.

I’m sure John Woo had something to do with the ’slick’ feel of the movie. The opening shoot out was reminiscent of ‘Hard Boiled’ and most welcome. And does anyone know where I can get Mark Wahlberg’s yellow gun-hands jacket?!?! That’s tight! The icing on the cake was Melvin’s yellow Pontiac Firebird.

Lou Diamond Phillips also was great and you can tell he had a lot of fun in the role. As far as acting goes, he carried the movie.

All in all, 3 stars. Good solid fun. But I wouldn’t pay more than $9 for it.

White Lightning

White Lightning [1973]

Well its only natural to kick off this blog with a Burt Reynolds movie review right? Well, White Lightning just so happens to be the freshest movie in my memory, as I watched it just last night.

White Lightning is the story of a good ol‘ boy moonshiner by the name of ‘Gator’ (Burt Reynolds). After the murder of his younger hippie brother by a corrupt sheriff, Gator decides to walk the path of vengeance.

White Lightning has many good things going for it. Gator is a simple character, without much complexity to him. However, Reynolds does a great job of giving him a realness and true heart. The fact that Reynolds started as a stuntman in Hollywood helped him give the 1971 Ford Galaxie a strong presence of its own. If you have ever driven anything as powerful, big, or long, you know its hard to drive it with authority and presence. Burt makes it look as simple as putting on socks.

The story also does a good job of toying with emotions. Are moonshiners evil? Are they just simple folk looking for a bit of fun in a poor and desolate place? Are hippies long haired pot smokers? Or do they have something more to offer, like when they help protest against southern racism? All these questions swirl around Gator, but don’t faze him. And while everyone seems to think hes on ‘their’ side, he really only has one thing on his mind. Kill the guy that killed my brother. No politics. Plain and simple.

But the movie suffers in other ways. Perhaps its tempting in the deep south, but I don’t find a sweaty, pig faced, gap toothed, dirty barefoot, wrinkled woman all that attractive. She wanders and has the libido of small dog in heat. Yet we are supposed to be drawn, like him, to her. We are supposed to feel bad that she was once an unwed mother. Who cares? She gave out her ’shaky pudding’ to anyone that wanted a taste.

Also, for a action movie, there was not a whole lot of it. It came in little bits. There could have been more car chases and gun fights. The drama was set up perfect to have some real tense scenes, but they never took full advantage. 

3 stars. Over all, it was good. Not GREAT or FANTASTIC, but also not terrible or worthless.