I've been a huge fan of the super-charismatic actor Ken Foree for many years, his effortlessly charm, dramatic intensity, and robust physicality not infrequently dominating the film he stars in, many instances Foree being the very best part of said production, and once again the powerhouse actor is not only the most luminous aspect to Lommel's Lo-fi, darkly-simmering true crime thriller, Foree's wholly convincing performance as disenfranchised ex-military John is positively electric; his emotionally wrought, painfully earnest monologues are of a nuanced, masterclass quality. With no disrespect to 80s horror maestro Lommel, but it would be altogether fair to say that the aesthetic quality of his more recent cinematic output has consistently failed to match the likes of his iconic spook show 'The Bogeyman', with the lack of finesse even suggesting that Lommel's meticulously macabre masterpiece 'The Tenderness of The Wolves' may well have been directed by someone else!
There is no doubt that the penurious budget contributed greatly to D. C Sniper's overall lack of polish, but, miraculously, in this specific instance, buoyed by Foree's muscular, compelling performance, Lommel's stark, unlovely hand-held video palette fortuitously lends the roughshod piece a twitchy, shot-from-the-hip, pseudo documentary feel that adds an additionally uncomfortable intimacy to John's murderous reign of sharpshooting terror. Even with Ken Foree's mesmerizingly menacing, screen dominating performance, 'D. C Sniper' remains a profoundly flawed, but not entirely ignoble psychodrama. Almost certainly NOT 'The-worst-film-ever-made!' as all too many fellow armchair pundits fallaciously claim, but Foree and Lommel's engaging screenplay is unafraid to confront some contentious subject matter, and for that I sincerely feel the unfairly trashed 'D. C Sniper' is worthy of an unprejudiced reappraisal.
There is no doubt that the penurious budget contributed greatly to D. C Sniper's overall lack of polish, but, miraculously, in this specific instance, buoyed by Foree's muscular, compelling performance, Lommel's stark, unlovely hand-held video palette fortuitously lends the roughshod piece a twitchy, shot-from-the-hip, pseudo documentary feel that adds an additionally uncomfortable intimacy to John's murderous reign of sharpshooting terror. Even with Ken Foree's mesmerizingly menacing, screen dominating performance, 'D. C Sniper' remains a profoundly flawed, but not entirely ignoble psychodrama. Almost certainly NOT 'The-worst-film-ever-made!' as all too many fellow armchair pundits fallaciously claim, but Foree and Lommel's engaging screenplay is unafraid to confront some contentious subject matter, and for that I sincerely feel the unfairly trashed 'D. C Sniper' is worthy of an unprejudiced reappraisal.