Prison (1988)

"Horror has a new home"

Renny Harlin seemed like the bright young hope for Hollywood in the late 80's. He had European-cool credibility but his sights were firmly set on American blockbuster films. After his first two lower budget American outings (which included the 4th instalment in The Nightmare on Elm Street series) were hits, he moved up the ladder and took hold of the sequel to possibly the biggest and most critically acclaimed action film of the 80's, Die Hard. That hit was followed up with the somewhat restrained Cliffhanger, another huge money maker for the time. Things were looking great; he could have been the next John McTiernan or Paul Verhoeven. Sadly, disaster struck in the form of Cutthroat Island, and was followed by several films that failed to do anything interesting, including The Long Kiss Goodnight, Deep Blue Sea and the truly horrible Exorcist prequel, The Exorcist: The Beginning. Looking at his CV it's easy to see that most films that bear his name feel fairly under baked, and his decline isn't really that surprising. So has he ever made a fully great film? Let's go back to the start and see with Prison.

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No Holds Barred (1989)

"I WON'T be around when this check clears! "

Changing careers in entertainment can be tough; some stars have enough natural talent and charisma to go from being an actor to a singer, or vice versa. Others try and broaden their horizons, only to be met with scorn and ridicule. Many for good reasons. For every Will Smith or Mark Whalberg success story there is a Madonna or Paris Hilton lurking in the shadows. Quite a few wrestlers have attempted the cross over in the last couple of decades, all with varying degrees of low to mid-level success. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson doesn't seem to be going anywhere at this stage, and even Rowdy Roddy Piper is still getting regular film and TV work. It makes sense in a weird Hollywood way; sure they are big muscled guys who get beaten up in the ring every week, they perform as characters (acting, right?), they are popular and recognisable around the world... surely a transition to the big screen couldn't be that hard?

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