RUNNING
HOT (1984)Director: Mark Griffiths
Code Red DVD
RUNNING
HOT (1984)At the mere push of a button
there are literally hundreds of cable channels readily available for me to peruse
and enjoy all within the comfort of my own home and yet, I bet I only regularly
watch 15, maybe 20 of them at most. I know for a fact that I pay for them all,
but the majority of them just sit there, ignored and frankly unwanted. I do
however find myself pausing on one channel in particular when scrolling through
a sea of endless home shopping channels and multiple 24 hour news networks,
as the made for television movies they regularly showcase never fail to stand
out and grab my attention. With such exploitative titles as TERROR IN THE MALL,
CRIMES OF PASSION: SHE WOKE UP PREGNANT and my personal favorite MOTHER, MAY
I SLEEP WITH DANGER?, it's hard not to give The Lifetime Movie network at least
five minutes of my time. Yes, the content often leaves one longing for an extra
long commercial break, but the titles themselves are works of sheer marketing
genius. In many ways RUNNING HOT looks and feels like a movie that would ideally
cater to LMN’s target demographic, albeit with a touch more violence and
a lot more nudity. A mature woman with a questionable background finds love
on the run with a sensitive youth who is trying to escape his past. Jazz up
the title a little and you’re ready for prime time.
Convicted and sentenced to death for murdering his father, 17 year old Danny
Hicks (Eric Stoltz) reluctantly finds himself as the lead story of every major
media outlet on the West Coast. Nicknamed the “Silent Slayer” due
to his quite courtroom demeanor, Danny’s final verdict sends the young
man into a violent and uncharacteristic rage, providing further fodder for the
local eleven o’clock news. The day’s most shocking headlines are
however still to come, as while en-route from the courthouse to the prison where
he is scheduled to carry out his final sentence, Danny manages to break free
of his police escort, accidentally killing an officer in the process. Fleeing
the scene, Danny hightails it to the apartment of Charlene (Monica Carrico),
a hooker and obsessed fan who has been following Danny’s trial closely.
Very closely. When not masturbating in the bathtub to his picture, Charlene
has been spending her time writing letters to the young convict several years
her junior. Following the return address from her latest love offering, Danny
tracks down Charlene only to collapse bruised and battered on her front door.
Shocked and delighted to find the object of her fixation passed out on her welcome
mat, Charlene takes the wayward teen under her wing. After feeding and cleaning
him up, Charlene convinces Danny to let her accompany him to Arizona to see
his sister Jennifer (Juliette Cummins, FRIDAY THE 13th: A NEW BEGINNING) who
has been staying with relatives during the trail. Their road trip however begins
with a bumpy and bloody start when Danny is forced to kill Charlene’s
lover, news anchor Tom Bond (Richard Bradford, THE UNTOUCHABLES), while defending
himself from attack. With an officer (Stuart Margolin, FUTUREWORLD) already
on their tail, the two love birds will have to call in every favor and pray
for their bad luck to change if they are to make it to Arizona before being
picked up and separated forever.
For
his first theatrical outing, writer/director Mark Griffiths wisely keeps his
story tight and the action moving. You generally know what is going to happen
next, with most plot points visible from about a mile away, but the steady and
assured pace allows little time for one's attention to wander, resulting in
an entertaining if not somewhat predictable outing. Shot on 35mm, the film’s
subject matter of murderous teenagers, kindhearted hookers and aging pimps probably
seemed racy upon its original release but by today’s standards, they almost
seem wholesome. Most of their underworld and under the covers activities come
across as surprisingly clean cut, lending the film as a whole to the feel of
a made- for-TV movie of the week that, again, would be perfect for the Lifetime
Network. Over the next two years Mark Griffiths would turn his talents to help
sculpt HARDBODIES and its sequel, both of which are currently scheduled to be
released by Anchor Bay, and has recently found success with a number of direct-to-TV
family films, including the AU PAIR series and BEETHOVEN’S 5th.
After several episodic television appearances and a brief but noteworthy stoner
performance in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, Eric Stoltz landed his first leading
role as Danny, a misunderstood youth on the run from the law. While he plays
naive well enough, his performance, particularly toward the film's end, comes
across a little hokey and other than passing resemblance to a past boyfriend,
it's hard to see what Charlene actually sees in this kid. As Charlene, Monica
Carrico remains patiently perky and quick-witted given the repeated predicaments
her new boy toy keeps stumbling into. Clearly the brains of their outfit, it’s
safe to say that without Charlene Danny would have been picked up by the police
within hours of his escape. Her character's fascination with the number 13 is
never fully explored but her dancer's body sure is as the film gives the ex
Jane Fonda workout instructor plenty of time to moisten her headband and over
sized FLASHDANCE sweatshirt with perspiration. Virgil Frye (Punky Brewster's
Dad) turns in a notable albeit short lived performance as Charlene’s pimp
and Richard Bradford seems to relish his short screen time, most of which is
spent rubbing up against Mrs. Carrico. His character's habit of speaking in
bad impressions, similar to Michael Pataki in DELINQUENT SCHOOL GIRLS, is tiring
but he does help provide some of the more memorable (by which I mean hilarious)
scenes, such as when Charlene tries to conceal the fact that Danny is hiding
in her closest by trying to pass off the pool of blood on her waterbed as an
accident of her menstrual cycle.
Originally
titled LUCKY 13, RUNNING HOT had a short theatrical run through New Line Cinema
in the mid 1980s before eventually being allocated to the drive-in circuit.
Finding its way onto VHS a few years later through Vestron, RUNNING HOT could
be caught on television thanks to several late night cable airings, but by the
early 1990s RUNNING HOT had all but been forgotten, mentioned only occasionally
when discussing similar, more mainstream fare such as TRUE ROMANCE. Code Red
have however seen fit to pull this small but entertaining film from failing
into complete obscurity, presenting the film with a brand new anamorphic 1.78:1
widescreen transfer taken from the original camera negative. Picture quality
varies from sharp and clear to grainy and soft, almost as if certain scenes
were color corrected while others were not as the film has a bad of habit of
darkening, though briefly, without warning. The mono English audio track occasionally
sounds distant but for the most part comes across fair and while the back cover
lists the film’s running time at 95 minutes, it is actually just under
90.
Extras include an audio commentary track moderated by Lee Christian that features
writer/director Mark Griffiths (who also provides a brief introduction before
the feature) and producer David Callaway as they remember and relive the film's
shoot and distribution. Both men seem to hold nothing but fond memories of the
experience, even though every trick in the book had to be used in order to get
around budget limitations. An on camera, eight minute interview with Griffiths
features the director retelling many of the same anecdotes provided in the audio
commentary and is accompanied by a stills gallery of behind-the-scenes footage,
lobby cards and VHS box art, all of which carry the film's original title, LUCKY
13. The alternate opening title RUNNING HOT is also provided but surprisingly
no trailers for past and future Code Red releases are present. And I must say
they were missed. (Jason
McElreath)