Running Scared

[Guest CASSANOVA72]

Wow have to watch this again was not able to take it all in but it was pretty impressive. I would have beat those kids a$$es a long time ago though:lol

Anyone else like this?

[Guest godzillakungfu]

Worse movie I have seen in quite awhile.

I think they channeled M. Knights spirit and then took LSD. I have never seen so many different plot twists in a movie in my life.

Heck there were at least 5 different storylines going on in the movie.

[Guest Dion Brother]

I loved it. Gruesome throwback to the sleazy action flicks of the early 1980s. Saw it at the cinema during its one week run. Felt like I was watching a Walter Hill movie on 42nd Street in 1979. Most fun I've had at a cinema since the KILL BILL movies.

[Guest Soda drink]

I really enjoyed the movie as well. The movie was truly a rollercoaster ride. They're were so many cliche's turned upside down and inside out that it really was a breath of fresh air for me.

I usually don't go for these stylized films but this film really kept the gimmicky camera angles and ADD edits to a minimum and that helped me ease into the setting much faster.

One of the few major gripes that I had with this movie was that they made Paul Walker's character an informant thus a good guy...this movie would have been an easy favorite of mine if it broke this cliche as well.

Was the movie far-fetched? Most definitely, but given the characters and the original circumstances they were placed in -- it seemed to all fit and make sense.

Great movie.

[Guest zhunaid]

from a south african director

[Guest The Running Man]

I loved it. Gruesome throwback to the sleazy action flicks of the early 1980s. Saw it at the cinema during its one week run. Felt like I was watching a Walter Hill movie on 42nd Street in 1979. Most fun I've had at a cinema since the KILL BILL movies

Although the movie is a throwback to the days when Hollywoood films had balls in terms of the violence, I would not call this film "sleazy" in any way.

There is way too much high inventive visual design for this simply to be thrown in tha catoegy. In that sense, this film is brilliant and the main reason why I enjoyed the hell out of it. It really surprises me how most people and critics don't mention this. I guess most people who watch movies don't really notice that stuff. A shame. Anyway, this film is basically Hollywood's (and is in more of the tradition of) Time and Tide and Nowhere To Hide.

The worst thing about the movie though is the ending. Real bummer considering how great the movie was before it.

[Guest Chinatown Kid]

Damn, I thought you guys were talking about that movie starring Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines! :lol

[Guest Dion Brother]

Well, you got cunnilingus, full frontal female nudity with a closeup of a stripper's crotch, and a stomach churning kiddie snuffporn subplot. While this may not meet your definition of sleazy, it isn't Disneyland either.

[Guest The Running Man]

Oral sex on a woman and full frontal nudity are not exactly exclusive to 70s & 80s trash films. Neither are 70s & 80s trash films exclusive in dealing with sick people's obsession with minors.

On top of that, it's visual style is way too creative, inventive, and cinematic to be simply linked to exploitative cinema. That's really what sets this movie apart from other films in Hollywood right now and why I suggest that the only films similar to it are HK's Time and Tide and Korea's Nowhere to Hide.

[Guest Dion Brother]

They aren't exclusive, but they are certainly rare in mainstream films. Interesting to note that Wayne Kramer couldn't get a cunnilingus scene into the more mainstream, artsier THE COOLER, but had no problem with RUNNING SCARED.

Exploitive cinema was never low on style. MAD MAX was dumped into drive-ins. As was THE WARRIORS and SUSPIRIA. Just because they are looked at as art today, I can assure you they did not have that reputation when first released. They were 42nd Street castoffs that are better remembered today than most of the mainstream boredom that was big at the time. That's how I view RUNNING SCARED, and that's why I compare it to those type of movies. It is a movie that is gaining a fervent following on dvd, and will be better remembered in five years than SUPERMAN RETURNS.

[Guest sammofan]

Damn, I thought you guys were talking about that movie starring Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines!

