Director – Albert Pyun (Captain America, Alien from L.A.)
Starring – John Stockwell (Top Gun), J. Eddie Peck (The Bite), and Carey Lowell (Fierce Creatures)
Release Date – 1986
Rating – 3.5/5
Tagline – “At Vista High someone who stepped out of line never walked again”
I love 80s cinema. I have said that so many times before but I mean it every time I say it. My love for horror will always rule what I watch but I have a huge soft spot for anything from the 80s regardless what genre it is from. So many amazing films were released during this amazing decade and found their way to BETA and VHS. Sadly, a lot of these films never did find their way to the modern format like the 1986 Albert Pyun’s Dangerously Close.
This is a film that I had never heard of before but it looked fantastically 80s. The artwork and synopsis made me think the film was similar to Class of 1984. However, after watching the trailer I could tell the film was not like Class of 1984 but it still looked awesome as hell. The film was recently released by Olive Films on blu and I had to check it out. I reached out to them and they were more than kind enough to hook me up with a review copy. Thanks Olive Films!!
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a pool cleaner who is friends with a punk who does not get along with a group school bullies that call themselves The Sentinels who believe they are actually protecting the school. Those that find their way on their bad side wind up getting the shit kicked out of them or worse, murdered.
The pool cleaner joins The Sentinels and soon after his friend gets in a fight with their unsung leader at school and is soon assaulted by the principal. Soon after he goes missing so the pool cleaner partners up with the ex-girlfriend of the Sentinel’s leader to find out what happened to his best friend where he is taken down a blood covered road where he learns that the Sentinels may not be the ones that are murdering people.**Spoiler Alert**
I fucking love 80s cinema. Modern films have tried so hard to craft throwback films to this wildly popular decade and most fail to truly capture the essence of what made these films so great to begin with. With that being said, some 80s films just don’t look and feel 80s themselves and that ruins the experience for me. Dangerously Closedid not have that problem. The film is definitely a product of it’s time which adds a lot of fun to the film.
The acting in this one is great by the entire cast. Every cast member gave their performances their all but some tried too hard. Every cast member kept the film in perspective and did not make their characters over the top. However, the amazing Thom Mathews went a bit overboard in his role and made every scene he was in seem way too dramatic. Mathews is known to horror fans for his roles in Return of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead II, andJason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI. He is an amazing actor but he over does it a bit in this one. The story for this one is fun and is a slight, and I mean slight, no to Class of 1984 with a more realistic spin on the tale.
The story is fun but it does have a large does of predictability that almost ruins the ending. Also, the film is not a horror flick so it does not have any on screen kills but it does have a decent story to tell that is fun to watch at least once.
Finally, the film has an amazing transfer that looks great (stills are from a YouTube video). The transfer looks great but the film does lack special features which is a bit of a let down considering this is a release of a film first released in 1986. Fans of the film will want special features and will not hold off on grabbing a copy. Overall, Olive Film’s release of Dangerously Close is a great 80s film with an amazing transfer. Sadly, the film lacks any special features so only fans that remember this one will grab this release while collectors will wait for a proper release.
