NON PERIL
Michael Butts | Martinsburg, WV USA | 05/10/2005
(2 out of 5 stars)
"PERIL is one of those movies you kick yourself for watching. A derivative plot, poor acting, with characters that do really stupid things, especially the cops. Michael Pare (one of B movie's worst actors) plays Vincent Scarpetti, a psychopathic mental patient, who escapes from his asylum in a murderous spree. Morgan Fairchild and John James play a middle-aged couple down on their luck. He's an electrician who due to a genetic bone disorder is unable to work so spends his time whining and drinking. She's his long-suffering wife, who comes up with a plan to get the money necessary to save their house and get him the operation he needs: seems like his brother, a cop, stole some money and then killed himself, leaving behind a map where the money was hidden. The couple in desperatin decide to retrieve the money, despite their daughter's reservations. Of course, they do so on the day a new dam is being opened, so they only have a few hours to do their deed. He gets trapped in the sewage drain and Fairchild has to find somebody to help her. Who shows up but Pare, who kidnaps Fairchild, and thus begins a silly chase movie, with Fairchild overemoting and Pare trying to make us feel sorry for him.
While you find yourself mildly absorbed in what will happen, the movie crescendos into a series of unbelievable circumstances with a rather ridiculous ending."