This week's VHS is Harry Falk's 1989 TV
movie High Desert Kill.
Three men on a hunting trip in the desert encounter an unseen force that preys upon their weaknesses.
This one's a bit of a strange beast, in
that I wasn't sure what I was actually watching for a good chunk of the running time. More specifically, for the first hour the antagonist was completely ambiguous,
only appearing as sudden silences and Predator vision. Keeping
the viewer in a state of confusion only works for so long and this
one tottered on the verge of annoyance. It's a bit tough to stay
engaged when the scariest thing in the movie is this guy's dance
moves.
Fortunately, the movie has Chuck
mothafuckin' Connors! And while High Desert Kill might not be as wild
as Tourist Trap, he certainly makes the most of his screen time.
Another face I was happy to see was that of Marc Singer. I haven't
seen him in ages (I don't watch Arrow) and I was transported back to a time when The Beastmaster and V were constantly
spooling through my top-loading VCR.
Chuck Connors (channelling Tim Thomerson) in High Desert Kill. |
High Desert Kill was a tad dry, but at
least it was an interesting idea – once it finally gets around to
letting us in on it – even if said nugget felt like an abandoned
Twilight Zone script padded out to feature length. You could do a lot
worse though.
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