Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 15, 1994 TAG: 9401150077
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"Zeram," for example, is a semi-comic Japanese import. Science fiction fans will catch elements of "Wonder Woman," "Godzilla" and "Alien" in this video comic book. The title character looks like a guy in a gorilla suit and an old bathrobe who has a giant shiitake mushroom growing on top of his head.
He's an intergalactic criminal. Hot on his trail are bounty hunter Delia (Yuko Moriyama) and her computer, Bob. They manage to trap Zeram in an industrial suburb of Tokyo, but a couple of electrical workers - imagine a Japanese Laurel and Hardy - are caught with the critter.
Most of the action is commonplace s-f martial arts stuff: lots of explosions, fighting, running and jumping about. Some of the effects are fairly inventive, notably some monstrous little mucus babies that Zeram creates. For goofy, low-budget comedy, "Zeram" is a kick.
"Out For Blood" would be nothing more than a run-of-the-mill martial arts flick if it weren't for the presence of Don "The Dragon" Wilson. There's nothing original about the plot (revenge against drug dealers who killed family) or the characters. The fights are well-choreographed and remarkably realistic in a few cases, but that's not too unusual for the genre, either.
The key to this one is the star. Wilson has the indefinable screen presence that made Bruce Lee so popular. It has something to do with energy. In key scenes, Wilson is reminiscent of a young James Cagney, filled to bursting with adrenaline and fire. He can direct in into the camera and share it with the viewer; that's the important part. There are dozens of bigger stars out there, and guys with bulkier muscles who can kick higher and yell louder, but Don Wilson is more fun to watch than any of them. I want to see more of his work.
"Monolith," due in stores next month, is an s-f shoot-'em- up that begins with a fair premise but falls apart completely in the second half.
Tucker (Bill Paxton) and Flynn (Lindsay Frost) are stereotyped plainclothes L.A. cops who despise each other. They're working on a curious case involving a Russian scientist, but before they can question the woman she's spirited away by a spooky, arrogant government guy (John Hurt) from an intelligence agency. Their boss (Louis Gossett Jr.) is no help.
Will these maverick cops let that stop them? Of course not. Writer Stephen Lister borrows freely from the collected works of Stephen King for the rest of this story, "Firestarter" and "The Tommyknockers" being the most obvious. Director John Eyres keeps the story moving at a good clip, too. And the actors do better work than they have to. But there's little they can do to rescue the derivative story and familiar characters.
Curiously though, "Monolith" has excellent production values. If Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner had been cast in the leads, it could have been a bad theatrical release. Lacking that dubious achievement, it went straight to video.
As you might guess from the title, "Based on an Untrue Story" is a parody of television, specifically made-for-TV movies, soap operas, commercials, mini-series and local news.
The plot revolves around the beautiful and talented perfume magnate Satin Chau (Morgan Fairchild) who is tragically sticken with anosmia (loss of sense of smell) as her newest scent, Puppy, makes its debut. Her only hope is a nasal nerve transplant from one of her sisters, Velour (Ricki Lake) or Corduroy (Victoria Jackson) from whom she was separated at birth. She also must deal with her philandering boyfriend (Robert Goulet) and boss (Dyan Cannon, who still may have the best legs in Hollywood).
Considering that its sights are set so low, this parody, which appears to have been shot on tape, is about as funny as it could be. But there's little to recommend it to anyone who's not familiar with the source material.
Finally, we have "A Wish for Wings That Work," an adaptation of a Berke Breathed Christmas story. Though the quality of the animation is first-rate, this one-joke tale is distinctly lacking in charm. I should confess that I am one of those who did not mourn the passing of Breathed's "Outland" comic strip from this newspaper. Like this cartoon, it has lost the spark that made "Bloom County" so delightful in its prime, and that's a shame.
THE ESSENTIALS:
Zeram ** 1/2 FoxLorber. 90 min. Unrated, contains violence and some strong language.
Out For Blood *** PM Home Video. 90 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, sexual content.
Monolith * 1/2 MCA/Universal. 96 min. Rated R for graphic gun violence, language.
Based on an Untrue Story ** FoxVideo. 90 min. Unrated, contains no objectionable material.
A Wish For Wings That Work * MCA/Universal. 30 min. Unrated, contains no objectionable material.
by CNB