Robbie Benson has made a career out of over-acting and acting poorly. In this bad film I believe he also directs as well as stars in it. All of the acting in this film is bad. The characters are not sympathetic at all and it is just so stupid that I enjoyed it thoroughly! Danny Aiello as the mob boss, Tawny Kitaen as the girlfriend, the dude from TV commercials as the best friend, the "slick' drug dealer "Butchie", it's all so terrible. This should have a special spot on the cult classic shelf.
3 Reviews
Sort of an R-rated version of a late 1980s ABC Afterschool Special
terrywatt37528 May 2023
I say "sort of" because- sanitized though they were - at least ABC Afterschool Specials vaguely resembled reality; White Hot is ludicrously and unrealistically over-the-top from start to finish.
1970's sensitive teen actor Robbie Benson (who also directed this hearty slab of b-grade cheese) stars as a yuppie businessman who through his occasional recreational cocaine use stumbles into becoming a coke dealer and crack addict. Try as I did, I couldn't get past the stumbling block of imagining a thin, wispy Benson as a coke dealer...I mean, physically Benson is so slight he is the archetypal weakling who gets sand kicked in his face at the beach, thus the idea of him in reality getting immediately beat up by all of his dope customers and robbed of his product was one that continuously ran through my head.
The bad casting (and bad acting) doesn't end with Benson, though. Tawny Kitaen is here in her drop-dead gorgeous prime as Benson's promiscuous coke addict girlfriend and while Benson opted to overact his role Kitaen chose to underact hers...in the sense that she can't act. Danny Aiello plays a mob boss in a role he doubtless went on to both regret and forget.
The hammy thespian efforts do manage to tie in nicely with the absurd plot and script. One of those anti-drug message movies where after one toot of blow and one hit of freebase any given character immediately becomes a full-blown junkie immediately selling either all their possessions or (in the case of the women) their bodies for one more hit. The performances and story both converge in a dizzyingly ridiculous climax that is as jaw-dropping as it is laugh-inducing.
Why a 10 star review? Well, it's 10 out of 10 on the cheesily bad movie scale. White Hot has all the pretentions of being a dramatic movie with a strong anti-drug message. It is that very sincerity of purpose combined with the utterly silly end result that defines a movie as cheesy, and by that count White Hot has it all in spades.
The only downside is that far as I can tell this movie never got a dvd release so if one wants a copy for their collection you'll have to track down a 30 year old VHS copy or perhaps see if it was thrown up on youtube for free (I'd opt for free, truth be told...although as a bad movie enthusiast I regret my purchase of said 30 year old VHS copy in no way whatsoever).
1970's sensitive teen actor Robbie Benson (who also directed this hearty slab of b-grade cheese) stars as a yuppie businessman who through his occasional recreational cocaine use stumbles into becoming a coke dealer and crack addict. Try as I did, I couldn't get past the stumbling block of imagining a thin, wispy Benson as a coke dealer...I mean, physically Benson is so slight he is the archetypal weakling who gets sand kicked in his face at the beach, thus the idea of him in reality getting immediately beat up by all of his dope customers and robbed of his product was one that continuously ran through my head.
The bad casting (and bad acting) doesn't end with Benson, though. Tawny Kitaen is here in her drop-dead gorgeous prime as Benson's promiscuous coke addict girlfriend and while Benson opted to overact his role Kitaen chose to underact hers...in the sense that she can't act. Danny Aiello plays a mob boss in a role he doubtless went on to both regret and forget.
The hammy thespian efforts do manage to tie in nicely with the absurd plot and script. One of those anti-drug message movies where after one toot of blow and one hit of freebase any given character immediately becomes a full-blown junkie immediately selling either all their possessions or (in the case of the women) their bodies for one more hit. The performances and story both converge in a dizzyingly ridiculous climax that is as jaw-dropping as it is laugh-inducing.
Why a 10 star review? Well, it's 10 out of 10 on the cheesily bad movie scale. White Hot has all the pretentions of being a dramatic movie with a strong anti-drug message. It is that very sincerity of purpose combined with the utterly silly end result that defines a movie as cheesy, and by that count White Hot has it all in spades.
The only downside is that far as I can tell this movie never got a dvd release so if one wants a copy for their collection you'll have to track down a 30 year old VHS copy or perhaps see if it was thrown up on youtube for free (I'd opt for free, truth be told...although as a bad movie enthusiast I regret my purchase of said 30 year old VHS copy in no way whatsoever).
Drug movie is a disaster
lor_29 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
My review was written in May 1988 after a Cannes Film Festival Market screening.
"Crack in the Mirror" (alternately known as "Do It Up", name of its title song) is a grueling, cautionary tale about drug addiction. Misguidedly overdirected, it often plays more as a tract than entertainment.
Feature's claim to fame is that it is the first full-length U. S. film shot via high definition video, following the trailblazing Italian production "Julia & Julia". Good news is that "Crack" demonstrates that a visually pleasing 35mm film transfer can be achieved with this technology, though a few bugs (particularly the slight jerkiness of rapid movement in the frame) need to be ironed out.
Unfortunately, Robert Madero's script, directed by debuting helmer Robby Benson (who doubles as leading actor), is a compendium of cliches about the lives of crack-addicted yuppies. Worse, the grafting on of many sleazy, exploitation film elements tends to reduce the high-minded project to drive-in style fodder.
