My hat goes off to John Myers, if I were wearing a hat. This movie manages to cram into about 90 minutes every cliché known to the action genre. Take a disillusioned serviceman who just wants to be left alone, a misunderstood Middle Eastern terrorist, and an unending supply of B-Grade actors, add in over $50 worth of special effects, and you have one hell of a movie. It can't get any better. When terrorists kidnap the president's daughter and kill her security detail of 3 Secret Service agents, naturally, only one man can save her. No need to call in the FBI Hostage Rescue Teams or military commandos, because one lone Special Forces soldier is called back on active duty by the Commandant Of The Marine Corps. (Why a Marine is giving orders to a separated Army member is never addressed.) With his trusty coil of blue rope and an M-16 with one magazine of bullets, Hack Stone (Frank Stallone) enters the terrorists lair of "the old bean factory". But the evil, Third World bad guys play dirty pool by kidnapping Hack's wife and son. Using stealth, ingenuity, and some form of martial arts no one has ever heard of, Hack sends the bad guys off to meet Allah, one by one. Will Hack, working alone in the bean factory save the presidents daughter? Will the Chief of Police, just days away from retirement, save Hack's family? And will the annoying newscaster who looks and sounds a hell of a lot like Jon Lovitz ever appear in another film? For the answers to these and other important questions, like what's with all the cans of Diet Pepsi, or when did the presidents daughter get a chance to change her underwear, you'll have to watch the film. Good luck finding it, I got my copy in a used video flea market for $5, and after 6 years of faithful service, it has spoken it's last cliché. It was produced by A.I.P.Home Video, which I believe does not have a web site (might be out of business). If you enjoy movies with minimal plot, zero originality, not very special effects,bad lighting and audio, and endless technical errors, this is your movie. This movie contains gratuitous female nudity, liberal use of the f*** word, and all around bad acting. Not recommended for children or people without felony convictions. I love this film! Mrs. Stallone must be proud. Two fine actors from one family. Watch out, Baldwin Brothers! UPDATE: AS of 2002 (or so) this "film" is now available on DVD. You can find it in the bargain bin of less reputable video stores, or get it on ebay (Postage is usually more than the purchase price). Just like the VHS version, audio and lighting are less than desirable. No cast or director comments. I would have loved to hear the back story on making this masterpiece.
11 Reviews
Bad indeed
Leofwine_draca13 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
TERROR IN BEVERLY HILLS is a Z-grade action flick from 1989 whose unbelievable storyline sees the president's daughter kidnapped by Arab terrorists and held hostage in Beverly Hills. Gruff-talking cop Cameron Mitchell isn't up to the task of rescuing her, so he calls in special forces man Frank Stallone to do the job. If you've ever wondered why Frank never had his brother Sly's success, you'll see that his wooden acting as evinced here was good enough reason. The quality of this movie is on the level of a typical independent flick, with poor-quality acting across the board and a generally sloppy feel. You'll be hard pressed to get any enjoyment from it at all, even if it does star cult favourite William Smith as the US president, of all people.
STALLONE! - sorry, it's the other one
udar5525 August 2005
Often the symbol of decadence, Beverly Hills took a cinematic beating in the early 90s through films like THE TAKING OF BEVERLY HILLS (1991) and this cheap Frank Stallone action flick. Actually, calling it "cheap" is an insult to cheap films. This film is on the level of Al Adamson cheap. We're talking one long shot of a white limo driving down the road while characters voice over as much exposition dialogue that the shot will allow cheap. So cheap that a bomb consists of nothing more than a lump of clay with a digital watch face pressed in it. And yes, so cheap that William Smith's trademark gravely voice is dubbed. You get the point. Yet at the same time, they managed to shoot on location in Israel for the opening.
Top billed Stallone stars as Hack Stone (yes, Hack Stone), but only appears in roughly 10 minutes of the first hour of the film. A majority of the time spent concentrating on Abdul (Vassoughi) and his Palestinian terrorist group as they hide out in an old bean factory. TERROR tries hard to elicit the thrills of DIE HARD but on a stretched budget of $10. When Stallone finally shows up for work in the last half hour, he enters the abandoned factory with only a rope and an M-16. I guess anything else would be unnecessary. And he manages to take out the entire terrorist unit without even using the rope! The film's sole highlight is the completely foul mouthed, over the top performance by Cameron Mitchell. As Police Capt. Stills, Mitchell seems to be making it up as he goes along, to great effect. While holding a press conference, an airplane flies overhead and Mitchell stops what he is saying to mutter, "Goddamn airplane!" Later he yells at a plain clothes cop, "Who the f#*k told you to wear that outfit?" When the cop replies, "You did," Mitchell barks out, "Well you know I have no f#*king sense of style!" Then again, maybe it was scripted that way. The screenplay by director Myhers (who co-scripted the Don Knotts/Tim Conway vehicles THE PRIZE FIGHTER and THE PRIVATE EYES) is laughable. "Come on man, don't be an a#*hole," utters Stallone when he finally confronts Abdul.
