Firehead - Fletch meets Sci-Fi Schlock

Have you ever wondered what "Fletch" would have been like if Chris Lemmon played the role, he was a scientist and was caught up in a cold war plot with a telekinetic cyborg as his sidekick? Apparently the creators of "Firehead" did and the results were about as ridiculous as you'd expect, but in a really fun 80s kind of way.


I saw this gem on Amazon Prime Video. Much like the previously reviewed "Terror Within", "Firehead" has a great cast.  Chris Lemmon plays the unwilling scientist turned action hero perfectly, Christopher Plummer is a great secret society villain and Martin Landau makes just long enough of an appearance to give the movie some credence as a sci-fi espionage cult classic.

The movie was made in 1991, so the special F/X are kind of at the end of the whole "wow, look laser beams" phase of things before anyone with a laptop could make simple glow F/X happen on screen.  Still, they're fine for the story telling.

I mentioned that the movie reminded me of "Fletch" and really, with Chris Lemmon running around in a ball cap, cracking jokes and making innuendos whenever there was a lull I did keep expecting to hear that wonder "Fletch" score in the background.  I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but I did find it kind of strange and distracting.  I liked the "Fletch" movies enough for what they were, but never imagined they were something someone else would want to emulate, no less in an action sci-fi movie.

As far as the action goes, there was plenty of it, but much of it was sloppy.  Lots of shooting with no cover but nobody getting hit.  Fight scenes that looked like they knew who supposed to win, but didn't really choreograph anything and stuff like that.  Kind of like late 70s TV show fighting where Buck Rogers would kick a guy and that looked cool, but then he would just shove another guy, because only the kick was scripted and they never bothered to think out the rest.  I admit, I was guilty of  this sort of thing myself, but every since "The Lunar Pack"  I have been blessed to usually have a fight coordinator on set who took care of those details.  (Notable exceptions are Jack vs Lanterns and Lumber vs Jack and it shows in my campier fight sequences.)

But, enough about me, back to "Firehead".  Overall I think it's a kind of forgettable movie and it's not something I think anyone needs to rush out and see, but if you miss the days of being able to turn on a premium cable station and see a random action comedy, this movie is worth a watch.  As far as "buddy" movies go it's not bad either.  Don't expect it all to make sense.  Don't look for mindboggling special F/X, but do pay attention for clichés and some quick fire jokes from Lemmon.

Take special notice of the clip they use for "high speed chases".

The Terror Within and The Terror Within II - Watch, Rinse, Repeat

Both The Terror Within and The Terror Within II are available on Amazon Prime (as of this writing).  Both star Andrew Stevens.  Both involve mutant monsters chasing isolated people around enclosed places.  And both involve those monsters having a strong desire to mate with human women. (Maybe only male mutants survived? I don't think that's ever explained.

I love a good monster movie.  And even some bad ones.  These fall somewhere in the middle.  The first is definitely the superior movie, even though the second expands the post apocalyptic world a good deal and is a worthy sequel.  These are late 80s and early 90s features with no CGI for the creature F/X.


The "Gargoyle" mutant in the first film is a pretty obvious suit, but the design is fairly original and it does come across as menacing.  The beasts in the sequel range from this look to much more human looking monstrosities  with less of a "mask" look and one of them walks around the whole time looking as if it is covered in blood.


"The Terror Within" has a much more claustrophobic feel, mostly because only the very beginning takes place outside.  Once the creature finds a way into the compound the chase is on in dark corridors, hidden corners and ducts.  There's always ducts big enough to  hold monsters in sci-fi horror from the 80s.

"The Terror Within II" has many more outdoor scenes, a human settlement, a side story with female sacrifices, more characters to act as monster happy meals and yet somehow, eventually manages to repeat almost all of the first movie.  The only reason this REALLY bothered me is that David (Andrew Stevens ) makes all of the mistakes he should have learned from the first time around and the results are very predictable.

