Coming from director Nico Mastorakis, who gave us the taboo-busting video nasty Island of Death, Terminal Exposure was never going to be a tasteful movie: it would probably be labelled as 'problematic' by Gen Z, the film being full of scantily clad young women (the focus on their shapely backsides), with a few camp gay stereotypes for comic relief. All of this means that it is perfect entertainment for an old dinosaur like me, who couldn't give two hoots about political correctness when it comes to entertainment.
Mark Hennessy plays teen photographer Lenny; Scott King is Lenny's best friend Bruce. Together they hit Venice Beach to surreptitiously snap candid pictures of women's asses, hoping to publish a compendium of sexy bikini-clad behinds that will bring the dollars rolling in. When Lenny is pushed around by three musclemen who find his behaviour unacceptable, he accidentally captures a murder with his camera, the pictures seemingly revealing the killer to be a woman with a rose tattoo on her butt. Bruce convinces Lenny that solving the murder could be a shortcut to the fame and fortune they desire, but their investigation puts the friends in deadly peril.
Terminal Exposure is a prime example of dumb '80s trash, with a nonsensical plot, atrocious acting, laughable dialogue and basic direction. Mastorakis chucks in wacky WTF? Scenes that boggle the mind: a blonde dominatrix with a swastika tattoo on her butt; a surprise party held by a bunch of mafiosi; the two young heroes disguising themselves as bushes; an ice cream fight on the beach; and an 'exciting' finalé in which an assassin tries to escape the police on a skateboard. There's also gratuitous female nudity, most notably from gorgeous blonde Playmate Hope Marie Carlton as Lenny's love interest Christie. Undeniably awful, yet still somehow enjoyable, it's the sort of movie best accompanied by a six pack of beer.
6/10.
Music by Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer!
Look out for Danny Trejo in the crowd scene at the end.
I visited Venice Beach in 1989 and that guy juggling the chainsaw was there - I wonder what he is doing these days...
