HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Terror in Beverly Hills Frank, He Don't Give A Damn
Year: 1989
Director: John Myhers
Stars: Frank Stallone, Behrouz Vossoughi, Cameron Mitchell, William Smith, Lysa Heslov, Ingrid Vold, Joe Davis, Muneer Katchi, Brian Leonard, Sam Sako, Shahurad Vossughi, Ron Waldron, Bonita Money, Debbie Welter
Genre: Action, Thriller, TrashBuy from Amazon
Rating:  2 (from 1 vote)
Review: In the Middle East, the Islamic terrorist Abdul (Behrouz Vossoughi) is horrified that the Israeli Government have imprisoned so many of his brethren and seeks to make amends. To do so, he bands together with a collection of his fellow terrorists, and hops aboard a flight to the United States of America (on which he can call the stewardess an infidel for trying to help him with his seatbelt), where he can set his plan in motion. It's a modest idea, a simple kidnapping, but the target is anything but modest, none other than Margaret (Lysa Heslov), the daughter of the President himself, who they corner in a Beverly Hills boutique. Who will help her?

Stallone, that's who, but not THAT Stallone, the other one. In the nineteen-eighties, Sylvester Stallone sought superstar status with a series of macho action blockbusters, but just as Liberace had his brother George, so did Sly. Well, he had his brother Frank, but it was largely the same arrangement as, tired of trying to get his music career off the ground (and also off the back of his brother's movies), he had a go at this acting lark too. He went on to become one of the highest paid and respected action leading men of his generation - ah, no, not really, he became a punchline for TV comedy and internet wags alike, and with efforts like this, little wonder.

Cheap doesn't begin to cover Terror in Beverly Hills, an all-expenses spared endeavour that demonstrated how not every Israeli family-produced American action movie could be put down to Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus at Cannon in this era - this was from the Bibiyans, a couple of brothers who did their best to muscle in on the muscle movie market and singularly failed to set the box office alight, though video renters of the time might have recognised their names. Desperate video renters who were left with very little choice just before the store's closing time, that was. Here, as with Cannon, their favoured bad guys were the Arabs, and that was not the only cliché.

Stallone essayed an ex-marine who has retired to spend time with his family, but wouldn't you know it, he is dragged back into the melee at the request of the President, played by action staple William Smith, yet his voice was dubbed, presumably either because he couldn't be arsed getting involved with post-production, or because it was decided his actual, hard as nails speaking voice was so overwhelming that audiences would be expecting Smith to take matters in hand and rescue Margaret himself. As it was, he spent the whole movie behind a desk with a Presidential seal on the wall immediately behind him as he phoned the unheard and unseen Israeli President - convincing didn't begin to cover it. The same could apply to the rest of the project, as corner-cutting was evident in every frame.

For this and other reasons, Terror in Beverly Hills has picked up a small cult following of the "so bad it's good" brigade, but although there were laughs to be garnered here from the insane amounts of thrift on display (including one woman typing important information into her computer without moving her fingers one millimetre), it was more boring than fun. Fortunately, one actor was here to save the day: no, not Frank, it was Cameron Mitchell as the Police Chief, who obviously didn't give two hoots about any of this as long as he was paid, and peppered his lines with gratuitous swearing that sounded less like hardboiled dialogue and closer to a cry for help. His exchanges with the single (!) camera crew who showed up to cover the hostage situation were a masterclass in not being remotely bothered if anyone would see this shite. As for Stallone, playing one Hack Stone (?!), he was offscreen for most of this till the final twenty minutes or so whereupon he did what you'd expect; gotta love the heroic SWAT team who unleashed a hail of bullets at the crumpled body of a man who has just leapt from a high window. Plinky plonky synths by Alan DerMarderosian.
Reviewer: Graeme Clark

 

This review has been viewed 2605 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
Mary Sibley
Enoch Sneed
Darren Jones
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
Graeme Clark
  Desbris M
   

 

Last Updated: