B-MOVIE OF THE MONTH - THE DEATH OF RITCHIE (TV 1977)

Looks like a lot of fun to me, I don't know. Seriously and for those that don't know, The Death Of Ritchie is one of the most iconic TV movies of the entire '70's decade. I was roughly 15 when it aired and i can tell you that both Robby Benson and teens taking drugs were very hot topics at the time. The film is based on a true story where a father who couldn't control his teen's behavior from drug abuse was forced to take the law into his own hands. The father here is good ole Ben Gazzara and he is at his Gazzara best with a ferocious intensity, his scenes with Benson as father and son a perfect chemistry. At the time more emphasis was on Benson as a model but his performance here is really amazing. Streams free on Tubi, Freevee, Roku and Plex, if this was being rated on the standard scale I would give it five stars, 'nuff said. 2.75 stars/2.75

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

REPOST WEEK! - JEFF FAHEY AND BRENT BRISCOE ARE MINERS TRAPPED 600 FEET "BENEATH" (2013) THE SURFACE - NO TIME, OXYGEN'S RUNNING OUT, HALLUCINATIONS, AND THEY'RE TURNING ON EACH OTHER!

 

Brent Briscoe's second-to-last feature finds him teaming up with Jeff Fahey as a couple of veteran miners leading a group of younger miners. A woman who is only supposed to be along for that day starts to hallucinate as their peril of being trapped slowly worsens and their oxygen runs out. Are her comrades really turning on her and each other or is it really the ghosts of another mining accident years before?

Production design is excellent and the film does have some good scares once it gets going. Fahey and Briscoe are totally in their element here but they are better than the material they have to work with, A strong lack of character development and past history, we want to care for these folks and their dilemma but know very little about them. 

To add to the film's drawbacks there were two other movies released in the years 2013 and 2014 with the same exact title and this film is listed as both so if you're going to check it out make sure it's the "Beneath" about the miners.  2.5 stars/5

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