Criminal Act

This is not that bad for an eighties horror. I had to weigh in because of the overwhelming amount of bad reviews. Yes, the premise of odd tunnels directly under a newspaper building containing a Ratman (who does look a bit like Tiny Tim) and a bunch of jailed homeless people is not only stupid, but barely even coherent here. But it has quite a bit of camp value with John Saxon, Catherine Bach and Mel from Mel's Diner in the 70's sitcom Alice. Enjoyable little hour and a half flight for genre fans. That is, admittably bad 80's horror fans.

This is one bizarre movie. I think it is tounge in cheek, but I am not sure. Lots of TV notables from Alice, Dukes of Hazard, etc. Strange sets and set-ups, a humanoid rat that does not look like a rat (looks like Tiny Tim), homeless people and the white slave trade.

My review was written in July 1989 after watching the film on Prism video cassette.

Previously titled, more appropriately "Tunnels", "Criminal Act" is a shaggy-dog, made-for-video feature that promises fantasy and horror but delivers a cornball story of greedy real estate developers.

When a rat appears in their bathroom at work, newspaper reporter Catherine Bach and photographer Charlene Dallas are escorted to basement tunnels by the exterminator (Vic Tayback). They imagine the sight down there of monsters (humanoid rats). But after many a weary reel it turns out no monsters exist, only nasty guys kidnapping and killing street bums to pave the way for a multimillion-dollar real estate development scheme.

Though the two heroines make for a pleasant starring team, poorly scripted pic fails to deliver an interesting or credible adventure for them. Bac shows off martial arts skills kicking some bad guys and there's one plot twist involving a double cross. If not for the video boom, this pic wouldn't have been made.

Overlong, padded feature has a pointless scene tacked on after the end credits.

The synopsis for this film was intriguing, so I started watching it. The "chemistry" between the two main characters was as forced as tax bill, as flat as bad soda, and as irritating as a bug in the eye. Sad to see someone of John Saxon's caliber in this movie.