Remembering Dick Miller (December 25, 1928 - January 30, 2019).🕯
#horror #scifi #sciencefiction #comedy #thriller #comedy #action #adventure #western #mystery
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Blu-ray Review: Unlawful Entry
Box office draw is anything but predictable, but Hollywood sure likes to hedge its bets. From Scream's teen slasher revival to Paranormal Activity's found footage trend to Marvel's superhero craze, a novel concept that over-performs is almost guaranteed to yield similar projects until audiences tire of the fad. Fatal Attraction launched a cycle of racy thrillers in the early '90s that included the likes of Basic Instinct, Single White Female, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Sleeping with the Enemy, and Cape Fear.
While not as well remembered as the aforementioned efforts, Unlawful Entry remains an effective entry in the subgenre from journeyman director Jonathan Kaplan (The Accused, ER). Lewis Colick's (October Sky, Charlie St. Cloud) script may traverse familiar tropes, but Kurt Russell (The Thing), Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), and Madeleine Stowe (12 Monkeys) gracefully elevate the material with their performances.
Bookended by tense home invasion sequences, the 1992 film opens with a burglar breaking into the upscale home of recent Los Angeles transplants Michael (Russell) and Karen Carr (Stowe). Although ultimately unharmed, they're left shaken up by the ordeal after Michael is forced to watch helplessly as the assailant holds Karen at knifepoint. Responding officer Pete Davis (Liotta) goes out of his way to help them feel safer.
Pete presents himself as the sincere lawman at first, but it quickly becomes clear to both the viewer and Michael that he's unhinged. He grows increasingly obsessed with Karen, invading not only the couple's home but also their lives as he does everything in his considerable power to take Michael out of the picture. The third act is exactly the suspenseful thrill-ride you'd want from a movie of this ilk.
While a lesser film would pit Russell and Liotta against one another in a testosterone-fueled stand-off, Unlawful Entry takes a more interesting approach. Although their conflict is not without machismo, their personalities repel one another on a granular level. Beyond coveting his wife, Pete has no respect for Michael. In Pete's mind, he is the alpha male getting his hands dirty and protecting the streets, so he deserves Michael's prosperous life.
Liotta is effectively disarming at first before unraveling into a deranged stalker. Russell is as charming as ever, but he's not afraid to show vulnerability. Stowe brings a cleverness to the damsel in distress. The cast also includes Roger E. Mosley (Magnum P.I.) as Pete's level-headed partner, Ken Lerner (The Goldbergs) as Michael's lawyer, Dick Miller (Gremlins) as an impound clerk, and a young Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy) as a prisoner.
Unlawful Entry is now invading homes on Blu-ray via Scream Factory exclusively on ShoutFactory.com. While the company's limited releases are typically reserved for titles with a more narrow appeal, Unlawful Entry's allotment of 1,620 units sold out in a matter of days, prompting them to increase the run to 2,600 (which brings into question the point of limiting it in the first place, but I digress).
The film is presented in high definition from an existing transfer with 5.1 Surround DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio options. The quality is aggressively fine; it certainly won't win any competitions against a modern 4K master, but it's a welcome improvement over the old DVD.
Despite its limited status, new special features were produced: a 28-minute interview Kaplan, who sets the stage by highlighting his genre-hopping career before focusing on Unlawful Entry; an interview with cinematographer Jamie Anderson (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Small Soldiers); and an featurette in which music historian Daniel Schweiger breaks down the score by James Horner (Aliens, Avatar).
Archival special features include: a DVD commentary by Kaplan, who notes how he learned how to reflect the subjectivity of human experience in film by watching Alfred Hitchcock and details how the Rodney King riots impacted the movie; a vintage EPK-style featurette with snippets from Kaplan, Russell, Liotta, Stowe, and more; the theatrical trailer; and two TV spots.
In a time when police misconduct is caught on camera on a near-daily basis, Unlawful Entry is all the more relevant over 30 years removed from its original release. Coupled with a severely underrated performance from the late Liotta, the '90s thriller gem begging for rediscovery.
Unlawful Entry is available now on Blu-ray via Scream Factory.
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