Through the Fire

Sandra Curtis (Tamara Hext) hires off-duty cop Nick Berkley (Tom Campitelli) to help her find out what has happened to her missing sister Marilyn. Their investigation puts them in danger from a cult of evil devil worshippers, who have summoned a demon to do battle with 'destroyers' (people appointed by God to rid the world of evil).

Through the Fire is disappointing on almost every level, with a sloppy script, poor direction, choppy editing and awful acting resulting in a meandering and totally baffling experience. There's zero atmosphere and no scares, the two back-to-back shower scenes fail to deliver the expected gratuitous nudity, and despite some reasonably fun special make-up effects, the final act is as dire as everything that precedes it, somehow making a gun battle with Uzis and shotguns about as exciting as cleaning the lint from your belly button.

2.5/10, rounded down to 2 for the 'WTF?' scene in which Sandra and Nick, having discovered that the wheels of their car have been stolen, fail to requisition a vehicle from a gun-toting driver and then carjack a ride from an old lady.

A woman's search for her missing sister results in the discovery of a strange cult of demon-worshippers who accidentally unleashed a monstrous creature and must fight it off in order to survive.

This here was just utterly pitiful and plain bad. The detective investigation angle makes for absolutely nothing at all of any interest as the two go around and basically come away with nothing, taking up nearly half of the running time to wind up right back at the starting point and leaves it entirely useless since it's suddenly interrupted by a third party hunting the group all-along, making it unsure why that was introduced so late into the film. That makes it completely lack anything in terms of action, being restricted to a paltry gunfight in the house and the final encounter in the abandoned warehouse, which admittedly does have some good points as its dark, dank location, forever-expanded hallways and numerous rooms provides a nice battleground for a few suspenseful moments here and there, which is mixed with some energy and enthusiasm to provide some fun that way. Even still, the criminal lack of gore, either through off-screen attack/on-screen splatter thrown onto the walls, rapid-fire editing or obstructive angles makes for very little that will invite gorehounds in, and the fact that the creature is relegated to the final ten minutes makes it a non-factor in its own film and looks ridiculous when it appears. Really only has the finale to be watchable, the rest is just worthless.

Rated R: Adult Language, Graphic Violence and Brief Nudity

"Through the Fire" follows a young Texan woman who teams up with a police officer to locate her missing sister. The two uncover a cabal of amateur Satanists who have conjured a powerful demon.

Filmed in the mid-1980s and not made available until 1997 (on VHS, when it was branded under an alternate title as a sequel to Lucio Fulci's "The Gates of Hell"), this regional horror flick is a mashup of monster movies, possession flicks, and hard-boiled Texas noir. Running just under 90 minutes, "Through the Fire" is jam-packed, and has a fun, zany energy about it. The dark material is undercut with buddy humor between the female lead and the hunky, handsome cop as they attempt to unravel the mystery behind her sister's disappearance.

The film at times resembles something of a slasher, with brief, arbitrary sequences such as a nighttime garage murder and a jarring rock-climbing sequence, both of which could fit perfectly in any number of backwoods '80s slasher movies. The occult theme is rather ridiculous, and attempts at explaining it via a professor character seem hamfisted, as do the silly sequences in which the dilettante cultists are chastised for their dabbling by an apparent self-proclaimed witch who looks like she could have been plucked from a Bauhaus concert.

The funny thing about "Through the Fire" is that all of these things wash over the viewer in waves with little clarity; the characters (aside from the two leads) often seem to go nameless, and the editing decisions further contribute to a general narrative fogginess, but the film possesses enough intrigue to hold your attention, boasting effective uses of location and enough atmosphere (those '80s interiors!) and weirdness to leave you hanging on. The film seems to move past its amateur fumbling in the final act, which takes place in a truly spooky abandoned skyscraper hotel--here, the film really shines, and for a fleeting moment, feels like a George Romero zombie epic.

All in all, "Through the Fire" is a strange mix of genres and plot devices that technically shouldn't work, but, in the end, there is something oddly charming about it. For fans of B-horror movies from this era, it will more than likely prove an entertaining viewing experience. It also offers a time-capsule view of mid-'80s greater Dallas, which, as the film largely takes place at night, makes for an effective backdrop for all the shenanigans to unfold. Hold out for the explosive "Rambo-meets-Dawn of the Dead" finale. 7/10.

The weirdest things happened during the process of me trying to watch "Through the Fire". It was as if my brain, and all my five senses, continuously tried to reject this film from getting registered. Started watching once on a Saturday night, but then paused because an unforeseen drinking-with-buddies opportunity presented itself. For months I forgot I began watching this, and accidentally found out because the tape was still in the (seldomly used anymore) VCR-player. Then, a few days ago, I started over but fell asleep because it gets quite boring around the half hour mark. The next evening, I once again didn't remember much. Even during my final and alert viewing, my mind constantly wandered off and could hardly recall the events that happened just a few minutes before.

My takeout of "Through the Fire"? An incredibly tedious and uninvolving mishmash of satanic horror, buddy-movie, and supernatural mystery with bland lead characters and an unforgivable shortage of action. I read in the trivia-section the film was completed in 1988 but released only a decade later. Well, they had good reasons to let this uninspired rubbish linger on a shelf. And then still, when "Through the Fire" eventually got released, the distributor stole the "Gates of Hell 2" title from a genuine Fulci classic ("City of the Living Dead", aka "Gates of Hell") and the cover-art from the unrelated "Funeral Home". All in vain, since the film righteously went into oblivion.

A woman desperately seeks for her missing sister, together with a police officer who took her home without abusing her after she got drunk and aggressive in a bar. They come in possession of an amulet, and then find themselves pursued by the most boring and anti-charismatic Satanic cult I have ever seen. Oh, there also might be a demonic creature roaming around in a basement, but the screen was too dark to actually see it.

The only involved person who deserves some praising words is the sexy "actress" Peggy Preston, who is credited as "Girl in Nick's bed" and made the courageous career choice of appearing completely and gratuitously naked at the beginning. Hers is the only remotely memorable moment, in fact.

This movie had nothing going for it... its boring, nothing happens until the last 5 minutes or so and its still very confusing.