The Philadelphia Experiment – movie review – 1984 Blog-a-thon

This review is part of Forgotten Films Blog, 1984 Blog-A-Thon which is covering just about every film released in 1984. When deciding to participate, I looked over the list and chose to review, The Philadelphia Experiment. I hadn’t seen the movie in many years, but I remember liking it. This would give me the perfect opportunity to revisit this film.

The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)

Directed by Stewart Raffill
produced by John Carpenter

Michael Paré
Bobby Di Cicco
Nancy Allen
This sci-fi film concerns an urban legend about the US Navy experimenting with a cloaking device in 1943, and the mishap that arises from the ill-fated experiment. When the naval vessel, The USS Eldridge, goes completely invisible it actually travels in time. When it returned several minutes later, it is said that some of the crew members were fused into the bulkhead and deck of the ship itself. Some crew members came back inside-out and others experienced long term mental problems. It is also said, with a flash of light, the Eldridge was sighted in Northport Virginia, over 200 miles away from Philadelphia for those few minutes.

In the film, we follow two sailors, Dave and Jim, crew members on the Eldridge at the time of the experiment. They travel with the ship from 1943 and jump off in 1984, in a Nevada desert. They discover that the experiment was being revisited in 1984 and the new experiment interacted with the original creating a vortex or wormhole between the two time periods.

The sailors are immediately being chased by the modern military. They hide out in a dinner where they meet Allison (Dave’s love interest for the film). Not able to drive a modern car, they get Allison to drive and flee the scene with them. The military attempts to end the experiment but the vortex keeps getting bigger, threatening to suck towns and whole cities into the space hole. Eventually, the military needs David’s help in closing the vortex and he is sent into the maelstrom where he will shut down the generator on the Eldridge, therefore severing the link.

I must say, I liked this film better when I first saw it in the 1984 than I like it now. The problem is that this film is book ended with two interesting and gratifying sequences, but the middle is bogged down with the budding romance of Dave and Allison. Some of the dialogue is hokey, but to be expected from a film that is 30 years old. There are a few time warp discoveries for the two men and Allison, but they are nothing mind blowing for a film about time travel. Considering this was released the same year as Terminator, I think they could have infused something more paradox.

I do like that Nancy Allen’s character is named Allison Hayes, an homage to Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. The TV in the diner is showing Humanoids From the Deep which I reviewed just a few weeks ago. The TV in the Motel room plays part of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. We also see an Ad for a very early computer. The effects in the film are dated, even for 1984, but convey the story well enough. The biggest aspect in time travel discovery is the actual film itself. As the men from 1943 look strangely at Pay Telephones, Cars with Chrome Bumpers, and free-standing Arcade Games, I am reminded that my children would probably look at these items the same way today as our movie characters do in 1984.

Some of my disappointment with the film is that my memories got this mixed up with another film about the same subject matter, released around the same time called, The Final Countdown. TFC had better special-fx and because of that, I was waiting for scenes in The Philadelphia Experiment that never came.

All in all, it’s not a bad movie, perhaps just a little light on the sci-fi aspect for such a serious film subject.

I give it 3.3 wormholes out of 5 for vanishing vessels and valiant heroics.

Devil (2010) – movie review

Devil (2010)

Yes, this is the movie that takes place in an elevator – not to be mistaken with Elevator, which is also on Netflix and suspiciously has almost the exact same poster art. Devil is based on a story written by M. Night Shyamalan, but directed by John Erick Dowdle. This is one fantastic horror thriller. Set in a Philadelphia high-rise, it feeds off the claustrophobic setting.

The film begins with an upside-down view of Philadelphia which is a stunning, beautiful shot. Naturally, the inverted image is to signify that something is wrong with the world but it is no less impressive in its skewed view. We enter a large office building and witness the hustle and bustle of the work week. Five passengers enter an elevator which gets stuck on the 22nd floor. It isn’t long before they get on each others nerves and turn on one another. Building security, watching them on monitors, tells the passengers to settle down and they will set them free shortly. As a maintenance worker tries to get the lift reset, the lights go out. When the lights come back on, one of the passengers is dead. Meanwhile, detectives are investigating a death outside the building. They soon turn their attentions to the passengers in the elevator. The film turns into a tense thriller as the detectives try and figure out who in the elevator could be the killer, before they all wind up dead.

I’m amazed when a film that is mostly dialogue can hold my attention. It builds tension as each clue surfaces and each attempt to get into the car fails. Every time the lights in the car go out, you know something bad is going to happen. The Latino security guard adds atmosphere by relaying a story his grandma told him about the Diablo. His story is dispensed at optimum times to ratchet up the tension. Subtle supernatural visions are weaved throughout the film adding to the creepiness. There is a sub-plot about the detective and the death of his family, that unveils slowly building another layer of mystery to the film. The only drawback is the surprise twist, which wasn’t so surprising, and I question whether the film even needed it at all. The film and script was quite strong without it.

I know people are down on Shyamalan these days, but this film is top-notch entertainment – close in quality to his early works, The Sixth Sense and Signs. Perhaps it is good that he handed over the directing (and screenplay) to others. The actors all play fantastic believable parts – not an easy task in a dialogue heavy film. There is not one weak link in the actors. This is a film worth watching.

Great supernatural-suspense-thriller worth a watch! I give it a high rating.

I give it 4.5 creepy co-worker killings on the high-rise from hell scale!