Customer Reviews

Occasional Hell [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I didn't find this movie as creepy as the Twin Peaks comparison. I actually hesitated to watch it because of that. I am glad I did watch it, if only for Mr. Berenger's portayal of an ex-detective. It does contain graphic violence and nudity yet not all stories are about pretty lives. I didn't understand why the blonde popped into his scenes until I realized that this man was desparately lonely. She was his saving grace, giving him that ego boost and intimacy he lacked in his life. This character that Tom Berenger chose to play is in keeping with his other sensitive portayals that help women realize that men are human too. Honoring men and the sacrifices they make in the line of duty is a worthy gesture. If you're a Berenger fan don't hesitate to watch this. The story is an interesting one and the acting is well done by all. I gave it three stars for Tom Berenger. The other two stars are withheld because I couldn't show this movie to my parents. They're from a different generation yet Casa Blanca still stands as the benchmark even now. It's not a classic but Mr. Berenger is. The "mighty haven't fallen." There are just more people writing bad reviews than there are people writing classics.

This movie was a disappointment. Any fan wanting to see Kari Wuhrer will be let down as she is hardly in the movie. She appears in a few short scenes, and the rest of the movie was not worth the price of the DVD. I recommend renting this movie before deciding to buy it.

An Occasional Hell may not be anybodies favorite movie, but it is fantastic. It is one of those places you wish you will never go. An experience you never want to have.

When you are a good detective, and a good man, not too good, because you had a fling or two, but with the prettiest girl in town... And then you get physically destroyed. Nothing simple, like a motorcycle wreck, no, a bullet in the kidney. You have to wear a colostomy bag, and monitor your insulin...

You really don't want to be this guy... And, he doesn't want to be that guy either! Imagine the depression! Imagine the misery! Imagine what he does just to get along and to hide from involvement with other people. He becomes a college professor in a small southern town and doesn't talk to anybody.

But he starts seeing a ghost. A naked Kari Wuhrer shaped ghost... She's asking him for help. What would you do if a naked Kari Wuhrer rushed up to you and asked for help? How much more would it take to get you to help?

No other way to say it. Just a plain, very bad movie. I bought the movie, not here on Amazon, because of the actors invovled and of course, Kari Wuhrer. So many goofs and just bad movie making. Examples are when Tom Berenger first injects himself at his desk and the fluid from the syringe is seen shooting just to the lower left of his elbow. Another terrible goof is that briefly, his Ford Taurus changes color from maroon to red for a few scenes in the movie. Even the model year is different. The stunt double was to obvious in the one scene he was needed. Then at the end, I don't want to give it away but lets just say, the headless and fully clothed dummy( dead person ) in what looks like long johns is silly. Tom Berenger, sitting in a jail cell in dire need of medical attention for his condition that is known by his former police buddies and why was he thrown in a cell in the first place ? Another example of the bad writing is why did the ex wife/ widow not have an attorney appointed to her until almost the end of the movie. Also, the kids for just losing their dad, seemed pretty content to just play around in the yard. I watched until the end hoping that there might be a cool twist but sadly no. Avoid this movie.

Another one of those movies with a title that has nothing to do whatever with the plot. A muddled and incohesive script traps Tom Berenger in the role of a police detective who was shot and resulting in the necessitation for him to use an ambulatory dialysis unit to flush out his kidneys. This unique concept does have a few pivotal points, and offeres Tom a chance to expand his otherwise confusing character. He is asked by the widow of a fellow professor to investigate who brutally murdered her husband while he was making out with a sexy waitress.
This is a thriller with very little thrills; there are no scenes of suspense, even with a half-baked car chase. The climax is anticlimactic, and the inclusion of the visions of the missing waitress come out of nowhere and offer little sense to an already jumbled story.
Berenger does well, as does Kari Wuhrer in the role of the missing waitress. Valeria Golino (Hot Shots, Knots Landing) phones in her performance; Robert Davi does his hard edged cop thing again; and Stephen Lang is wasted as the murdered infidel. Bland and slow paced, AN OCCASIONAL HELL fails to deliver.

In this southern based mystery, a "battle-scarred" (actually, emasculated) alcholic-detective investigates the dissapearance of a local "Lolita." Hot nudity was edited to a minimum (unfortunately,) and the E.S.P. angle was a wierdly interesting twist.

The ensemble cast was "integrated and believable" from one character to another, and they were characters that interested me in the outcome.

The wrap-up of the plot was oddly brief, as if it were "Apocolypse Now," where the director had one vision, and the studio another where they said, "No, we need more action...Let's blow it all up!"

Nice eye-candy, and sumptuous southern cinematography, make it worth checking out...even if plot is weak or wierd, er...I mean, eclectic.

In this southern based mystery, a "battle-scarred" (actually, emasculated) alcholic-detective investigates the dissapearance of a local "Lolita." Hot nudity was edited to a minimum (unfortunately,) and the E.S.P. angle was a wierdly interesting twist.

The ensemble cast was "integrated and believable" from one character to another, and they were characters that interested me in the outcome.

The wrap-up of the plot was oddly brief, as if it were "Apocolypse Now," where the director had one vision, and the studio another where they said, "No, we need more action...Let's blow it all up!"

Nice eye-candy, and sumptuous southern cinematography, make it worth checking out...even if plot is weak or wierd, er...I mean, eclectic.

I purchased this video because i am a big fan of both Stephen Lang and Tom Berenger, both very interesting and creative actors...but to my horror, this is the worst piece of trash i have ever seen...and Berenger is not only the star, but the executive producer of this horror ! It is below the level of an Ed Wood film.....Stephen Lang is supposed to be a respected, world-renowned college professor, but he acts like a crazed porno star, and speaks with a " trailor-park-trash " accent.....i first saw this actor playing Hamlet in a Broadway production...boy, is his classical training going to waste here, I can only assume he was desparate for money....i can't come up with an excuse for Berenger.

I can understand, that some people do not like An Occasional Hell, but the movie is not as bad as they say. Granted, the plot is weird and rather unclear. I had to watch it twice, just to sort everything out,and even then some things did not make sense. I mean, how the hell came a musket straight out of a museum to be loaded especially since it was a percussion piece, so it must have been lying about with the percussion cap in place. A nice way to get yourself shot! Even so this is at least partially made up for by good acting, particularly by Berenger and the characters are rather unique. While maybe not to everybody's liking this is a suspence thriller that deserves more interest than it has gotten.

This video got me hot and bothered, too, but I agree whole-heartedly with every unflattering thing every other reviewer has said. Compared to his role in Major Leaque, this movie looked like something made in his garage while under the influence of...something. It had kind of a Twin Peaks feel to it, and I actually was interested in who killed the bimbo. I felt for Berenger having to be on that dialysis thing even though at the same time I was wondering if that's really how it's done. Well, anyway, Berenger is doing motor oil commercials now. How the mighty have fallen.