Face the Evil Reviews

Shannon Tweed moves away from her softcore roots for this straightforward, straight-to-video actioner that is designed as a female twist on DIE HARD (1988). Actress Sharon (Shannon Tweed) is shooting a movie with her director Jack (Bruce Payne) and costar Steven (Jeffrey Max Nicholls) at the art gallery managed by her sister Bobbi (Jayne Heitmeyer). A major heist involving the gallery's security chief Ritter (David Keeley) causes the building to be locked down while the production crew is still in it. Bobbi realizes the only way out is with her security card, which she left on her desk. Sharon runs off to retrieve it; she is distracted, and Ritter discovers it in the meantime. Meanwhile, Eric Dane (Lance Henriksen), an art impresario who has imported a valuable statue from Germany for gallery owner Mrs. Holman (Barbara Chilcott), reveals himself to be Eric Dangler, the son of a Nazi who has imported a deadly nerve gas inside the statue. Realizing her sister and film pals are hostages, Sharon overpowers one of the villains and takes his gun. While revealing his plan to sell the nerve gas to the highest bidder, Dangler shoots and kills Steven. Sharon takes out a female thug, but is discovered by the other goons, setting off a shoot-out. When its over, Jack and Bobbi have managed to secure the room. Dangler and his accomplice Falco (Kevin Jubinville) set a timed nerve gas cannister, only to realize that they don't have the security card needed to escape. Bobbi obtains the correct security card after beating and killing Ritter. Falco finds Sharon and Bobbi, but they manage to beat him unconscious. Sharon finds the cannister and they trick Dangler, who has been holding Jack hostage, into grabbing the wrong security card. Sharon tosses the nerve gas in with him, while Bobbi locks him in a glass room, and Sharon, Bobbi, and Jack watch as he's reduced to a quivering, bloody mass. In one of her rare non-erotic roles, Shannon Tweed keeps her clothes on, but still manages to give a good show. What has always set Tweed's erotic films apart from dozens of other straight-to-tape sex schlockers is that she shows some ability to act. Unfortunately, this kind of action film really doesn't give her much of a script or plot to stretch with. While her toned body makes her a believable action star, her martial-arts moves look phony. The supporting performers, particularly Lance Henriksen, make this mindlessly entertaining and even suspenseful despite the familiarity of the story. Director Paul Lynch (PROM NIGHT) keeps things moving along smoothly, but Richard Beattie's script is weak and derivative. Tech credits are fine, particularly the special makeup effects by Francois Dagenais. (Extreme profanity, violence.)