Me too! I love the eighties. Remember this?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFN5lkDW4x8&search=sweet%20freedom

[Guest The Running Man]

Exploitive cinema was never low on style. MAD MAX was dumped into drive-ins. As was THE WARRIORS and SUSPIRIA. Just because they are looked at as art today, I can assure you they did not have that reputation when first released. They were 42nd Street castoffs that are better remembered today than most of the mainstream boredom that was big at the time. That's how I view RUNNING SCARED, and that's why I compare it to those type of movies. It is a movie that is gaining a fervent following on dvd, and will be better remembered in five years than SUPERMAN RETURNS.

Yes but I'd hardly call Mad Max an exploitative film. Just cause it was dumped on grind houses don't mean it was a cheap cash in flick (which is what I think of when I think of exploitation cinema). In fact, Mad Max was quite welcomed in it's native Australia with quite a few nominations at their film awards, including one for a best picture prize.

Running Scared has far more intelligence and vision than any exploitation film. In fact, it's entire narrative can be viewed as an R rated bedtime tale, which really is what the film makes itself to be. And again, it's brilliant visual design just takes it far off the league of what's out there.

Would have been the best film this year IMO if it weren't for the cheap ending. And the film could have used a better title than the generic "Running Scared" and a better trailer.

[Guest Dion Brother]

MAD MAX was never intended to be high art. It was just exceptionally well-made. Orignally George Miller was planning an Aussie version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but couldn't get enough financing for it (read this in an old Fangoria interview, at the time the only magazine covering MAD MAX's release in the us), so went for a Death Wish meets the Wild One type of film. Exploitation movies never lacked intelligence and wit either. The Aussie industry was very small at the time, so naturally a global hit like MAD MAX is going to get heaps of praise. DEATH RACE 2000 and ALLIGATOR were two productions with an intelligence and wit that transcended their genres. My point is: RUNNING SCARED reminds me of those great exploitation movies of the 1970s, which were stylish, intelligent movies, because filmmakers were allowed more freedom to experiment within those boundaries(that's where Scorcese and Demme got their start). Compare a New World release from the 1970s(consistently smarter than big studio attempts at the same genre) to a Concorde/New Horizon release of the last ten years (always a waste of time). Just as calling something a kungfu film nowadays is not the same as a kungfu movie from the 1970s. Genres de-evolve in quality as decades go by. I haven't seen a Western of the last 20 years that compares to the good Westerns of the 1960s, same goes for the anemic chambaras and Yakuzas Japan now produces. After the hype on overrated films like NARC or HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES that were supposed to be throwbacks to gritty 70s filmmaking, RUNNING SCARED comes out of nowhere and actually delivers the goods.

[Guest dndcollect]

to me, it just seemed like the director was a terrintino, wanna be.

alot of the so called shocking scenes seemed forced. and as a result there is just some bad taste.

to me this movie was the white kid on the block that just got into rap music and changed how he dressed and acted.

[Guest jirpy100]

What a nice change! I didn't know they made films like these anymore. I loved the visual elements, more Tony Scott, than MTV I thought. Brisk pace, original twists, great action... just well-made mindless fun. Paul Walker was good for a change. Definitely felt like a modern Walter Hill flick... I bought Last Man Standing on DVD just this week, my fav Hill flick along with 48 hours.

[Guest sikmao]

i saw this when it was on the big screen, as well. so, i don't remember too many details, but i remember thinking how it sorta reminded me of "Clans of Intrigue", with the plot twists & all!!! GREAT MOVIE!!!! IMHO.

[Guest VonHumboldtFleischer]

This thread was really, really confusing until I realised you weren't talking about the Gregory Hines/Billy Crystal movie.

Sheesh.

[Guest mpm74]

Running Scared has far more intelligence and vision than any exploitation film. In fact, it's entire narrative can be viewed as an R rated bedtime tale, which really is what the film makes itself to be. And again, it's brilliant visual design just takes it far off the league of what's out there.

Exaclty! Great film.