1988 horror/SF/action, dir. John Carpenter, Roddy Piper, Keith David:
IMDb /
allmovie. It's all a lie!
The 1980s: "Racial justice and human rights are non-existent." The
2020s: "Oh you sweet summer child."
This might be a classic film of paranoia, but Carpenter knows the
limits of his stars, and in the second half it rapidly degenerates
into an extended action sequence, enjoyable enough in its way but not
as memorable as the feelings of tension. The heart of the film is
about 40% of the way through, when our hero uses the glasses for the
first time and becomes convinced of The Truth.
Roddy Piper was taking a break from his WWF career, and Hell Comes to
Frogtown would come out this year too. It's very hard to decide
whether he's playing a taciturn character or he's just a bad actor;
his pro wrestling career suggests that he could indeed act, and the
character of a working-class everyman who rises to heroism shouldn't
be too demanding for him, but he never manages to be a captivating
screen presence. I feel a more accomplished actor, such as Jean-Claude
van Damme (not a phrase I will say often) might have done a better
job.
I have a soft spot for Meg Foster, who has a relatively thankless role
here as The Girl (who turns out to be a traitor, because this film is
much more interested in macho brotherliness than it is in women). I
first noticed her in Leviathan (which also came out this year), in a
small but effective part as the evil corporate type; and about this
time she had several other roles that look like hard work for little
reward, in 1987's Masters of the Universe and 1989's Blind Fury.
She had also been the original TV series Cagney (after Loretta Swit in
the pilot TV movie), sacked for being so good in the role that
middle-aged network executives thought the character might be
perceived as a lesbian.
The cops assault the homeless people's encampment. What are they
trying to do? Not mass arrests; they let people go with only a light
beating. Not to arrest specific people. Not killing them all, though
they're clearly quite happy to kill anyone who doesn't run away. Yes,
force is being used against the underdog, but there is no reason for
it beyond perhaps making the cops feel good.
But I think the problem for me re-watching this now is that in those
days, conspiracy theories seemed relatively harmless. These days
there's much less depth to explore between the enjoyably mad surface
and the anti-semitism beneath.
It has its moments, but I definitely enjoyed this less on a revisit
than when I first saw it in the 1990s.
I talk about this film further on
Ribbon of Memes.