Tag Archives: Rick Hearst

Warlock III: The End of Innocence (1999, directed by Eric Freiser)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

College student Kris (Hellraiser’s Ashley Laurence) is surprised to learn that she’s inherited a house that once belonged to her family. She and her friends, one of whom is a witch, go to check out the house. One of them accidentally releases Philip Covington (Bruce Payne), a warlock who was long ago imprisoned by Kris’s mother. Philip tried to sacrifice Kris when she was a child. Now that he’s free, he plans to finish the job but only after he takes care of all of her friends.

I had actually forgotten that there was a third Warlock film, mostly because this film has nothing to do with the other two movies. The warlock in this movie is not the same warlock from the other two movies and, while Bruce Payne isn’t bad in the role, he still doesn’t quite have the presence of Julian Sands. The tone of this movie is also different from the first Warlock films, which were basically low-budget version of films like The Omen and The Exorcist. The cover art for Warlock III’s DVD release was obviously designed to bring to mind films like Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Urban Legend. This more of a drawn-out slasher film than a metaphysical battle between good and evil.

Probably the main reason to see this film is because it stars Ashley Laurence, who really should have had a bigger career after Hellraiser. She’s as gorgeous as ever but she doesn’t get to do much until the movie’s final moments.  Her actions do lead to a lot of innocent deaths but she seems gets over it quickly.

Warlock III is Warlock without the Warlock, which was almost as pointless as doing a Leprechaun movie without Warwick Davis. Surely, no one would ever be that stupid!

Crossing the Line (1990, directed by Gary Graver)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Rick Kagan (Rick Hearst) is a rich kid who has a rebellious attitude and lives to race dirt bikes.  The other dirt bikers don’t like him and, when he tries to join the team sponsored by Steve Sinclair (Vernon Wells), the the other members of the team refuses to race with him.  Rick competes without a team, while falling in love with the pretty Megan (Colleen Poland) and trying to avoid his disapproving father (John Saxon).

It’s hard to know what to make of this sports film.  Rick Kagan is our hero but he’s petulant and spoiled and it’s hard to root for him.  You can understand why other people wouldn’t want to race with him.  I wouldn’t want him on my team.  He takes too many stupid risks and he has absolutely no clue how to be a teammate.  We’re supposed to like him because the members of the opposing team are also jerks but Rick doesn’t come across as being any better.

The only interesting thing about this film is that there are a few familiar faces in the cast.  Saxon is Rick’s father and gives a better performance than the material deserves.  Vernon Wells’s is the sponsor of Rick’s rivals.  Cameron Mitchell is the chief of police who tells Saxon that he needs to be a better father.  This must have been one of Mitchell’s final movies.  He only appears in one scene and he doesn’t look well.  Rick Hearst had the screen presence to be a star but, in this film, he’s stuck with a character who is impossible to root for.

Crossing the Line is set in America but it was filmed in South Africa at a time when many productions were boycotting the country to protest Apartheid.  Director Gary Graver was a protégé of Orson Welles and was one of the many crew members involved in the lengthy shooting of The Other Side of the Wind.  Graver shows a good eye for directing dirt bike races.  It’s just too bad the film is far less interesting once it gets off the track.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 3.21 “Till Death Do Us Part”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network!  It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

This week, a loved one dies.

Episode 3.21 “Till Death Do Us Part”

(Dir by Michael Levine, originally aired on April 12th, 1998)

When two robbers invade a high-end clothing store and shoot a security guard, they also accidentally shoot and kill Linda, Victor’s fiancée.  In fact, Linda was trying on a wedding dress when she was shot.  She was accompanied by Chris.  In typical Pacific Blue style, even though Victor is the one who has just lost his fiancée, Chris also gets a chance to tell everyone that it’s also something that she’ll never recover from because she was the one who was actually there when it happened.  Chris is so upset that she initially refuses to even change her clothes, even though they’ve been splattered with Linda’s blood.  The show seems to think that this makes Chris into a strong character.  Personally, I think it makes her someone who is so self-centered that she even has to make the death of someone else’s fiancée all about her.  I can only imagine how Victor feels seeing Linda’s blood all over Chris’s shirt.

As for Victor, he goes on a rampage, tearing up Santa Monica until he finds the man who shot Linda.  Victor ignores regulations.  He breaks rules.  He nearly shoots the killer in a parking lot and his partner Cory promises to back him up if he pulls the trigger.  In the end, Victor is not a cold-blooded murderer.  He allows the killer to be arrested.  He tells the killer that he can’t wait to witness his execution.  (Good luck, Victor.  You’re in California!)  But, as the episode ends, it’s mentioned that Internal Affairs is going to want his badge.

(Apparently, that will be dealt with in next week’s episode, which is also the season three finale.)

Watching this episode, I can found myself asking myself if all the other cops in Santa Monica have been fired.  I didn’t see anyone other than the bicycle cops investigating the robberies or the shootings.  I didn’t see anyone from Homicide looking into Linda’s murder.  Instead, the entire episode was full of people trying to look tough while wearing bicycle shorts.

It just can’t be done!