An Occasional Hell

Customer Reviews:

AN OCCASIONAL INTERESTING PART.......2004-11-25

Another one of those movies with a title that has nothing to do whatever with the plot. A muddled and incohesive script traps Tom Berenger in the role of a police detective who was shot and resulting in the necessitation for him to use an ambulatory dialysis unit to flush out his kidneys. This unique concept does have a few pivotal points, and offeres Tom a chance to expand his otherwise confusing character. He is asked by the widow of a fellow professor to investigate who brutally murdered her husband while he was making out with a sexy waitress.
This is a thriller with very little thrills; there are no scenes of suspense, even with a half-baked car chase. The climax is anticlimactic, and the inclusion of the visions of the missing waitress come out of nowhere and offer little sense to an already jumbled story.
Berenger does well, as does Kari Wuhrer in the role of the missing waitress. Valeria Golino (Hot Shots, Knots Landing) phones in her performance; Robert Davi does his hard edged cop thing again; and Stephen Lang is wasted as the murdered infidel. Bland and slow paced, AN OCCASIONAL HELL fails to deliver.

Tom Berenger does his best, even when the story doesn't........2002-06-24

I didn't find this movie as creepy as the Twin Peaks comparison. I actually hesitated to watch it because of that. I am glad I did watch it, if only for Mr. Berenger's portayal of an ex-detective. It does contain graphic violence and nudity yet not all stories are about pretty lives. I didn't understand why the blonde popped into his scenes until I realized that this man was desparately lonely. She was his saving grace, giving him that ego boost and intimacy he lacked in his life. This character that Tom Berenger chose to play is in keeping with his other sensitive portayals that help women realize that men are human too. Honoring men and the sacrifes they make in the line of duty is a worthy gesture. If you're a Berenger fan don't hesitate to watch this. The story is an interesting one and the acting is well done by all. I gave it three stars for Tom Berenger. The other two stars are withheld because I couldn't show this movie to my parents. They're from a different generation yet Casa Blanca still stands as the benchmark even now. It's not a classic but Mr. Berenger is. The "mighty haven't fallen." There are just more people writing bad reviews than there are people writing classics.

Kari Wuhrer fans beware.......2001-10-13

This movie was a disappointment. Any fan wanting to see Kari Wuhrer will be let down as she is hardly in the movie. She appears in a few short scenes, and the rest of the movie was not worth the price of the DVD. I recommend renting this movie before deciding to buy it.

OH MY GOSH.......2001-07-20

I was told how bad this movie was. So I just had to buy it and see for myself.And sure enough it was bad.It was so bad it was almost funny. Im a big fan of Stephen Lang,what a waste of talent when he did this movie.Who knows what these guys were thinking when they made this movie! The plot(if there is one) jumps around to much,and whats with the blond chick poping into Berengers head all the time,made no sence what so ever! A very strange movie

An underrated thriller........2000-03-02

I can understand, that some people do not like An Occasional Hell, but the movie is not as bad as they say. Granted, the plot is weird and rather unclear. I had to watch it twice, just to sort everything out,and even then some things did not make sense. I mean, how the hell came a musket straight out of a museum to be loaded especially since it was a percussion piece, so it must have been lying about with the percussion cap in place. A nice way to get yourself shot! Even so this is at least partially made up for by good acting, particularly by Berenger and the characters are rather unique. While maybe not to everybody's liking this is a suspence thriller that deserves more interest than it has gotten.

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