When Time Expires (1997)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

When Time Expires is one of those movies that I’d always manage to catch the last third of on TV.  I was always curious to see how it started. It seemed like I could never find it on Netflix.  It seems that the movie, by itself, was only released on VHS.  I had to wait for Netflix to get the DVD double feature that pairs this movie with Tell Me No Secrets.  (I’ll be watching that in the near future.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.)

Richard Grieco stars as Travis Beck.  Beck works for some sort of intergalactic planetary federation or something.  There are two main ministries.  One makes predictions about the future.  The other sends people back into the past to make calibrations.  Beck’s job is to put a quarter in a parking meter.

You’re probably thinking that this is a menial task, which it is.  Apparently, Beck used to work for the other ministry and made some sort of big mess.  (Actually, he didn’t make the mess, but he was blamed for it.)  Now, he’s sent to some remote town to do some small task.  He’s given what’s called an Interface as a partner.  The Interface hooks up to a cable-ready TV and captures a human image, which it then takes as its own so that it can communicate with the human that it’s partnered with.

Around the same time that Beck shows up, two hit men also arrive in town.  Beck doesn’t learn of this until later.  What raises Beck’s eyebrow is the arrival of his ex partner, Bill Thermot.  (Bill Thermot is played by Mark Hamill.)   Considering how hard it is to go back in time, it can’t be a coincidence.  Even among the Interfaces, no one really wants to deal with Beck after what he supposedly did.

Beck just can’t shake the feeling that something more sinister is up.  This feeling is reinforced when he learns that there really are hit men out to get him.   He has his Interface do some digging and sure enough, something is up.  No, I won’t ruin it for you.  It is an interesting movie and I would recommend it to people.

For those that are whining about not liking science fiction, I will say that this isn’t your typical sci-fi movie.  You don’t get any technical stuff about time travel or people from other planets.  I got the impression that Beck isn’t human, but there’s no talk of how they go about taking on human form.  (We do learn that it’s a popular model, though.)  I’m actually surprised that he has a human-sounding name.

The acting is at least decent, even if the picture quality isn’t great.  The only attempt at any sort of special effects is someone disappearing when they die, which is at least done well enough.  The dialogue is a bit cornball at times.  It was a made-for-TV movie from 1997, so I don’t think that you can really expect much on any particular front.

According to Netflix, both movies on the disc are actually made-for-TV movies.  I’ve never heard of the other movie, which follows the pattern that I’ve noticed with these bundles.  I’ve usually heard of one movie, yet have absolutely no interest in the other.  (In this case, the other title doesn’t sound familiar at all.)

If you can rent the movie from Netflix or at your local rental place, I’d say go for it.  If you happen to catch the whole thing on TV, it’s worth watching to the end.  I don’t think I could really recommend buying it as I don’t think it would have much replay value except to lend out to someone.  I’d give the movie three stars. 

IMDb page

Evil in Clear River (1988)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

Lindsay Wagner plays Kate McKinnon, the mother of a high-school student who loves his history class. Most of the students worship Peter Suvak, played by Randy Quaid. Suvak is also the mayor of the small town in which the movie is set. Clear River, Alberta, is a close-knit community. That’s why it’s so hard for Kate and her husband to believe that Suvak is spreading what’s called revisionist history.

She finds out about it when her son is studying for history class. She notices that there are a lot of references in her son’s notes to Jews and a Jewish conspiracy. She confronts Suvak about it and he plays it down like it’s no big deal. He even offers to lend her some books on the subject. After reading them, she knows that Suvak is trouble. She takes the matter to the principal, who doesn’t really seem to want to do anything about it. She takes the matter to the school board twice and eventually gets Suvak fired.

Along the way, McKinnon finds that there are three groups of people in the community. First are the people that agree with Suvak. This includes most of his students and fellow teachers. The second group is made up of people that don’t want to get on the bad side of the first group. McKinnon’s neighbor doesn’t like Suvak, but says that she and her husband depend on the first group of people for business. The third group of people is made up of those that don’t really see what the first two groups are talking about. They don’t really know what’s going on.

The last group is the first group to join McKinnon’s cause, but there really aren’t that many willing to risk everything. McKinnon and family have to endure the hatred of the community. Some people from the second group join, but many of the second group are only made more afraid seeing what the McKinnons have to go through. Eventually, Mrs. McKinnon gains momentum. The matter eventually catches the attention of the media. This leads to a visit from a prosecutor who informs McKinnon that Suvak has violated the law. Jews are a recognized minority in Canada and Suvak has incited hatred of them. He’s arrested and people begin to see the light.

