Reviews

McQ is somewhat of a change of pace for John Wayne, as he trades in his horse for a Trans Am and plays a Seattle cop looking for the men who gunned down his partner. Wayne brings his trademark style into the role of Lon McQ, a no-nonsense type who is not above smacking around suspects in order to get to the truth. While it's kind of an odd fit, Wayne does deliver a credible performance, and he's assisted by a strong supporting cast, with Diana Muldaur and Colleen Dewhurst delivering standout performances in particular.

The plot of McQ is filled with twists and turns, but it's also kind of thin in certain parts. I will say that the cinematography is top-notch, and really gets the most out of its location of Seattle. There are a couple of good chase scenes, which while obviously borrowing from Bullitt and The French Connection, still add quite a bit to the movie as a whole.

Overall, while McQ may not be as good as say, Dirty Harry, it's still a good movie which provides a different type of role for one of Hollywood's most legendary actors.

Drive In Massacre is the tale of a police investigation into a series of slayings taking place at a local Drive-In theater. Although this film may be billed as a horror film, I'd say this is more of a crime film, as about 3/4ths of the movie is focused on the police investigation. There are a couple of gory scenes, especially the first two killings, but the movie is rather tame overall.

The two cops (played by John Goff and Bruce Kimball) stumble through the investigation to the point where you wonder whether or not these guys could catch a cold, much less a mass murderer. The main suspects are a pair of employees at the theater, the manager (Newton Naushaus), who hates, well everything, and a janitor named Germy (Douglas Gudbye), a dim former sword swallower who is pleasant enough, but seems a little off. With the possible exception of Gudbye, the acting in this film is either phoned-in, or in the case of Naushaus, way too over the top.

The sound is horrible, as there are many points where you can't make out the dialog, and the soundtrack is subpar at best, as some of the songs sound as if it were composed with a Casio keyboard. There's a couple of scenes in this movie that have hardly any connection to the plot and seemed to be tacked on just to fill out the movie. The ending is different, at least, but I wouldn't say it was very good either.

Overall, if you're a fan of 'So Bad It's Good' movies, then Drive-In Massacre could provide a few laughs. If you're a fan of horror movies, well I'd recommend you stay away from this one.