Below Utopia

I recently rewatched Body Count (1997) on Tubi. The story follows the son of a wealthy and successful father who returns home for the holidays with his girlfriend. Most of the siblings have taken different paths, failing to meet their father's high expectations. But when two robbers break into the house and begin killing family members, it may be the son's chance to finally prove himself.

Directed by Kurt Voss (Sugar Town), the film stars Ice-T (New Jack City), Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr. (Friday), Alyssa Milano (Commando), and Justin Theroux (Mulholland Drive).

I loved this movie as a kid when it aired on HBO. While the storyline is just okay, what really makes this movie memorable is the chemistry between Ice-T and Tiny Lister Jr. Their banter and ruthless performances are the highlight, blending humor with intimidation. They make for excellent villains, delivering both hilarious dialogue and chilling threats. Alyssa Milano and Justin Theroux also give solid performances, but it's the villains who steal the show, making the movie fun to watch, right up until the big conclusion.

In summary, Body Count isn't groundbreaking but is worth watching for Ice-T and Tiny Lister Jr.'s entertaining performances. I'd rate it 5/10 and recommend seeing it once, with the right expectations.

What a horror story it was getting a chance to see this movie! The first time I rented it, it got stuck in the VCR and busted the thing up, and I had to dissect the machine to free the tape. Then I rented it again, and found it was another movie called Body Count and had to go back in and get this one, and finally, I held my breath and watched this, and saw that it was worth all the hassles. (Including buying a new VCR!)

Daniel, a young preppy, is coming to his family's enormous mansion in the boonies with his girlfriend Susanne for Thanksgiving dinner. Their are family tensions, and Daniel is excommunicated from the family. In hope for escape, he heads down into the basement with Susanne, and just as they are getting comfortable, three art thieves break in and kill the whole family. The couple listens in terror, and struggles to plan and figure out a way to escape. They soon realize they must kill these three men, and they learn to fight back, all up to the last fifteen minutes, when everything suddenly takes a wild turn, and soon more conflicts than ever before are introduced. And the body count is raised.

This really was a great movie. It was very short, so there is little filler, and just a lot of excitement. The acting is surprisingly good, with Ice-T in a typical role, charming Thoreaux, and show-stealing Milano. She played a great role, and is underrated. Despite some exploits during the two unrevealing sex scenes, she is professional and impressive. During the first half-hour, when things are calm, she is obviously uncomfortable, and trying to fit in with this hostile family. She uses voice tones and facial expressions quite well, and when the horror starts, she isn't gun-ho, she's what you would expect: terrified and forced to fight. I commend her on a great role. As for the twist that comes near the end, yes, I realize it was quite obvious, but still, it's good to anticipate. And it didn't deter from the suspense and the excitement, and I held my breath to the very end. I definitely recommend this movie, even if it does mean going through three video store trips and a broken VCR. : )

Alyssa Milano goes with boyfriend Justin Theroux to his family's Thanksgiving dinner. They are are very wealthy, ready to jump on Theroux for not doing something useful with his life, and mourning the death of his elder brother. But although they seem safe enough behind the walls of their estate, there's a home invasion by Ice T and his crew, who seem to be happy enough to kill any and everyone. Then there's a twist.

It's certainly one of those movies about which the clearest thing you can say is that if you like this sort of movie, you'll like this one. The twists are pretty good, Miss Milano is very pretty, Ice T is unnerving, and the body count is high for the number of performers. Other than that, it falls neatly into the tropes of the era, with the light levels kept low, the music dramatic, and the performances a bit broad.

I was pleasantly surprised by this suspense-action-thriller. The movie is about a young, upper-class couple who, during a visit to the in-laws, become victims of cold-blooded art thieves who slaughter most of the family. Don't worry, you look forward to seeing the annoying, upper-crust family members get butchered. And just overlook the fact that these rich folk never bothered to shell out the money for a decent home-security system. As implausible as it may seem, young preppie-boy fights back to single-handedly deal with the bad guys. Surprise ending, too.

This film wasn't horrible, but it was far from great. As long as you don't expect too much from the story, it is fairly passable, in fact. I knew who the ultimate bad guy was about 30 minutes into the film, but sat around for the remainder of the action just to see it confirmed. I actually like Ice-T as an actor, but he could have phoned this performance in. There was no real background given for the characters or the story--heck, I've seen role-playing game modules with more--but if you're looking for a semi-suspenseful way to waste a couple of mindless hours (and you enjoy this kind of film), you probably won't be too disappointed.

One thing that did disappoint me was the lack of light used in shooting any of the scenes. What we could see of the set suggested that it was quite opulent and I would have liked to see more of it. With all of the flaws in this film it seems like a minor complaint, but I guess that is should be expected based on the film's plot