Review of Freeway

Freeway (1988)
6/10
A decent way to spend 91 minutes.
12 August 2017
Model-turned-actress Darlanne Fluegel ("To Live and Die in L.A.") is top billed in this thriller, which was officially based on a novel by Deanne Barkley, but which was also prompted by real life crimes in L.A. This is a city known for its amazing 600 miles of freeway, and now a crazed killer is cruising these lanes and sometimes shooting other drivers. Fluegel plays "Sunny" Harper, a nurse whose husband was one of the killers' victims. She's now obsessed with doing her own detective work into the matter, and she soon gets helped by a mystery man named Frank Quinn (James Russo, doing his best Mickey Rourke).

Veteran movie villain Billy Drago ("The Untouchables", "Delta Force 2") is at his creepy best playing the deranged antagonist of the story. It's never quite as interesting when it doesn't follow him. His character frequently phones a hot shot radio psychiatrist, played by comedian / actor Richard "The Belz" Belzer ('Homicide: Life on the Street'), believing the shrink to be his prophet. Fluegel is of course gorgeous and a passable actress, but she doesn't have a particularly dynamic presence on film. Russo tries his hardest to project "cool", and comes off fairly well. Also co-starring are other familiar faces like Michael Callan ("Cat Ballou") as the head detective on the case, the incomparable Clint Howard ("Evilspeak") as a predictably quirky service station attendant, Steve Franken ("The Party") as a victimized lawyer, and the great Kenneth Tobey ("The Thing from Another World") as a monsignor.

Overall, this is an okay movie, with some pulse quickening scenes, but it's nothing special. Co-writer / director Francis Delia, whose work was mostly in music videos and TV, tells this story in entertaining enough fashion - just enough to keep viewers watching. It offers some fun but is largely forgettable.

Six out of 10.
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