6. Drive (1997)
Toby Wong (Mark Dacascos) has technology installed inside his chest, endowing him with special abilities. Chinese criminals want to extract it from Toby’s body. Chased by henchmen, Toby goes on a road trip across California with his hostage, Malik Brody (Kadeem Hardison).
Firstly, Drive’s novelty is its cocktail of Hong Kong and American action movie styles. The spellbinding martial arts battles are certainly its strongest aspect, ingeniously choreographed by Koichi Sakamoto. Scored with acid house beats, Drive also stands-out for bringing elements of sci-fi into a neo-noir road movie. It boasts a uniquely comic book tone and hyperbole in a realistic setting, illustrating its own particular, fabulist universe.
At heart, Drive is a jovial buddy comedy, with a humorous badinage between Dacascos and Hardison. The late Brittany Murphy is most-memorable, however, for her charming, endearing turn as ‘Deliverance Bodine.’ On another note, the interior design of the climax’s setting is like a condensation of nostalgic ‘90s style. This is a dim bar shaped like a space rocket, filled with neon pink lights, chessboard floors and space travel motifs. Evocatively, it looks like a cinema lobby, laser tag location, or a bowling alley of its time.
7. Goodbye Lover (1998)
Sandra (Patricia Arquette) has an affair with her husband’s (Don Johnson) brother, Jake (Dermot Mulroney). When Sandra discovers Jake is sleeping with Peggy (Mary-Louise Parker), she attempts to kill them both.
With its endless array of twists and double-crosses, Goodbye Lover’s complex, unpredictable, noir plot quenches erotic thriller fans. For the first time, the ‘yuppies in peril’ sub-genre (Unlawful Entry, Malice) is commixed with comedy. The best example of Goodbye Lover’s dark humour comes from the brilliant Patricia Arquette.
Juxtaposing her bloody, devious psychopathy, at any opportunity, Sandra likes to chirpily sing along to a Mary Poppins cassette. Goodbye Lover is highly underrated, unrecognised as a deliciously sly, swerving tale of deceit, grabs at inheritance and faked affections. It was directed by Roland Joffé, who debuted with his celebrated war film: The Killing Fields (1984).
8. Sacrifice (2000)
A bank robber (Michael Madsen) escapes custody to hunt the serial killer who murdered his daughter. Sacrifice is based on a novel by Mitchell Smith.
On first glance, audiences may reject this TV movie for its low-budget production value. Conversely, the script ensures Sacrifice’s status as an entertaining thriller. It alloys the slasher, police procedural, neo-noir and whodunnit sub-genres, with touches of the occult. Aligning the audience with its bank-robbing hero toys with their allegiance and morality.
As with all his B-movies, Michael Madsen is cool and absorbing to watch, reminiscent of the hardboiled antiheroes of ‘40s noirs. Additionally, Bokeem Woodbine, famous for his role in Fargo, season 2, appears as a cop pursuing the bank robber. Withal, Sacrifice’s most important feature is its interesting and provocative debate around abortion.
9. Freaky Deaky (2012)
Disgraced cop Chris Mankowski (Billy Burke) helps Greta Wyatt (Sabina Gadecki) take down the movie producer (Crispin Glover) who sexually assaulted her. However, they get entangled in the bomb plot of two hippies (Christian Slater, Breanne Racano).
Adapted from Elmore Leonard’s novel, Freaky Deaky is an excellent, yet under-discussed thriller. A testament to Leonard’s writing, the characters drive the original plot. On this note, ensemble comedy Freaky Deaky becomes a great movie through its performances. Building upon his work in Black Dynamite (2009), Michael Jai White is at his funniest, especially when exchanging with Crispin Glover. Freaky Deaky is perhaps the go-to Glover movie, seeing him at his most-bizarre as an idle, impulsive, cannabis-addled millionaire. On the other hand, Christian Slater is also at his wittiest, as a bumbling, characterful bomber.
Together, the cast captures the ironic, hippie-era, hangout sparkle of Leonard’s dialogue. Equally, the garish costumes evoke the tongue-in-cheek excesses of its 1970s setting. Although sexy, haute and lots of fun, Freaky Deaky’s more serious moments call out abuses of power. The script asks why women still face the same tragic issues today as they did in the ‘70s. The movie is also eerily prescient of the MeToo movement, which would transpire later in the 2010s. Historically, Freaky Deaky looks into how the hippies lost their political purpose through drug addiction. This is certainly a film that needs to be enjoyed by more, revered as one of the 2010s most accomplished comedy-thrillers.
10. Blackway (2015)
In rural Oregon, Lillian (Julia Stiles) is stalked and attacked by a former cop called Blackway (Ray Liotta). Lillian enlists the help of two lumberjacks (Anthony Hopkins, Alexander Ludwig) to stop Blackway. As with many B-movies, Blackway is also known by its alternate title: ‘Go With Me.’
Based on the book by Castle Freeman Jr., Blackway is a much stronger thriller than it is given credit for. With touching drama, it explores women’s rights and struggles with sexual harassment. The result of this is audiences accruing a better understanding and mindfulness of the issue. Movies like Blackway help advance culture, through building empathy with its protagonist and displaying the upsetting corollaries of amoral behaviour.
Typically, Hopkins is fascinating to watch, for his confidence, nuance and expression of subtext. His character embodies this very dark film’s warm-hearted intention. This is shown when he whittles lawn ornaments in response to grief. That said, akin to Goodfellas (1990), Blackway is the ideal showcase for Ray Liotta’s talent. Even more so than in Something Wild (1986), Liotta’s pure-evil performance is hair-raisingly nightmarish and deeply affecting.