Of Unknown Origin
Blu-ray
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Screenwriter: Brian Taggert
Cast: Peter Weller, Shannon Tweed, Jennifer Dale, Lawrence Dane, Kenneth Welsh, Louis Del Grande, Maury Chaykin
Distributor: Scream Factory
Rated R | 89 Minutes
Release Date: May 22, 2018

“If it can’t scare them to death, it will find another way.”

Directed by George P. Cosmatos (Rambo: First Blood Part II, Cobra, and Tombstone) and written by Brian Taggert (V: The Final Battle, Poltergeist III), 1983’s Of Unknown Origin is based on the novel, The Visitor, by Chauncey G. Parker III. The film stars Peter Weller (RoboCop), Shannon Tweed (Hot Dog… The Movie, Meatballs III: Summer Job), and a giant, man-eating rat.

Bart Hughes (Weller) is a Wall Street executive caught up in the rat race of corporate America. While his wife (Tweed) and young son (Leif Anderson) leave for a vacation, Bart stays behind to work on a project that should earn him a promotion. Alone in his newly renovated Manhattan brownstone, Bart discovers that he isn’t alone at all, but rather an unwilling host to an unwanted houseguest.

Cutthroat Island
Netflix Streaming
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Renny Harlin
Starring Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Maury Chaykin
Carolco and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Originally Released: December 22, 1995

Being the week upon which Talk Like A Pirate Day falls, I opted to look at a pirate flick for this week’s Netflix Review. So, grab your cutlass, affix your patch and wooden legs – we’re headed for Cutthroat Island.

Directed by Renny Harlin, Cutthroat Island is a movie that was made too early for its time, cursed by the financial woes from a dying studio. But despite its weaknesses, the movie does capture the fun element most remembered in some of the old Errol Flynn classics, and has matured into a movie that audiences can enjoy without taking it too seriously.

The plot follows a notorious wanted female pirate named Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) who finds a treasure map tattooed on the scalp of her dead father. The map is one third of the full piece, with one in the hands of Adams’ uncle, and another in the grubby evil mitts of antagonist Dawg Brown (Frank Langella). Taking command of her father’s ship and crew, and taking doctor and linguist William Shaw (Matthew Modine) on board, she leads a crusade to find the treasure of Cutthroat Island. It develops into a race against time as Brown chases Adams down, across the treacherous waters of the Caribbean.