Customer Reviews

The Borrower [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An alien criminal is banished to Earth in human form, the worst punishment they can hand out (haha). The only hitch is the alien must change heads frequently ("borrowing" them) because if the creature keeps the same head for a certain period of time it explodes, so soon a number of headless bodies are littered through the city. Homicide cops Diana Pierce (Rae Dawn Chong) and Charlie Krieger (Don Gordon)are handed the assignment of catching the murderer.
THE BORROWER is a reasonably good B movie from John McNaughton, director of HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER and WILD THINGS. The acting is bad, ditto the dialogue and the plot is weak; but on the plus side there are good FX by Kevin Yagher and atmospheric production. THE BORROWER features exploding head scenes to rival SCANNERS and DAWN OF THE DEAD and a stupid ending with a set up for a possible sequel which thankfully hasn't materialised. But I still think the best thing about this movie is the tag line: "An Alien Killer Gets A Head! Don't lend him anything you can't afford to lose!"

This is a B movie. Okay. It's not like this is classic cinema or anything. But as far as a B-movie goes---it delivers. Totally original plot. Very imaginative with aliens and rednecks thrown in for good measure! My favorite part is the interogation of the poaching redneck whose father was killed by the alien to "borrow" his head. If that piece doesn't make you laugh, your funnybone is mummified. Rae Dawn Chong (and her partner) stars as a couple of detectives who try harder than Little Leaguers to play this comedy with a straight face. If you want Shakespeare look somewhere else. But if you want some belly laughs, this is the place!

Director John McNaughton followed up his unbelievably scary and realistic debut film "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" with this mixed bag mixture of horror and science fiction. The movie borrows its concept from the superior film "The Hidden" in which an alien on earth jumps from body to body, killing its victims in the process. The concept itself is interesting and the movie shows some promise and some humor early on. Ultimately, however, McNaughton loses his way toward the end and it becomes just another low budget horror flick. "The Hidden" remains the best movie based on this particluar concept.

I would definitely recommend this film to anyone that considers himself an avid movie buff. The locales where the film was shot (S California), does not look it - we see bleak cityscapes, violent people, dirty bars and streets...almost Apocalyptic. Watch for wonderful, tongue-in-cheek direction by John McNaughton (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - one of the best chiller movies ever!), good special effects by Kevin Yagher, and excellent acting by Tom Towles (also in Henry:...). All in all, a very absorbing and at times funny, disturbing, cheeky, and often-shocking film of an Alien gone bad in a bad, bad planet - ours!

...But I'm obviously more qualified to review this turkey. The premise actually had a lot of potential: an alien must periodically rip people's heads off (BORROWING them) before his own explodes. Every character steals the show, trying to make something of a much-maligned script. Forgotten 80's low-budget vixen Rae Dawn Chong (see also: Beat Street) plays this film's homicide detective (w/'tude), and is characteristically hollow. One can't help but gawk as the film turns four-letter words into one-liners. Even technical errors mar the continuity--perhaps the crew was sacrificed to land Antonio Vargas in the only respectable performance. Where special effects and a name supposedly saved similar disasters as "Spawn," this film really can't fall back on anything. Gore and nudity fans will be gravely disappointed: the R-rating only protects the chillins from MST3K-worthy shlock. For fans of bad, mind-numbingly general sci-fi horror, this is a must!

That about sums it up. Alien that originally resembles huge bug needs a new head when it transmogrifies into a humanoid, which it does 'cause it has to go to earth 'cause it's being chased by others of its kind...I think...uh, is that right? I forget. Anyway, it lands on earth with a shaky kind of, you know, head in its humanoid form and right after it steps out of its, uh, craft, its head blows up. Needs a new one. Gets it from a poor stupid lowlife slob type, sticks it on its "neck".

That works for a while. But not for long. Head keeps blowing up. Always needs a new one. Meanwhile, you got your, you know, cops investigating these headless corpse murders and stuff like that and one of them is Rae Dawn Chong and if I knew she was the cop on the case, I'd commit a crime any day, pardner.

Best bit is when the alien, who's a, you know, white humanoid, puts poor old Antonio Fargas' head on its white body and then very soon after, voila! The alien is suddenly black--not only its head, but the rest of it. Guess the director, good old John McNaughton, forgot about the continuity thing or something.

Good for a few laughs. Not a great movie by any stretch, but not a bad way to kill an evening. Drink some beer and eat pretzels and like that. Or peanuts. Yeah. Me, I prefer health food snacks. Go figure.