Mehr Pech als Verstand

I found "The Curse of Inferno" to be one of Pauly Shore's best films. I like most of his previous films (I disliked "Jury Duty" and hated "Biodome"), and this one deserves special attention. Unlike the others, it isn't reaching in all directions for a big laugh every time you turn around.

Two small town guys who dream of being pilots in the Caribbean need $80,000 to open shop. They decide to rob a little bank. As they do, they find that the bank has a lot more money than it should (money is being laundered by rich businessman Ned Beatty and banker Stephen Tobolowsky). To make matters worse, two more robbers show up, causing the original two to botch the job by hiding the loot in the bank itself in order to escape. While plotting on how to retrieve the money, one of the robbers (Shore) meets and falls in love with a new police deputy (Janine Turner). That's when the businessman finds out Shore was involved with the robbery, and puts the pressure on him.

As I said, "The Curse of Inferno" doesn't try to be funny all the time. When it does try, it succeeds. I left it feeling pretty good, and that is a rarity. Zanatos' score: 8 out of 10. Check it out.

Bumbling partners Chuck Betts (Pauly Shore) and Harold Cantrell (Max Perlich) try to rob the First Inferno National Bank to fix up their plane. They are interrupted by two other robbers. Chuck gets stuck in the bathroom and passes himself off as one of the victims. He falls for gorgeous deputy Layla Moanes (Janine Turner). There is a surprising amount in the small bank and Chuck suspects dirty money. Moles Huddenel (Ned Beatty) and bank manager Lonnie Martin (Stephen Tobolowsky) have been laundering $3 million.

It's a good thing that Pauly Shore isn't playing the wacky idiot. It would be even better for him to play a smarter character. There are a few more stupidity from the other characters. This needs to be a tight dark crime drama. It's nowhere near that level but it could have tried. This is caught in the middle. It's not the usual Pauly Shore silliness but it can't be taken seriously either.

Personally, I found the film to be quite amusing. When I saw that Pauly Shore was in it, I expected another "Son in Law" character, but this is quite different!

The film doesn't attempt to cash in on Pauly Shore's previous acting history, and instead casts him as a good-natured, but somewhat underprivileged country boy. He manages to maintain a level of seriousness that keeps you interested in the fate of his misfortune.

The story is cute, and has some clever twists to keep you guessing... despite it's cliche-ridden characters.

I'd say it's a worthwhile rental or cable-TV movie. Especially if you like caper films.

This crime comedy establishes itself as such with two amateur bank robbers using flashcards to remind themselves what to say when they hold up a bank. Then, in one of the most ironic turns of events I've ever seen in my entire life, a more organized duo of robbers make their move after the amateur robbers have gotten more money than expected.

One of the punks, Chuck, is surprisingly successful at hiding the loot in the bank restroom before using a gunshot injury to look innocent.

This fails to impress me due to the questions real life cops are likely to maintain. Although this is set in a small town that might not have heard of stories where criminals injure themselves to look innocent, I for one have heard such stories, at least one of which occurred in March of 1996, by which time Pauly Shore's charisma had become a thing of the past, thanks to Bio-Dome.

Despite proving more watchable at the very least, this movie does nothing to salvage that charisma.

Let me save you - the real "Curse of Inferno" is having to totally waste 87 minutes of your life on this incredibly dull, not funny, not dramatic, not anything of a film that mind you had a good cast but I am sure even they couldn't tell you why this film even exists... poor Pauly - how we miss ya...