Chattahoochee (1990)

Directed by: Mick Jackson
Written by: James Hicks
Starring: Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, Frances McDormand, Pamela Reed, Ned Beatty, M. Emmet Walsh

Emmet Foley (Oldman,) a decorated but troubled Korean War vet suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and impotence, has a breakdown and goes on a shooting spree in his neighborhood, subliminally hoping to commit "suicide by cop." When that fails, he shoots himself in the chest but survives to be sentenced to a maximum security mental hospital in 1955 Florida. While recovering, he begins to feel a sense of rage over the mistreatment and open abuse of his fellow inmates, whose needs are ignored in an atmosphere of neglect and filth. With the help of another inmate (Hopper) and his faithful sister (Reed,) he begins a campaign against the entrenched bureaucracy to improve conditions for his fellow patients.

This film would have been better if the director had managed to reel the cast in a little bit. Oldman and Hopper in particular. Their scenes come across as ham-fisted and over the top, ruining scenes that were supposed to be harrowing and shocking. McDormand, playing the dimwitted wife, has a couple decent scenes, but she's far from memorable in this. Pamela Reed, on the other hand, gives a good solid performance in this, free of histrionics and scenery chewing.

The script is another problem. It's filled with every cliche in the 'insane asylum' genre book. From cruel orderlies to heartless hospital bureaucrats to long scenes of suffering. There's nothing here that we haven't seen dozens of times before.

All in all it's not a horrible film, it's just very predictable and routine. There are other, better films to see if you want a look inside the horrors of mid-twentieth century psychiatric wards.

Final Verdict: Skip It

Rolling Tunder (1977)

Directed by: John Flynn
Written by: Paul Shrader + Heywood Gould
Starring: William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Haynes, James Best, Dabney Coleman

The vigilante revenge genre is one of my favorites. There's 'Straw Dogs,' 'Thriller: A Cruel Picture,' 'Ms. 45,' 'Foxy Brown,' 'Coffy,' and 'Death Wish,' just to name a few. 'Rolling Thunder' is somewhat different than those. Instead of balls to the wall action and formulaic dialogue, we get a very introspective film spotted with sequences of intense 70's exploitation violence.

The film stars William Devane as Major Charles Raine, a troubled Vietnam veteran returning home from the war. During a local heroes welcome home ceremony, he is awarded a large sum of money from the town for his bravery. Before he can even settle back down into a peaceful existence with his wife and son, some local thugs attack, looking for the money. During the struggle his wife and son are murdered, and his hand is cut off.

After he gets out of the hospital, (where they replaced his hand with a hook) he vows to get revenge. He befriends a local waitress (played wonderfully by Linda Haynes) and soon they are off to Mexico to track down the killers. It is during this portion of the film where we get some great glimpses into these two tragic characters heads. This part of the film is so good, that the revenge sequences towards the end seem extraneous and dull, despite their gore.

All in all it's not a bad film at all. It just seems to lose steam towards the end. It's certainly worth checking out if you're a fan of 70's revenge films and/or Vietnam movies.



Final Verdict: See It