Dead Connection Reviews

This nasty, gratuitously violent crime picture boasts some welcome visual panache in service of a familiar plot. Although its villain has preternatural durability on a par with Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and the resurrected fiend in SILENT RAGE, DEAD CONNECTION is realistically grounded in Michael Madsen's beefy, anti-hero appeal. Richard Welton (Gary Stretch), a boxing fanatic, gallantly rescues two gullible rock fans from mashers, then lures the groupie-wannabes to a motel, where he beats them to death and then rapes them. Detective Matt Dixon (Michael Madsen) questions Ike (Clarence Landry), the motel clerk, who reveals that the perpetrator made phone-sex calls prior to the carnage. Posing as a reporter, Catherine Briggs (Lisa Bonet) pumps Dixon for info on the serial killer; he learns later that she's the determined sister of one of Welton's earlier victims. After Welton beats a sparring partner to a pulp at his gym, Dixon is able to trace the maniac's towel to West View Motel. He nearly apprehends Welton, but the motel manager interferes; the killer drives off with Matt's badge and an Asian woman, whom he later murders at Matt's apartment. Then Welton strangles Matt's ex-girlfriend in front of a sports bar. A lengthy chase ensues, and Welton's car plunges into the river. Eluding his trackers once more, Welton survives the impact, murders Matt's partner Donato (Damian Chapa), and deposits Donato in his submerged automobile. The killer then shows up at Matt's apartment, where he accosts Catherine. She's able to persuade Welton to drop his weapon and fight Matt man-to-man. Matt is severely pummeled but Catherine stabs Welton in the neck with a needle Matt uses for asthma attacks. When the incredibly resilient madman emerges for one more go-round, Matt finishes him off. DEAD CONNECTION wastes much screen time with romantic interludes, procedural minutiae, and a needlessly protracted car chase--time that might better have been invested in exploring the dynamics of the cop-killer relationship. Despite its vacillating focus, DEAD CONNECTION is pepped up considerably by Madsen's rumpled persona; he's convincing as a world-weary Everyman, weakened by asthma and hard living, who finds himself pitted against a murderous ubermensch. In technical terms, the film is cut together smoothly and makes telling use of off-beat camera angles. The narrative is consistently engrossing, even if its many layers of unexpected thrills, fantastic horror, misfit romance, and police pathology never quite mesh. (Graphic violence, extreme profanity, extensive nudity, sexual situations.)