John Irvin directs Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathryn Harrold and Darren McGavin in this action thriller where an undercover agent / Sherriff / witness protection ‘hidee’ infiltrates the mob and destroys it from the inside.

The plot is incomprehensible at times and Arnie should never do romance. He’s also given an unforgivable dorky haircut. The action eventually starts to come with increasing regularity and has a robust Dirty Harry / Death Wish vibe… only bigger. Arnie takes on a quarry full of bad guys while listening to The Rolling Stone. Good enough for me. Couldn’t care less about the reason why he’s there. It isn’t enough to completely justify a rather humorless and tonally off project. The big man and a slick Robert Davi visit a Trans stripclub in an awkwardly dated WTF moment. Will give Arnie his due though… you can see him becoming a better actor over the course of the film. Doubt they shot it in sequence but this seems like an essential if forgotten step in his evolution from bodybuilder to A-List superstar.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Red Heat (1988)

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and