Unlawful Entry (1992)

In the late '80s and early '90s, the glossy psycho thriller was a popular box office choice for many viewers. This was due, in no small part, to a certain smash hit by the name of Fatal Attraction. Then audiences were treated to the psycho-centric likes of Pacific Heights, Dead Calm, Single White Female, The Temp, The Crush, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and many other entertaining releases, including this one.

Directed by Jonathan Kaplan and written by Lewis Colick (though there were a couple of other people involved in creating the story), Unlawful Entry holds up as a superior entry in the psycho thriller sub-genre for two reasons. First, the presence of Ray Liotta, who can play a menacing psycho like few others. Second, the fact that this particular psycho is also a policeman, which really hits home just how scary it can be if any member of Joe Public is ever at the mercy of someone in authority abusing their power.

Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe play Michael and Karen Carr, the married couple who meet Officer Pete Davis (Liotta) when he is one of the men who responds to their call after a traumatic experience with an intruder in their home. Pete and his partner, Officer Roy Cole (Roger E. Mosley), make a great impression, both being professional and friendly, and it seems as if Officer Pete may be a good man to have as a friend. However, when Michael realises that Pete doesn't always act in accordance with the law himself he starts to get worried and he tells Karen that they shouldn't spend any more time with him. Of course, by then it's a little too late. Pete sets out to get what he wants and he has his powers as a policeman to help him get it.

The movie, essentially, boils down to a battle of wills between Russell, playing a regular guy, and Liotta and those two men really work well against one another. Madeleine Stowe isn't left out, but the film is certainly more about different types of alpha males. Roger E. Mosley does well in his role, Ken Lerner is good as the friend/attorney Roger and Deborah Offner is likable enough in the role of Karen's friend, Penny. Fans of Dick Miller will be pleased to see his brief cameo and fans of Djimon Hounsou will also be happy, despite the fact that his role is even smaller than that of Miller's.

It may be, like many others of its kind, quite hard to believe at times, but Unlawful Entry also keeps things more tense and uneasy throughout because of the thorough feeling of helplessness that Kurt Russell ends up experiencing. It may be nothing more than a slick, well-made thriller, but there are moments that strike uncomfortably close to home when aligned with news stories that have been known to crop up about corruption in the police force. It serves as a worrying reminder that bad people can do bad things, no matter what uniform they wear.

7/10

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Truck Turner (1974)

"Who's the black bounty hunter
That's a sex machine to all the chicks?
Truck!
You're damn right.

Who is the man
That would risk his neck for his brother man?
Truck!
Can you dig it?"

Yes, although this is a movie all about a bounty hunter named Truck Turner (played by Isaac Hayes) it's really just a great blaxploitation flick that keeps Hayes as close to the Shaft persona (played by Richard Roundtree, but arguably made more famous thanks to that great theme sung by Hayes) as possible while throwing in everything else that will keep audiences happy: a great cast, plenty of violence, some gratuitous nudity and a script full of gems. The fact that many scenes end with a punchline or laughter akin to the end of each Police Squad episode makes it all the better.

Here's the plot. Truck Turner is an ex-football player who is now the toughest bounty hunter going. He's like Dog the bounty hunter, except for the fact that he's black, unsympathetic to anyone he catches and quick with his fists and gun. So he's not like Dog at all, I suppose, but they do at least share the same vocation. When Truck takes a big pimp out of action he ends up in a whole heap of trouble when a madam named Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols) puts a big price on his head. All guns are aimed at Truck, but perhaps the biggest threat comes from the cool and calculating Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto).

Oscar Williams and Michael Allin may have written the script and Jonathan Kaplan may have been sitting in the director's chair, but this movie belongs to Hayes. The man owns his central role, whether he's blasting holes in baddies or seducing women away from their fried chicken (no, I'm not being racist for the sake of a cheap gag, that ACTUALLY happens), and he's also responsible for a soundtrack so funky that it may have been playing during the conception of Prince.

Mind you, let's not dismiss everyone else so quickly. Alan Weeks is good fun as Jerry, Truck's partner and good friend, and it's always nice to see the likes of Scatman Crothers and Dick Miller, even if they don't get a lot of screentime. Annazette Chase plays Annie AKA Truck's woman and does fine with her role, but the woman turning heads is Nichelle Nichols. What would Captain Kirk say if he saw/heard Lt. Uhura looking and speaking as she does in this? It's certainly a lot better than her appearance years later in the dull horror movie, The Supernaturals. Yaphet Kotto is fantastic from the moment he appears to his very final scene, the man was at the top of his game in the '70s in my opinion.

There are one or two genuinely decent action sequences, though some moments are marred by entertainingly incongruous fashion choices, and even an impressive early use of a technique (SnorriCam) that has become quite commonplace in recent years, but those don't add enough to make it a great film. It is, however, a good one and fans of blaxploitation movies should certainly love it.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Truck-Turner-DVD-Isaac-Hayes/dp/B00009MGKJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361165112&sr=8-1