Disturbing Behavior (1998)

Disturbing Behavior is a film that I have a lot of fond memories of. It came along when I was just starting to upgrade my movie collection from VHS to DVD, the trailer was a great one, and it just kept intriguing me until I could finally get my hands on a copy. Of course, almost inevitably, I was left a bit disappointed when I finally got to see it, but a recent rewatch actually shows that it holds up as one of the better teen thrillers to come along in the '90s. It may be slick, and it may Katie Holmes failing at being a bit tough and edgy, but it's also impressively subversive throughout.

James Marsden plays Steve Clark, the new kid in town (with his younger sister, played by Katharine Isabelle), a young man who stands almost at the exact halfway point between the more rebellious kids and a group of teens who are so well-behaved that it's spooky. When he's warned about events int he local area by Gavin Strick (Nick Stahl) he shrugs it off as paranoia, the kid obviously smokes too much weed, but that doesn't spoil their friendship, especially when he gets to spend time with Rachel (Holmes). Unfortunately, it turns out that Gavin is the only one who realises the horrible truth of what's going on, and before you can say "Stepford teens" things get dangerous for Steve and Rachel.

Written by Scott Rosenberg, and directed by David Nutter, this is a film that contains a surprisingly high number of really great moments, many of them jarring nicely with the rest of the teen thriller framework. Even the opening sequence, which starts out like so many other teen movie moments, takes a very dark turn, and should clue viewers in to the fact that they're about to watch something that may not be as advertised. And the scene with Lorna Longley (Crystal Cass) trying to seduce Steve is one that won't be forgotten any time soon.

Marsden is just fine in the lead role, although he's never been leading man material (sorry to say, I like the guy but it's true). Holmes is okay, I guess, but a bit laughable at times with her desperate attempt to portray someone cool and tough. Stahl is the highlight, as sweet and likable as he is jittery and helpless. The rest of the young cast, including Cass, Isabelle, A. J. Buckley and Chad Donella all do fine work.The adults, including Bruce Greenwood, Steve Railsback and William Sadler, are all good, with the latter particularly amusing in his role (a man who knows a lot more than he lets on).

You may not end up liking Disturbing Behavior as much as I do, but I recommend giving it a try, especially if you've avoided it over the years because it looks like "just a teen thriller". It IS that, but it's much better than many others that have been released in the last two decades.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Disturbing-Behaviour-DVD-James-Marsden/dp/B00004D37A/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1394042971&sr=1-1&keywords=disturbing+behaviour

Trancers 5: Sudden Deth (1994)

Following on immediately from the events of the last movie, and they were (unsurprisingly) filmed back to back, Trancers 5: Sudden Deth sees Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) still stuck in an olde worlde time and place and still stuck with a bit of a trancer problem to deal with, as well as figuring out just how to get back to when and where he really belongs.

Everyone is back from the previous movie, including director David Nutter and writer Peter David, and it's not easy to see that the two movies together would have made for a decent, if slightly overlong, feature. This one barely qualifies as a feature, surely, with the runtime being about 72 minutes including a summary of the previous movie that runs for about 5 minutes. Oh well, at least it doesn't outstay its welcome.

It's the weakest of the lot, which is also something quite unsurprising by this stage in the franchise, but I can't say that I wasn't still kept entertained for the most part. Every gruff line uttered by Thomerson usually raises a smile and the adulation that his character receives is enjoyably comedic in its excess.

The cast once again includes Stacie Randall, Ty Miller, Terri Ivens, Clabe Hartley, Mark Arnold and Alan Oppenheimer and, once again, they prove to be a mixed bag, making up for in enthusiasm and energy what they lack in actual acting skills. Hartley is the best of the lot, mainly because he's a fun villain, but he's sorely underused here and the film decides instead to follow Jack Deth as he goes on a quest to find the means to go home. This means that it's just not as much fun as any of the previous movies, there are less action moments and the series goes out on a whimper instead of the bang it deserved (there IS a 6th instalment but it's not tied in with the "official" franchise for reasons that will become obvious when I get the review of it up here).

These movies were always fairly cheap and more about fun and adventure than absolute perfection and polish but this instalment is the first one in which the low budget really shows up in almost every scene and starts to feel just a bit lazy and slapdash. Hey, they already did a great job in taking Jack Deth on so many great adventures so I won't hold it against them but it's a point worth noting, and perhaps helps to explain why this outing just isn't as easily entertaining as the previous movies.

5/10

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Trancers 4: Jack Of Swords (1994)

I am as surprised as anyone else would be by what I'm about to say. I almost gave this movie, the fourth in a b-movie franchise, a 7/10. Almost. I came so close and argued with the little voices inside my head for quite some time before accepting the fact that there were just too many flaws here to allow me to rate the movie as very good. The logic is even flimsier than it was in the preceding three movies (and it was already very flimsy indeed) and the plot is almost wafer-thin this time around.

Here is the plot, in one simple sentence - Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson again, he's like a cross between Tom Atkins and Clint Eastwood) is again due to head into the past for a mission but he ends up going too far and finds himself in ye olde worlde setting just in the right time and place to fight some trancers that keep local commoners living in fear.

That's really all there is to it and that's all it needs. The Trancers series has never quite reached greatness but it's also never been less than enjoyable. That's due, in no small part, to the witty writing, the central character of Jack Deth and the way he is portrayed by Thomerson.

Clabe Hartley plays the main villain this time around and he's at least a lot of fun but, sadly, the rest of the cast just lack a certain something. They're not bad, exactly, but they just don't seem to have the spark inside that would make them fun to watch onscreen. Lochlyn Munro is probably the most recognisable face onscreen but Alan Oppenheimer, Mark Arnold, Stacie Randall, Terri Ivens and Ty Miller all join in with the fun.

Peter David is responsible for the thin, but fun, screenplay while David Nutter (more well-known for his work on some great TV shows than his few features) does a fine job as director. Transalation = the camera is pointing the right way most of the time and nobody walks into any of the walls (at least, not as far as I could see).

It's a slight step down from the preceding three movies but Trancers 4: Jack Of Swords is still tremendous fun, which is all the more surprising considering that it IS a fourth instalment of a movie series that should have given up and expired under the sheer weight of its own paradoxes well before now. It just goes to show how important a sense of humour and a fun approach to the material is, qualities that this series gets right every time and that makes everything a lot more enjoyable for the viewer.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trancers-Definitive-Collection-II-III/dp/B000K6L9CM/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1343852448&sr=1-1