Running Hot - Eric Stoltz

(aka "Highway to Hell" or "Makin' It" or "On the Run" or "Lucky 13" )

directed by Mark Griffiths
USA 1984

Eric Stoltz plays Danny, a young man convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of his father (actually committed by his sister). A stripper Charlene aka Lucky 13 (Monica Carrico) falls in love with him from afar and writes to him in prison. When Danny makes a daring escape and shows up on her door, the two tragic lovers take to the road on the run from a relentless cop Trent (Stuart Margolin) who of course will stop at nothing to recapture Danny. RUNNING HOT is, against expectations, actually a well-made little action movie. Griffiths (touted as the producer of the Fox TV drama THE O.C.) is an assured director even if the blocking of the escape scene is a bit contrived and the film has to slow down Margolin's search to allow for some tender scenes between the two leads. Stoltz's central performance is more than a bit bland but Carrico is quite good (her willingness to do frequent nudity is actually rewarded with a meaty role and it might have been more interesting had this film been scripted with a central focus on her character) and Margolin makes more out of his "sadistic cop" role than required of the material. Not an essential viewing experience (minus the nudity, it has the air of an early eighties TV movie) but a mostly solid effort.

Eric Cotenas

Theatrical Release: February 1984

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DVD Review: Code Red - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Code Red Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:28:09
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.58 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Code Red Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by producer David Callaway and writer/director Mark Griffiths • Interview with writer/director Mark Griffiths (8:10; 4:3) • Still Gallery • Alternate Title Sequence (2:03; 4:3) • Introduction by Mark Griffiths (0:11; 16:9) DVD Release Date: February 24th, 2009 Amaray Chapters 12

Comments

Touted as being transferred from the original camera negatives, RUNNING HOT looks good given the mostly bland cinematography apart from a vertical line running down the right side of one of the earlier reels (which says a lot about the state of preservation of some of these films). The second capture suggests that the film was shot with video in mind as the framing does not always allow for cropping to 16:9 dimensions (less so, 1.85:1). The title sequence bears the LUCKY 13 title card (the RUNNING HOT title card is included in the extras from an inferior source).

Code Red's regular commentary moderator Lee Christian is on board for the commentary track with the producer and writer/director and does a good job keeping them talking. Among the interesting anecdotes is that the SAG cast worked on deferment and the producer elevated the crew members to the positions they wanted to be credited as to compensate for the deferred pay. Writer/director Griffiths is also featured in an on-camera interview (the quality of which is one of the things Code Red needs to improve across their catalog) which is intercut with squeezed 4:3 timecoded clips from the film. Strangely, this disc lacks the plentiful collection of Code Red trailers seen on other releases.

- Eric Cotenas

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