Freeway (1988) New World/Action-Thriller RT: 91 minutes Rated R (strong violence, language, some sexual content) Director: Francis Delia Screenplay: Francis Delia and Darrell Fetty Music: Joe Delia Cinematography: Frank Byers Release date: September 2, 1988 (US) Cast: Darlanne Fluegel, James Russo, Billy Drago, Richard Belzer, Michael Callan, Joe Palese, Steve Franken, Brian Kaiser, Kenneth Tobey, Clint Howard. Box Office: $142,671 (US)
Rating: ***
Not to be confused with the 1996 Reese Witherspoon comedic crime drama of the same name, the 1988 action-thriller Freeway is solid B-movie entertainment from New World Pictures. What I’m about to tell you will blow your mind. I never saw it in its entirety until yesterday. I didn’t see it when it played at theaters because it never opened here in Philadelphia. I never spotted it on the shelf at either of my local video stores (that includes West Coast Video). Every time I tried to watch it on cable, I fell asleep (no reflection on the movie). I rented it in 2001 (Movies Unlimited) for an ex with a Billy Drago fixation and once again conked out about 20 minutes into it. I recently obtained a copy of this hard-to-find movie and resolved to watch it from start to finish. Mission accomplished!
The plot centers on Sunny Harper (Fluegel, To Live and Die in L.A.), a nurse obsessed with catching and stopping the freeway shooter (Drago, The Untouchables) who killed her husband a year earlier. He’s still out there claiming victims along the 600 miles of the L.A. Freeway. The Bible-quoting psychopath usually phones a radio psychiatrist, Dr. Lazarus (Belzer, The Wrong Guys), before killing his latest victim. The lead detective on the case, Lt. Boyle (Callan, Cat Ballou), barely tolerates Sunny and her tenacity in ending the killer’s reign of road terror. She’s helped in her mission by Frank Quinn (Russo, Beverly Hills Cop), a mystery man who turns out to be an ex-cop-turned-bounty hunter with a tragic past.
Billy Drago is one of my favorite character actors and Freeway is one of his best roles. I don’t want to give too much away about his character but he is one majorly disturbed dude. The movie is at its best when it focuses on his character and the carnage. Belzer is also good as the talk radio host that the killer sees as his prophet. Russo exudes bad ass cool as the bounty hunter bent on catching his prey. Fluegel is okay in the lead. She’s attractive and can act, but she doesn’t really have much screen presence. The cast also includes Steve Franken (Hardly Working) as a lawyer being terrorized by the killer, Kenneth Tobey (The Thing from Another World) as a monsignor and Clint Howard (Evilspeak) as a dirty-minded car mechanic.
Freeway has a reasonable amount of tension and a few cool action scenes. It tells a good story. The cinematography by Frank Byers is top-notch. Francis Delia, who directed two Starship music videos (Sara and We Built This City), makes great use of the L.A. Freeway locations. It takes on such an ominous feel at night. It’s a good movie albeit unexceptional. It’s one of New World’s classy productions like Black Moon Rising and Wanted Dead or Alive. It’s not as slick as those two movies but it’s solidly entertaining and a good choice for a late night B-movie.
