Onde de choc

An average thriller about a stalker who goes blind after hitting his head on a tree while being chased by an angry boyfriend. He gets implanted with a chip that lets him see in vague computer graphic outline. Meanwhile a killer is experimenting on female victims. This film is nothing that special except for geeks, which should see it because it has Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: TNG's Diana Troy) topless in it. Oh and Kristie Alley has a nude love scene in it as well, but I'm not too fond of her.

Omega DVD extras: The films of Nico Mastorakis:part one-From the beginning to "Sky High" (for parts 2 and 3 you have to get 2 more of Nico's films..greedy bastard) ; 2 Music tracks; Filmographies; Bios; Theatrical trailer; Trailers for "In the Cold of the Night", "Sky High", "Bloodstone", and ".dot com for Murder"

My Grade: C-

Part psychological thriller, with just a bit of sci-fi, it really never does work. Joseph Bottoms was pretty boring as the lead. Kirstie Alley was pretty good, and this film DOES have her only known topless scene. (There is a long feature on the director on the DVD which contains some additional footage of this scene.) The late Lana Clarkson was good enough here, and Marina Sirtis looked fantastic as the hooker. Keir Dullea was simply wasted on this material. The biggest plot hole had to do with the special effects (which really weren't all that special). The grid outlines that Jonathan Ratcliffe (Bottoms) were able perceive simply weren't nearly good enough for him to get around as well as he did. And I mean walking about, we don't even have to go as far as the driving scene. Also, he really wasn't very convincing as a blind man. Poor screenplay plus poor acting equals poor movie. The only reason to check this one out is if you are interested in Alley. Grade: D-

Blind Date is a unique giallo flick with a decent amount of substance. It follows the story of Johnathan Ratcliff whose life is changed dramatically when he loses his sight in an accident, but he's lucky that an experimental sonar device has been created which when installed restores their sight. He agrees and becomes the first to try this new technology. This happens while around the city an un-named killer armed with a surgical scalpel murders beautiful women.

This is probably the best out of the work I've seen from Nico Mastorakis, his direction and camera work is very polished on this film. The killings are very tame and the visual effects for John's point of view are dated by today standards, but those aspects don't take away from the film. The Hitchcock styled story with a mix of Sci-Fi is excellent and where the movie shines. The performances from the actors in this flick aren't the most memorable but, some acting is bad from the minor characters however the leads serve their roles and do a good job. I found myself losing interest in the film at some moments but it would quickly draw me back in.

You could do a lot worse when picking an 80's horror thriller, especially considering it's currently free with prime. So I'd recommend this flick if you enjoy B-movies of this style.

Joseph Bottoms plays American Jonathan Ratcliff, living & working in Athens. His world is turned upside down when he suddenly losses his sight, but thankfully for him an electronic sonar device has just been invented which allows blind users to "see" (via very dated looking computer graphics) & he agrees to become the first person to try it. Meanwhile an unknown, gloved killer is murdering beautiful young women with a scalpel & it's only a matter of time before their paths cross. I'd never heard of this movie before, picked it up cheap on DVD from a charity shop, but once the name Nico Mastorakis appeared as director/producer on the opening credits my interest suddenly perked up (he made the infamous, one time "video nasty" Island of Death). I found this is to be reasonable attempt at making a giallo style psycho thriller. There's some good camera work going on during some of the more suspenseful sequences. Plenty of female topless nudity, including Kirstie Alley doing apparently her only ever topless on camera scene, though that's hardly a recommendation! Pretty tame in the gore department, only two onscreen kills, both bloody but brief. As already mentioned the computer graphics look very dated - even for 1984 - but it only adds to it's charm.

Director Nico Mastorakis had a moderately posh budget for once and was able to give this little techno thriller a nice glossy look, plus he proved somewhat prophetic when a few of his ideas regarding the central gimmick - a radar-like device that allows a blind person to 'see' via reflected sound - actually appeared in medical devices within a few years. Mastorakis, as usual, shows a good photographic eye for interesting backdrops, found objects, cityscapes etc. often from oddly skewed angles.

Moreover, the movie is an underground legend among video geeks who pursue gratuitous nudity by female TV stars. Marina Sirtis has a brief but memorable topless appearance as a hooker and Kirstie Alley features in her only nude sex scene. Infamous murder victim Lana Clarkson co- stars as the object of a stalker.

Beyond such prurient considerations, however, there is not a whole lot here that we didn't see fairly often in any 80s thriller. There are fights, car chases and foot pursuits (with the admittedly novel twist that one participant is a technologically augmented blind person). This was familiar stuff then and has gained no new freshness with age.