Criminal Act (1989)

Memorable, crazy movie

Fantastic!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I caught this on Amazon Prime under the title TUNNELS. It's very low budget little effort that openly copies the superior C.H.U.D., but that doesn't mean that it's not a worthwhile viewing. I see that most people hate it on here, but I liked it regardless; the film is cheap and cheerful, designed to entertain with funny one-liners in the script and nice performances from the supporting cast members. Catherine Bach and Charlene Dallas make for a good pair of heroines in the CAGNEY & LACEY mould, while the likes of John Saxon and in particular the unknown Ray Tillotson give some very satisfying supporting turns. Okay, so the eventual reveal of the film's villain is a bit disappointing, but the '80s atmosphere is spot on.

Reporter Pam Weiss (Catherine Bach) and her photographer Sharon (Charlene Dallas) discover a series of hidden tunnels underneath their building. In doing so, they uncover an unscrupulous businessman named Lance Ballard (Victor Brandt) just might have a connection to the recent reports of missing bums. Together with Lance's handsomer brother Ron (Nicholas Guest), they team up to figure out just how they are making these folks disappear. A perfect example of "great cover/bad movie" exists with this late 80s thriller. The awesome art would have you think you are getting a C.H.U.D.-level "creature roams the sewers" flick. Instead, you get a painfully bland story about a businessman wanting to get bums from out of his planned projects. Wow. You won't get any thrills here as director Mark Byers does everything flat and cheap (notice their one set for the sewers used over and over). The craziest thing about this flick is that screenwriter Daniel Yost had another film out the same year and it was the classic DRUGSTORE COWBOY. Vic Tayback has a small role at the beginning as "The Exterminator" and tiny guy Cork Hubbert, the lead from UNDER THE RAINBOW (1981), is the villain's right hand man.

This is not that bad for an eighties horror. I had to weigh in because of the overwhelming amount of bad reviews. Yes, the premise of odd tunnels directly under a newspaper building containing a Ratman (who does look a bit like Tiny Tim) and a bunch of jailed homeless people is not only stupid, but barely even coherent here. But it has quite a bit of camp value with John Saxon, Catherine Bach and Mel from Mel's Diner in the 70's sitcom Alice. Enjoyable little hour and a half flight for genre fans. That is, admittably bad 80's horror fans.

This is one bizarre movie. I think it is tounge in cheek, but I am not sure. Lots of TV notables from Alice, Dukes of Hazard, etc. Strange sets and set-ups, a humanoid rat that does not look like a rat (looks like Tiny Tim), homeless people and the white slave trade.