Sioux City Journal from Sioux City, Iowa • 13

The Sioux City Journal, Friday, February 23J990 3 Makeup, not thrills, highlights 'Nightbreed' Si resume. It's visually interesting but emotionally vacant. King didn't call Barker the future of horror for nothing. If this is as much as we can expect, then who wants to abandon the present? Easily, King's work is superior to Barker's. Rated "Nightbreed" features profanity, violence, scares, some nudity.

NIGHTBREED, written and directed by Cliv Barker; produced by Gabriel Martinelli. James G. Rotarison, and Joe Roth; starring Cra Shefler, Anne Bobby, David Cronenberg. tion must have spent entire days getting the creatures made up in time for shooting. Barker spends whole stretches of "Nightbreed" touring Jlidian.

It's interesting at first, but not compelling. Even Shelter's transformation (into what looks like a man with a leather tooling fixation) isn't much. There's a love interest (Anne Bobby) to provide some tug between the two worlds, but it's not enough to keep Sheffer from his destiny. Barker leaves the door much too wide open for a sequel (it doesn't deserve one) and suggests Sheffer could be another Robert Englund if he wanted. If the Gregory Harrison clone knows what's best, he'll leave "Nightbreed" far behind and off the By Bruce R.Miller Journal staff writer If Director Clive Barker is, as Stephen King says, the "future of horror," why does he spend so much time on makeup? His latest film, "Nightbreed," isn't so much a scary journey into the labyrinths of the mind as it is a tall order for Max Factor.

What script there is could have come from "Nightmare on Elm Street's" first drafts. The theme is similar dreams. This film's prime victim, however, is a male (Craig Sheffer) who has severe mental problems and the key to a city of freaks called Midian. There, folks with tentacles and snouts, exposed skulls and two faces lurk in the shadows, afraid of the damage sunlight can do. Like vampires, the residents have a tendency to shrivel up and die when light reaches them.

Their only hope for immortality Is Sheffer. He's more than happy to comply, considering his shrink has labeled him a killer the man responsible for the death of six families. That psychiatrist, however, is not to be trusted. He's played by another horror king, David Cronenberg, who at least has the decency to make his flicks interesting. Barker relies far too much on atmosphere and music.

Danny Elfman supplies a dandy score and the folks at Image Anima Stars, On a scale of four "Nightbreed" gets: Craig Shoffar, left, and Hugh Ross play zombies who join forces to fight authority in "Nightbreed." Quinn clearly wins game of 'Revenge' 1 NT it LV 'Cannons' tests ability to sit still for 90 minutes By Bruce R.Miller Journal staff writer There are benefits to being a film critic. You can eat popcorn while you work. You can dress like a slob. And, if the movie is really bad, you can make lists, because you always carry paper and pen. "Loose Cannons" is so bad it could fill volumes.

While Dan Aykroyd painfully tried to do impressions, we figured out what groceries we needed. When Gene Hackman told third-grade penis jokes, we wrote two letters. When Quinn is on screen, 'Revenge' abandons its slick, 'Top Gun' origins. By Bruce R.Miller Journal staff writer The movies need more Sean Con-nerys, Burt Lancasters and Anthony Quinns. Strong and vibrant, they make most anything they're in look good.

Kevin Costner a beneficiary of their presence in three films has learned from each, but can't quite overpower Quinn in "Revenge." As a Mexican kingpin, Quinn stampedes through the film like a prize bull. Costner's up to the challenge, but he's no star bullfighter, just a rookie. The two square off when Costner falls in love with Quinn's wife (Madeleine Stowe). Cuckoldry doesn't sit well with the don of Puerto Vallerta, so he sends his hitmen after both. He gets revenge.

But Costner won't roll over and play dead. He sets out on his own mission and encounters a string of colorful locals who make an otherwise predictable journey interesting. Sally Kirkland always a screen treat is the liveliest character in the film. She plays a tired rock star who helps Costner move in for the kill. The two aren't lovers, but the possibility exists.

Certainly, a love shift would have resulted in a much more interesting picture. But it wouldn't have given Stowe the chance to wear clothes that are tighter than sausage skins, light more candles than a pyromaniac, and die a thousand deaths of an illness that no one ever identifies. She and Costner have a dandy love scene among coats and an eye-opening romp in a jeep. They're a nice, albeit bland, couple. Kirkland adds color.

Quinn provides an entire rainbow. He isn't on screen that much, but when he is, "Revenge" abandons its slick, "Top Gun" origins and tries for something a bit different. Director Tony Scott (who also did doesn't stray too far from formulas that draw the dating crowd. He's smart from economic standpoint, foolish from an artistic one. His idea of creativity is filling a rustic cabin with dozens of candles.

Never mind that the place wouldn't have five, much less hundreds. They're there to create a mood that's quickly shaken by a mafialike hit. Quinn breaks the mood by contributing little touches. He scoops caviar with his fingers, removes his clothes at a Zorba-like dance. When he and Costner become enemies, it's impossible to choose sides not because he's justified in seeking revenge, but because he's a more interesting man to watch.

