Theme Song: Lots of ominous bells and strings and shit.
Interesting Dated References: Having a large buffet at a community dance; Many people frantically grabbing what looks to be raw broccoli from the aforementioned buffet.
Social Context: There’s a lot of mystery with the production of this one. Random users of IMdB, a website that has a terrible layout, say this was originally 81 minutes long when filmed (early ‘80s), but when Canon licensed the movie they refilmed 20-some minutes (late ‘80s) and officially released it. I don’t know the answers and don’t feel like putting a huge amount of effort into it.
Summary: Imagine a movie you want to enjoy, but the first 20 minutes are guys sitting around a fire shooting eye-daggers at each other and staring at a bonfire. Perhaps they’re all pissed because sitting around a bonfire is the least fun thing to do in the world and you should unfriend anyone who suggests you join them. It’s disgusting and you smell gross for literally days.
So the guys robbed a bank and killed a hostage and buried the treasure in the woods. Forty years later when they are old as shit they return to get it. Unfortunately this intersects with high school friends, Booker and Lowell, whom we met during a 20-minute “wacky high school” sequence immediately after the 20-minute bonfire sequence, going on a camping trip.
And then we’re supposed to spend the rest of the movie believing three 60-year-old+ men somehow got the jump on a fucking nerd (Lowell) and a muscular jock (Booker), who were somehow best of friends.
Booker is eventually killed and Lowell manages to defeat the final old person. Unfortunately he also discovers the buried treasure had been emptied out years ago by one of the old guys who was killed off pretty quickly.
Worth Mentioning:
– Thick Canadian accents throughout.
– Director David Winning also handled Killer Image with Michael Ironside, and has directed like 40 made-for-television Christmas movies. It’s insane.
– I still can’t figure out what sequence Canon added in years later, although my guess would be the 40 minutes of high school hijinks that totally blows the tone of the whole movie.
Poster and Box Art:
The home video release is a nicely done airbrush that makes Storm seem way more ominous than it is.
