Shudder Saturday: Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994)

Whether due to circumstances or my own mindset, I have lately been in the mood for the kind of entertainment that would have clogged up the cheaper rental sections of your local video store decades ago. Dark Angel: The Ascent may have a title that makes you think it is a sequel or a TV spin-off, but it actually appears to be neither of those things. It’s just a supernatural adventure with some romance mixed in, and does enough to entertain those who don’t mind their silly entertainment struggling to rise above some very low production values.

Angela Featherstone plays Veronica, a young demoness who wants nothing more than to mingle with us humans. She is the dark angel of the title, and coming here to our Earthly plane is the ascent. When here, Veronica meets Dr. Max Bariss (Daniel Markel). The two start to form an immediate connection, but things may be complicated by Veronica dealing out some deadly justice to wrong-doers as she spots the bad souls destined to head to the lower realms. There’s also a corrupt and nasty mayor (Milton James) to be dealt with.

Written by Matthew Bright, who would go on to much more interesting fare when writing and directing his own features, this is slight and silly stuff, but does enough to keep people watching until the very end. I am not sure who exactly it’s aimed at (the occasional bits of bloodshed are quite tame, the romance feels ill-fitting), but it gains goodwill by constantly trying to do the best it can with fairly limited resources. Director Linda Hassani doesn’t have a huge filmography. She does well here though, presenting the main character in all her glory without relying on the usual/expected gratuitous nudity and innocence normally seen in such tales of female spirits who are newcomers to our world.

Featherstone is fine in the lead role. I have apparently seen her in some other movies, even if I cannot remember her in them, and she seems to be having fun here. Markel is far less interesting, which doesn’t really matter when he is basking in the glow of Featherstone’s presence. James is enjoyable enough in his few scenes, although his character should have been more of a giant spider looming over the web of crime and debauchery, and the rest of the cast is stuffed with cops, villains, and victims all fairly indistinguishable from one another. The only others who stand out are Nicholas Worth and Charlotte Stewart, playing parents with two very different approaches to the curiosity and strange morality of their demoness daughter.

I expected to watch this and then struggle to remember it as soon as the end credits rolled. Surprisingly, I had such a good time with it that I started to wish it had started a franchise I could start wading through. And yet, slightly paradoxically, I also appreciate it more for the fact that it’s a “one and done”, which is a real rarity from Full Moon Entertainment, the production studios overseen by Charles Band.

6/10

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Freeway II: Confessions Of A Trickbaby (1999)

Just as Freeway was a twisted riff on Little Red Riding Hood, Freeway II: Confessions Of A Trickbaby is a twisted riff on Hansel & Gretel. Unfortunately, it's just not as good as the first movie, although that's not to say that it doesn't have its moments.

Natasha Lyonne has the lead role this time, as Crystal, and she ends up getting herself in enough trouble to be thrown into juvenile prison. She's not about to stay there for long, however, and soon makes good her escape with a young woman named Angela (Maria Celedonio). Unfortunately, Angela is a bit more unstable than Crystal, which can often lead to people being killed. Still, that won't matter if they can just get to the potential safe haven provided by Sister Gomez.

Once again written and directed by Matthew Bright, there may be some stylistic similarities on display here, but this shouldn't be viewed as a sequel to Freeway. Consider it more a distant cousin, a younger one that tries to act up and emulate you when it comes to visit during the holidays.

Lyonne is good in the main role, but she's not particularly easy to root for as she ends up spending more and more time averting her gaze from the obvious problems that her companion has. Celedonio gets to cut loose and embrace her freaky side as Angela, and she does just fine. Vincent Gallo appears in a small, but highly amusing, role, David Alan Grier is a very sleazy lawyer, and fans of John Landis may enjoy seeing him in his cameo.

Bright has a bizarre filmography, with Bundy being, arguably, the movie in which he comes closest to normality, but it's a shame that he has been unable, so far, to get anywhere close to the greatness of his debut feature. Everyone wants to see Tiptoes, but not necessarily for the right reasons. This movie may well prove to be the most disappointing to fans. It's not a clever reworking of the familiar material, and it's just not as much fun as it should be.

Worth a watch, but not one to revisit, and I doubt that anyone will end up choosing it as a firm favourite.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Confessions-Trickbaby-SPA-Freeway-II/dp/B003TN8V2E/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1402536474&sr=1-1&keywords=freeway+2+confessions+of+a+trickbaby

Freeway (1996)

Written and directed by Matthew Bright, Freeway is a deliriously demented riff on Little Red Riding Hood. It's sleazy, often ridiculous, and a hell of a lot of fun.

Reese Witherspoon stars as Vanessa Lutz, a young woman travelling to stay with her grandmother after her mother and stepfather are once more carted off to jail. Vanessa accepts a lift from a pleasant man named Bob (Kiefer Sutherland), but it's not long until friction develops, and Vanessa finds herself in a whole lot of trouble.

As entertaining as it is crude and obvious, Freeway is often tasteless, occasionally tense, and darkly comedic throughout. It's also polished enough to make it all more palatable, considering just how potentially dark a number of moments are. You may forget how many boxes are checked off by the time the end credits roll, but Bright includes drug addiction, prostitution, child molestation, and much more on this winding journey to grandma's house.

Witherspoon is on top form in the lead role, alternating between unbelievable naivete and tough sassiness, depending on the situation. It's a performance on a par with her turn as Tracy Flick. Sutherland is equally enjoyable, initially charming and kind before revealing a more predatory nature within. Dan Hedaya and Wolfgang Bodison are both fun as a pair of cops trying to find a serial killer, Brooke Shields does a great job as a protective wife, and Brittany Murphy adds another slightly kooky role to her long list of slightly kooky roles. In fact, with Amanda Plummer also here in a small role, the movie could easily overbalance into twitchy lunatic mode, but it doesn't.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
Bright is smart enough to tie everything in to the fairytale that he's working from without overdoing everything. Most of them are hard to miss - the red jacket worn by Vanessa, the surname of a character clueing you in to their role in the story - but others are . . . . . . . okay, also hard to miss, but that doesn't matter. Overlaying the original tale with a layer of trashy fun allows it to feel enjoyably unique, even as it hits a lot of obvious beats.

Freeway isn't a film to recommend to everyone, but I recommend it to everyone anyway. If you dig it then you will REALLY dig it. If you don't then I'm sure it won't be the worst that you've sat through.
                                                                                                                                                       
9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freeway/dp/B0000517CV/ref=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1402535501&sr=1-3&keywords=freeway