After 20+ years of putting it off, I finally watched Future-Kill. This is one of those movies I saw at the video store all the time and kept passing on; its HG Giger cover art and the tagline about it reuniting the stars of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre making a strong enough impression to stay with me all these years. I honestly can't even recall the film being brought up even once on imdb weirdly enough.
The plotline is basically a rip off of The Warriors - a group of Frat boys go into a dilapidated inner-city inhabited by new wave rejects who are supposed to be a violence-free group of individuals opposing the use of nuclear weapons - but when one bad apple named Splatter (played by The Hitchhiker from TCM) kills the leader of the resistance and blames it on the Frat Boys, well....all hell breaks loose....and the Frats, who, like The Warriors, not only have to stay alive and figure out a way home, also happen to be pretty damn good fighters.
Enjoyable stuff. Splatter is an awesome villain, clearly inspired by Wez from The Road Warrior except with more armor and razor sharp fingernails. The cinematography is that typically murky mid-80s look that you expect, particularly because the events of the film take place overnight, although there are splashes of neon to spice things up. Also it's worth mentioning that the beginning takes its cue from Porky's with shenanigans in a frathouse, so that's yet another popular movie Future-Kill is referencing.
It could have used more gore but that's a minor grievance as it's fast-paced and never dull. The movie even takes an extended break in a punk club that gives us a glimpse as to how the resistance spends their downtime:
Oh yeah, Marilyn Burns (Sally from TCM) is in it as well, but with a very small role and looking nearly unrecognizable. I mean, the tagline certainly wasn't lying, but it ain't like anybody would ever know otherwise.
