Speaking of tawdry rip-offs, heres a new vision of Joseph Rubens 1987 movie, updated to the era of cell phones and Americas Most Wanted by JS Cardone and Nelson McCormick, the creative duo that also remade Prom Night. If youre not familiar with Rubens version, it had Terry OQuinn (Lost) in a career-making turn as Gerry Blake, who roamed the country marrying widows before erupting into violence every time his perfect new family failed to live up to his harsh standards. Blake becomes David Harris (Dylan Walsh) in this remake, and like every other adult in the film, hes a one-dimensional clown. Pure evil and so indestructible he must be made from liquid metal, David has two facial expressions: a fake smile that somehow fools everybody, and a sour snarl that means Duck And Cover. When we reach the final confrontation which takes place on a rooftop, during a thunderstorm, while Hitchcock knock-off music plays its a reminder of how low-key the original was. Gerry Blake was stabbed and shot and.died. He didnt get up and walk away after being stabbed in the neck, thrown through a wall, tossed off a roof and sent crashing through a greenhouse. He died. He ceased to be. He was bleeding demised. He was an ex-stepfather. Until resurrected for the sequel, anyway.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