Benson rather uncomfortably plays Scott, a young New Yorker deeply in debt whose beautiful better half (luscious Tawny Kitaen) is becoming addicted to cocaine and crack. Rather silly story premise has Scott returning a lost pound bag of coke to local dealer Butchie (Kevin Gray) just as Gray is about to go on the lam to avoid a hit put out on him by mafioso boss Charlie (Danny Aiello).
Butchie agrees to wipe out Scott's debts and instantly set him up in the lucrative business of drug dealing in return for looking after Butchie's fabulous apartment and drug empire during his forced two-week absence.
Benson reluctantly agrees, lying to Kitaen that he is taking a trip to Paris, and the film builds dizzyingly and foolishly from there. Benson goes through instant personality changes, switching from nebbish to hardened gangster and soon a sniveling crackhead. Kitaen quickly discovers his deception, joins the highflying world and is seduced by their best friend in exchange for more crack.
Story climaxes with Butchie's return, leading to several shootouts and a repellent, disgusting vigilante finale as Benson and his young nebbish counterpart in the mafia mete out graphic and symbolic revenge upon Butchie. Extended scene is meant to scare the viewer straight, but is likely to enrage rather than enlighten the audience.
Apart from Benson's overwrought performance, which includes a rather graphic sex scene involving him and Butchie's pretty blonde girlfriend, acting is commendable. Aiello has a lot of funas the ruthless mafioso who auditions girls (including offbeat comedienne Judy Tenuta) for a Broadway play he's planning.
Kevin Gray is chilling in a rather subtle reading of the devil-figure dealer and Jihmi Kennedy is scary as a black henchman who loses control during a big-bucks drug sale. Future Oscar nominee Sally Kirkland pops up briefly and very effectively as a junkie with a tale of woe.
Nile RIdges' funky musical score, including songs by Benson and his wife Karla DeVIto, is a big asset. Neil Smith's camerawork creates nicely moody compositions, and via the processing and transfer to 35mm by Rebo High Definition Studio is virtually indistinguishable from 35mm lensng in closeups. Besides the noticeable jerky movements, some longer shots, especially a crane-effect in the apartment during the final reel, carry telltale grain and crosshatching.
"Crack in the Mirror" (alternately known as "Do It Up", name of its title song) is a grueling, cautionary tale about drug addiction. Misguidedly overdirected, it often plays more as a tract than entertainment.
Feature's claim to fame is that it is the first full-length U. S. film shot via high definition video, following the trailblazing Italian production "Julia & Julia". Good news is that "Crack" demonstrates that a visually pleasing 35mm film transfer can be achieved with this technology, though a few bugs (particularly the slight jerkiness of rapid movement in the frame) need to be ironed out.
Unfortunately, Robert Madero's script, directed by debuting helmer Robby Benson (who doubles as leading actor), is a compendium of cliches about the lives of crack-addicted yuppies. Worse, the grafting on of many sleazy, exploitation film elements tends to reduce the high-minded project to drive-in style fodder.
Benson rather uncomfortably plays Scott, a young New Yorker deeply in debt whose beautiful better half (luscious Tawny Kitaen) is becoming addicted to cocaine and crack. Rather silly story premise has Scott returning a lost pound bag of coke to local dealer Butchie (Kevin Gray) just as Gray is about to go on the lam to avoid a hit put out on him by mafioso boss Charlie (Danny Aiello).
Butchie agrees to wipe out Scott's debts and instantly set him up in the lucrative business of drug dealing in return for looking after Butchie's fabulous apartment and drug empire during his forced two-week absence.
Benson reluctantly agrees, lying to Kitaen that he is taking a trip to Paris, and the film builds dizzyingly and foolishly from there. Benson goes through instant personality changes, switching from nebbish to hardened gangster and soon a sniveling crackhead. Kitaen quickly discovers his deception, joins the highflying world and is seduced by their best friend in exchange for more crack.
Story climaxes with Butchie's return, leading to several shootouts and a repellent, disgusting vigilante finale as Benson and his young nebbish counterpart in the mafia mete out graphic and symbolic revenge upon Butchie. Extended scene is meant to scare the viewer straight, but is likely to enrage rather than enlighten the audience.
Apart from Benson's overwrought performance, which includes a rather graphic sex scene involving him and Butchie's pretty blonde girlfriend, acting is commendable. Aiello has a lot of funas the ruthless mafioso who auditions girls (including offbeat comedienne Judy Tenuta) for a Broadway play he's planning.
Kevin Gray is chilling in a rather subtle reading of the devil-figure dealer and Jihmi Kennedy is scary as a black henchman who loses control during a big-bucks drug sale. Future Oscar nominee Sally Kirkland pops up briefly and very effectively as a junkie with a tale of woe.
Nile RIdges' funky musical score, including songs by Benson and his wife Karla DeVIto, is a big asset. Neil Smith's camerawork creates nicely moody compositions, and via the processing and transfer to 35mm by Rebo High Definition Studio is virtually indistinguishable from 35mm lensng in closeups. Besides the noticeable jerky movements, some longer shots, especially a crane-effect in the apartment during the final reel, carry telltale grain and crosshatching.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