The story is one of good versus evil. Suvak believes that evil has taken the form of the Jewish people. McKinnon believes that evil has taken the form of Suvak, who she voted for twice because she felt that he’s a good man. He’s been good for the community for many years and everyone is able to look up to him.

I’m guessing that this was a made-for-TV movie. First, some scenes fade out and another fades in; this occurs about every fifteen minutes. (Essentially, the DVD is missing the commercial breaks.) Second, the movie ends with Suvak stripped of all power and the son, despite hating his parents, realizes the error of his ways. There’s definitely a feel-good sense to this movie.

There’s also some blatant and some subtle references to the good-versus-evil debate. McKinnon is focused on bringing down Suvak. She’s as convinced that she’s right as he is that he’s right. The thing that separates Suvak from McKinnon is that Suvak is in a position of authority. He has a responsibility to teach his students to think rather than to feed them his version of history. (Every major book on the subject, by the way, refutes his version of history. Suvak claims that the media are censored.)

I have to wonder if she went too far by trying to bring him down as mayor. It’s not that I think he wasn’t a bad man. To me, it seemed like more of a personal vendetta at that point than anything else. I know that he was evil and McKinnon couldn’t trust him, but as she had pointed out, many of the people felt that they could trust him as mayor even if he couldn’t be trusted as a teacher. McKinnon was trying to totally ruin him. Suvak’s conviction on the charge brought against him led to his downfall. Even though McKinnon’s effort to recall him had failed, Suvak had eventually been removed as mayor.
  

IMDb page

Black Forest (movie review)

Warning:  I’m going to give away details, including the ending to the movie.  You’ve been warned.


Made-for-TV movies have a reputation for being subpar.  You’re basically getting a feature-length film produced on a budget similar to a TV show.  You’re not getting the big budget of a studio-backed movie.  I’m not saying that they’re all bad.  Some serve as a backdoor pilot to a TV show, whether intentionally or not.  (The pilot for Due South was intended to simply be a movie, but high ratings brought us four seasons of episodes.)

Then, there’s the SyFy Channel.  It seems to have a reputation for putting two random ideas together and making a movie.  Again, I’m not saying that they’re all bad.  I’m just saying I’m not looking forward to Sharknado 2:  The Second One.  When I came across Black Forest on Netflix, I saw that it was produced by the SyFy Channel, I nearly skipped it.  But, there it was, available for streaming on Netflix.

The basic premise is that several tourists go to Europe for some sort of supernatural tour.  They end up being tricked into going over to a parallel world where fairy tales seem to come from.  They meet Karin, who lives in a hotel in the alternate world.  She seems to be helping them, but has ulterior motives.  Oh, and she happens to look like the dead wife of one of the tourists.

The tourists have to find a way back to their world, although that’s easier said than done.  Karin is able to help them, as she knows something about the world they’re in.  She was born in the real world, but has acclimated to the alternate world.  Two of the tourists happen to know a thing or two about the reality they’re in.  The remaining people tend more towards clueless.  As you might expect, one or two manage to get themselves killed due to their own stupidity.

Speaking of clueless, two of the other tourists are parents who bring along their baby and nanny.  This brings up one of those plot points that is necessary, but doesn’t make sense.  The tour takes place in the later hours.  The group is sent over to the fairy-tale world late at night, but the parents saw fit to drag the baby and nanny along with them.  You’d think that they’d leave their baby at the hotel, given that they’ve brought someone they can trust with their child.  I understand that the people of the alternate world need children, but you’d think that someone would have said something as to why the child had to come along.

The movie is entertaining.  At least most of the plot made sense.  It didn’t go too heavy into folklore.  It was just enough to move the story along without having to make a cameo out of every bedtime story.  Also, the film quality seemed to be much higher than I would have expected.  It seems like movies and shows from TV often don’t get the best transfer quality.  (To be fair, most that don’t seem to be from before the age of DVDs and streaming.)

The idea of  fairy tales being really isn’t new.  There was a show I really liked called Special Unit 2 that dealt with creatures that served as the basis for monsters and the like.  I should warn you that the movie is not all family friendly.  The nanny meets her end in a gruesome manner.  The father’s end isn’t particularly pleasant, either.  You might want to skip this movie if you’re squeamish. 

I don’t regret having watched this.  I was able to get it streaming, although it doesn’t seem to be available on DVD.  (Note that the Amazon link is for region 3.)  I’m not sure if it hasn’t been released in region 1 or if Netflix simply doesn’t have access to it.  If you have Netflix, I’d suggest giving it a try.