BLUE DESERT (director/writer: Brad Battersby; screenwriter: Arthur Collis; cinematographer: Paul Murphy; editors: Debra Bard/Craig Sheffer; music: Joel Goldsmith; cast: D.B. Sweeney (Steve Smith), Courteney Cox (Lisa Roberts), Craig Sheffer(Randall Atkins ), Philip Baker Hall (Joe), Sandy Ward (Walter), Anne Bellamy (Emily), Robert Miano (William Karp), Peter Schrum (Burly Man); Runtime: 93; MPAA Rating: R; producer: David Andrew Peters; Academy Entertainment; 1991)
“The cast is believable, and the stars deliver strong performances.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
An effective suspense drama set in a small town. Brad Battersby(“Hangman”/”Red Letters”/”Jesus The Driver”) is writer-director, and Arthur Collis co-writes. Battersby films it in a creative way.
It opens with comic book artist Lisa Roberts (Courteney Cox) raped in NYC. Feeling cold about big city values, Lisa moves to a sleepy desert town in Arizona. An unsavory local, Randall Atkins (Craig Sheffer), befriends her and she goes out on a date with him. Once inside her trailer, he makes unwanted sexual advances. A fight ensues and the police are called. Lisa tells officer Steve Smith (D.B. Sweeney) she doesn’t want to press charges against the ex-con sex offender, that she just wants to be left alone. Later Randall shows up at Lisa’s place to warn her not to trust the clean-cut cop, that he tried to kill him. When the cop returns to Lisa’s trailer, he makes sexual advances and she has to kill him to save herself.
Realizing anyplace can be dangerous, Lisa returns to the big city.
The cast is believable, and the stars deliver strong performances.
REVIEWED ON 4/8/2016 GRADE: B-
Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”
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