Nature of the Beast (1995)

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It is apparent that uptight and straitlaced salesman Jack (Henriksen) has stolen a briefcase of mob money from a Las Vegas casino and is hurriedly on the run to California behind the wheel of his company car. Beneath the facade of his business-like grace is the dark secret.A feculent, verbose and irritating hitch-hiker by the name of Adrian (Roberts) stalks him and just won't leave him alone. It is far from luck of the draw that Adrian, a lurking spirit of decadent evil has found Jack on the long ride home and he is insistent they have a killer weekend together. The whole truth of crimes of the past haunts each of them in their summit of criminal minds.Adrian enjoys making Jack feel uncomfortable and finds it pretty easy to do given that Jack is nobody's fool and appears to suspect him of being a particularly gruesome serial killer from the Most Wanted List who is loose in the area murdering people in cold blood. Whats more is the raggedy man doesn't deny it or a penchant for brutality. But he knows what Jack did and threatens to call the cops on him if Jack continues to avoid him or tries to ignore him subjecting him to what turns out to be the sensation of bittersweet purgatory.This odd couple of lonely hearts on the road in what is a form of buddy movie are nevertheless nothing like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby as they are more like demonic aliens. The intensity of their interactions suggests a great deal more is at play. Of course the hard truth IS a great deal more at play and each moment they spend together brings the audience closer to the rude awakening that things are kind of what they seem to be but also kind of NOT what they seem to be.A grave confrontation awaits as, left without options, there is only one way out to reconciling the deep terror of their differences at the end of their voyage.Eric Roberts never ceased being an electrifying performer from the beginning of his cinematic career in the 1970s. But difficulties with drugs and occasional expressions of violence curbed some of the success the southern gentleman might otherwise have had in his career resulting in a dead end near the early 1990s. The quirkiness of his characterizations show a complete lack of fear when improvising.Lance Henriksen remains the intriguing character actor who consistently steals scenes in supporting roles and can often play the lead. Like Roberts his attitude and charisma assert themselves behind the warped ethos and phony persona his character exudes.

An Above Average, Little Seen, DTV Movie that has for Your Viewing Pleasure Two Actors that can be as Intense and Scary as They Like. it is a Treat to Watch these two Ham it Up and Fully Embrace the Characters in this Film.Both are On the Edge, Eric Roberts because He is the Prime Suspect in a Series of Hatchet Killings that Always Occur in His Proximity, and Lance Henriksen because He is Clutching a Steel Briefcase. The Plot Informs that a Million Dollars Plus had been Stolen from a Casino and the Thief is on the Run.When these Two Meet Up it is a Reluctant Pairing with a Blackmail Threat and the Thing is Tied Together with some Loose Threads that are too Glaring to Ignore. Some Stuff Happens that if Given a Moticum of Thought come Unraveled and Reveal Some Big Holes.But if Given Enough Freedom to Stretch Things Beyond Believability there is a Chance that the Suspense and Mystery will Suck You into its Irrationality. If so it is More than Passable and these Two Psycho-Stars are Always Worth a Watch.

What could possibly be more fun and intriguing? An obscure serial killer flick starring the great Lance Henrickson and Eric Roberts as his nemesis with veteran B-movie actor Brion James as an unbeknown sheriff. All this rolled into a twisted cat and mouse game that keeps the audience guessing to the end. The mid-nineties was a time where horror movies took a dive from the 80's VHS Video rental craze to the point where b-horror comedies and thrillers would become few and far between. Right before the DVD revolution would eventually shine its face on the world, there were still some unappreciated genre films festering in the minds of talented film makers, and daring studios that help them pull it off. The VHS world was not quite defeated yet, and "Nature of the Beast" was one of those 1990's horror-thrillers that quickly hit VHS and pay cable networks after the success of "Silence of The Lambs". This has all the elements of a good cat and mouse thriller. All you have to know is that Lance Henrickson (at his best) is a traveling salesman with a secret, Eric Roberts is the lone drifter that he picks up, and lots of people are getting hacked up by a serial killer called "Hatchet Man" everywhere they seem to go. Of course, the two seem like opposite personalities butting heads constantly until one or the other gets the upper hand. A solid script handled well by a perfect cast thats experienced with this kind of genre. Each contributing to the suspense until the audience can only guess who the killer is. The isolation of the desert landscape creates tremendous tension, and the surprises are abound. This is finely crafted stuff by Victor Salva who's "Jeepers Creepers" fails miserably in comparison. Be prepared for a whopper of an ending too.

Antsy, dumpy, high-strung, secretive and deeply repressed traveling salesman Jack (Lance Henrikson) runs afoul of mean, scuzzy, foul-mouthed, overbearing and antagonistic ex-con junkie drifter Adrian (Eric Roberts) while trekking across the dusty, lonely, remote and forbidding California desert. Meanwhile, a savage killer called "the Hatchet Man" commits gruesome dismemberment murders and one million dollars has been recently stolen from a Las Vegas, Nevada casino. Is it Jack or Adrian who's behind one or possibly both of these heinous crimes? Writer/director Victor Salva, who also gave us the creepy psycho item "Clownhouse" and both socko sicko "Jeepers Creepers" monsterfests, here deftly crafts a tense, edgy, nerve-jangling and fiercely confrontational peril-on-the-open-backroads psychological mystery thriller. Salva relates the eerily spellbinding narrative at a leisurely pace, wisely allowing the precisely etched characters and spooky, discomfiting atmosphere to carry the day with casual, effortless assurance. Salva's sharp, astute, neatly tricky and in-your-face abrasive script offers a starkly chilling and incisive meditation on the darker side of human nature, chiefly addressing man's shocking capacity for extreme evil, the misery of basic everyday existence, and how almost everyone has a dirty little skeleton in their closet that they wish to hide from the world.The always terrific Lance Henrikson portrays Jack with his customary top-drawer terse, tightly coiled spring intensity. The equally excellent Eric Roberts lands himself a sleazy, juicy, spiky part and deliciously sinks his teeth into it with lip-licking glee. Late, great villainous character actor Brion James has a welcome change-of-pace good guy role as a gregarious sheriff. Levie Isaacks' slick, crisply evocative cinematography vividly captures a harrowing sense of isolation and vulnerability. Bennett Salvay's brooding, shuddery score further enhances the quietly unsettling suspense. Grim, despairing and uncompromisingly upsetting, "The Nature of the Beast" rates highly as one of the true unjustly neglected skin-crawling sleepers from the 90's.