The first film had a killer cast with George Kennedy, Andres Stevens and Terri Treas all turning in expectedly good performances.  The real stand out for me, however, was Butch (Stevens).  I tend to watch dogs in films pretty closely and this one really did look to David (his handler in the movie) for his cues.  This is not usual with low budget fare.  It takes a lot of time and work to train a dog NOT to look to his (or her ) trainer off camera for cues.  We got lucky in "Savaged" that my dog, Valkrie, was so in love in Debbie Rochon.  She rarely took her eyes off her, although it is noticeable in one early scene when Debbie is walking Lotus (Valkrie) away from the camera, which I'm standing behind.
I suspect, with Butch's last name being "Stevens", that this interaction is because they used his actual dog.

Most of the acting in the second film is also adequate.  Considering this was Andres Stevens directorial debut and he starred and co-wrote the movie, it is really is a solid little piece of horror home cinema.  There are some low budget moments that stand out, perhaps most of the all the horrible "machine gun" action.  The sound F/X and shaking of actor Chick Vennera clearly indicate that he is supposed to be firing a machine gun, but no blanks were used, no smoke leaves the barrel and this was before the days of adding muzzle flashes in post.  The result is completely unconvincing and looks like kids playing cops and robbers.

I definitely suggest "The Terror Within" for anyone who is a monster in a maze fan and if you enjoy the first so much that you wish it was longer, watch the sequel.  You'll mostly get more of the same and you'll see the final act coming from a mile or so away, but you'll get more monsters and guts.

"Halloween Horror Tales" - A New Indie Anthology

"Halloween Horror Tales" is an indie anthology from Director, Writer, all around filmmaker, Jeff Kirkendall.  It is pretty much what the title promises, four short films about the strange happenings in a small town.  Like in many of the classic anthologies the person telling the story is also a main character in the final tale.  We're treated to stories about a psychotic clown, a horror hostess with a secret (I'm not really sure what the secret was), a "Bad Flower" and a rash of killings that are being blamed on a vampire.

The stories are much like old Twilight Zone or Tales from the Crypt episodes where the real payoff comes with the ending.  Some of these payoffs are more worthwhile than others.  Some are twists, other punchlines of sorts.  Of course, I was partial to the killer plant story, "Bad Flower", even though there was nearly no character development outside of the first two women we meet.  I just really enjoy killer plant movies like "Lumber vs Jack" and "Jack vs Lanterns" .  I kind of wish there had been more sound F/X used in this one, but the visuals were pretty effective for the monstrous flower.

  Throughout the stories we see some of the same faces, but they're obviously meant to be playing different characters.  Some viewers may find this confusing since it's supposed to all take place in one town.  Just try to think of them as relatives who closely resemble each other. The acting is hit and miss throughout.  At some points it is very appropriately over the top (Like the two main characters in the flower story) and others lines are delivered so flatly that they seem more like a read through than a performance.  This is not uncommon in indie films, however, since there is often little time for rehearsals and sometimes actors are working together for the first time when the cameras are rolling.  It's something I can forgive in a movie if the stories are strong enough and the lead performances are adequate, as the case in most of the shorts here.

If I have one complaint it's that so much of the action takes place during the day.  This offers very little opportunity for dramatic lighting or dark shadows that help make horror suspenseful.  On the other hand, it does help avoid the indie stigma of being so woefully underlit that  you can't see the action.  (Newer cameras with low light capability and spot on monitors have also helped avoid this in newer indie productions.)  What we're left with are some uninspired, but very viewable scenes. On another technical note the audio is almost entirely good.  I don't recall every feeling like I suddenly couldn't hear a line.  At times it seemed, again, a bit "flat", like some more layers of sound may have helped beef things up, but good audio is better than cluttered bad audio.

Overall, I'd suggest this one to any horror or anthology fan.  There's enough entertainment here to make it worth a watch and a twist or two that might actually surprise some viewers.

I look forward to more work from this crowd.