Jack Nitzsche has contributed a familiar score and set and costume designers have given "Revenge" a lush look. Violence, though, is so intense it threatens to cloud the very important mental game Costner and Quinn have going. When the knives and guns come out, intelligence disappears. Quinn has the skill to pull off the acting coup. Costner just may not be his best opponent.

i If" il 1 I When Dom DeLuise all but covered the screen, we took inventory of the calories we ate and decided a jumbo-sized Pepsi was definitely not in the cards. Midway through the picture, we couldn't write another word. The notebook was full. Moral of the story: Films like "Cannons" make what seems like fun a real chore. The picture is not funny.

It's not enjoyable. It's not good. For Hackman and Aykroyd two mercenaries who don't draw the, line at anything it's an easy paycheck. The quality they have shown in dozens of other pictures is buried under the most tasteless jokes found in a mainstream movie. Both are cops.

Hackman's down on his luck, Aykroyd is a bit crazy. They're paired for a major case that involves Hitler, a Waldheim clone, an "Alice in Wonderland" party gang and New York's Grand Central Station. It sounds impressive. It's not. Aykroyd galumphs through the film like a DeLijise wannabe.

He's incredibly fat, sluggish and boring. DeLuise (who plays a protected porn king) is even fatter, more sluggish and more boring. He's so big Hackman and Aykroyd have to roll him around in, among other things, a wheelchair. Hackman, thankfully, is at his old fighting weight, but he's not about to volunteer an ounce of talent to make director Bob Clark look good. Indeed, Clark's "Porky's" is classic in comparison.

"Cannons' screenplay dies of malnutrition shortly after the first reel; the supporting cast lacks believability. The only possible reason to sit through the whole film is to see a stunt man crash through a Grand Central Station sign. The fall is impressive, but it's not worth more than 90 minutes of agony. If Hackman's and Aykroyd's finances are so bad that they have to do these kinds of films they should consider television series. The work is easy, the pay is good and, at times, the quality is there.

More movies like "Loose Cannons" and they'll be shooting blanks. Burt Reynolds learned the hard way. They could, too. Rated "Loose Cannons" features profanity and violence. LOOSE CANNONS, directed by Bob Clark; written by Richard Christian Matheson, Richard Matheson and Bob Clark; produced by Aaron Spelling and Alan Greisman; starring Gene Hackman, Dan Aykroyd, Dom DeLuise, Ronny Cox.

Rated "Revenge" features pro fanity, violence and some nudity. REVENGE, directed by Tony Scott; produced i I i by Kevin Costner, Hunt Lowry, Stanley Rubin; written by Jim Harrison and Jeffrey Fiskin; star ring Costner, Anthony Quinn, Madeleine Stowe. Kevin Costner, left, falls into a passionate affair with Madeleine Stowe, the wife of Anthony Quinn, In the romantic thriller "Revenge." On a scale of four stars, "Revenge" gets: On a scale of four stars, "Loose Cannons" gets: None Save 20! Burton encouraged Kevin Costner to act Le Tigre Knit Shirts Solids and fancies -18-colors! Reg. $13.99. Sale 10" Save 13-30! Van lieusen Dress Shirts Full-cut broadcloth or tone-on-tone.

Reg. Sale 13" Save 20! drove away. It was kinda nice, just like a scene out of a movie." The Costners managed to hitchhike home. When Costner returned to Puerto Vallarta last year, he didn't stay at a tiny hotel near the airport, as he had on his honeymoon. He came with all the perks of a superstar to do location work for the movie "Revenge," the love triangle in which he stars with Anthony Quinn and Madeleine Stowe.

As evidence of his new status, Costner also served as executive producer. Costner, 34, returned here for a round of interviews at the elegant Camino Real Hotel to publicize the opening of "Revenge." Normally publicity-shy, he answered questions dutifully though he seemed to be wishing he was back home in La Canada, near Pasadena. The actor chose to make "Revenge" before the Academy Award-nominated "Field of Dreams," though filming came afterward. He found the Jim Harrison novel to be "a fabulous piece of material, a tough-line movie; I move toward that kind of writing." added that he has picked all of his films since "The Big Chill," in which his role as one of the Sixties radicals was reduced to a scene at his own funeral. I III I vV U'" PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) Kevin Costner has a special memory about the sunswept seaside resort of Puerto Vallarta.

"I was here about 12 years ago on my honeymoon. At that time I was considering being an actor. On the plane out of Puerto Vallarta, I ran into Richard Burton and thought to talk to him. I had to devise a plan to get at him, because he wanted his privacy which I completely understand now," Costner said. "He had blocked out four seats so he could be alone.

After we were in the air, I sat down beside him, and I asked him about the job of acting. He was very gracious and helpful. "My wife and I had saved $20 to take the bus from LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) back to Orange County. But we hadn't counted on the Mexican airport tax of $10 apiece. So when we got off the plane we had about $6 between us.

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