Top billed Stallone stars as Hack Stone (yes, Hack Stone), but only appears in roughly 10 minutes of the first hour of the film. A majority of the time spent concentrating on Abdul (Vassoughi) and his Palestinian terrorist group as they hide out in an old bean factory. TERROR tries hard to elicit the thrills of DIE HARD but on a stretched budget of $10. When Stallone finally shows up for work in the last half hour, he enters the abandoned factory with only a rope and an M-16. I guess anything else would be unnecessary. And he manages to take out the entire terrorist unit without even using the rope! The film's sole highlight is the completely foul mouthed, over the top performance by Cameron Mitchell. As Police Capt. Stills, Mitchell seems to be making it up as he goes along, to great effect. While holding a press conference, an airplane flies overhead and Mitchell stops what he is saying to mutter, "Goddamn airplane!" Later he yells at a plain clothes cop, "Who the f#*k told you to wear that outfit?" When the cop replies, "You did," Mitchell barks out, "Well you know I have no f#*king sense of style!" Then again, maybe it was scripted that way. The screenplay by director Myhers (who co-scripted the Don Knotts/Tim Conway vehicles THE PRIZE FIGHTER and THE PRIVATE EYES) is laughable. "Come on man, don't be an a#*hole," utters Stallone when he finally confronts Abdul.
I don't want to wake up one morning to find out that were dirtier then they are!
sol121828 May 2005
**SPOILERS** Angered at the Israeli Government interning 55 suspected terrorists Palestinian terror honchos Abdual & Muhammed, how's that for originality, plan to kidnap the President of the United States' daughter Margaret and threaten to kill her if he doesn't get the Israeli Government to release the 55 "Arab brothers" from jail pronto, which is 12 hours.
Staking out this fancy clothing boutique on the swanky Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills the terrorists make their move. Taking out all the secret service men protecting Margaret, who was there shopping, as well as a number of customers in the store. Everything went like clock-work with the only drawback being Muhammed getting shot and wounded by a dying secret service man.
With time running out and the L.A police chief stills not being able to do anything to save Margaret one of his men entered the terrorist hide-out posing as a doctor to treat Muhammed only to be exposed and murdered by the terrorists. Abdul now puts plan II into operation by having a number of his gang members grab the wife and son of former Marine commando Hack, the Hacker, Stone to get Hack drawn into the fray.
You see Hack and Abdul were good friends a while ago in their role as CIA commandos and assassins and once they captured four terrorists in a fire-fight in the Syrian Desert. Abdul wanting to kill the four but was persuaded by Hack to let them live in order to get, or beat, information out of them. As it turned out two of the terrorists escaped and later murdered Abduls family and he's had it in for Hack, who he held responsible for the killings, ever since.
It's not only Abdul who want's Hack to be sent to rescue Margaret, in order to kill him, it's the President himself who realizes that the L.A cops FBI ATF and SWAT teams are helpless to do the job and invokes the "Nuclear Option" by personally getting Hack, brother of Rocky & Rambo, Stone to do the impossible which in Hack's case is just routine.
The terrorists who at first held all the cards start to fall apart from a combination of their own arrogance and stupidity. First getting creamed by the L.A police who stormed the beach-house where they were holding Hack's wife and young son. Then back in the hideout they blew their golden opportunity of pulling off this well thought-out scheme. That's when one of the terrorists got so horny that he tried to rape Margaret, by untying her, and thus allowing her to make a run for it. Hack slowly working his way into the terrorists hideout, an abandoned bean factory,takes out all the bad guys leaving only him and Abdul to duke it out at the conclusion of the movie.
Frank Stallone who's not as well known and popular as his famous older brother action hero Sylvester is effective in the fight scenes that he's in and his diction and command of the English language is much better then that of Sly's.
The movie "Terror in Beverly Hills" is only just average with nothing that you haven't seen before in that type of film. What I found really interesting in the movie was the acting of Careron Mitchell as the L.A police Captain Stills who was on the verge of having a breakdown. Not just from the stress of the terrorists kidnapping and threatening to murder Margaret but how he was consistently harassed by the local TV news anchorman and his film crew all throughout the movie. Those jerks were a bigger danger to the president's daughter as well as the police and government authorities, not to mention Hack, risking their lives to save her then even the terrorists were!
Staking out this fancy clothing boutique on the swanky Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills the terrorists make their move. Taking out all the secret service men protecting Margaret, who was there shopping, as well as a number of customers in the store. Everything went like clock-work with the only drawback being Muhammed getting shot and wounded by a dying secret service man.
With time running out and the L.A police chief stills not being able to do anything to save Margaret one of his men entered the terrorist hide-out posing as a doctor to treat Muhammed only to be exposed and murdered by the terrorists. Abdul now puts plan II into operation by having a number of his gang members grab the wife and son of former Marine commando Hack, the Hacker, Stone to get Hack drawn into the fray.
You see Hack and Abdul were good friends a while ago in their role as CIA commandos and assassins and once they captured four terrorists in a fire-fight in the Syrian Desert. Abdul wanting to kill the four but was persuaded by Hack to let them live in order to get, or beat, information out of them. As it turned out two of the terrorists escaped and later murdered Abduls family and he's had it in for Hack, who he held responsible for the killings, ever since.
It's not only Abdul who want's Hack to be sent to rescue Margaret, in order to kill him, it's the President himself who realizes that the L.A cops FBI ATF and SWAT teams are helpless to do the job and invokes the "Nuclear Option" by personally getting Hack, brother of Rocky & Rambo, Stone to do the impossible which in Hack's case is just routine.
The terrorists who at first held all the cards start to fall apart from a combination of their own arrogance and stupidity. First getting creamed by the L.A police who stormed the beach-house where they were holding Hack's wife and young son. Then back in the hideout they blew their golden opportunity of pulling off this well thought-out scheme. That's when one of the terrorists got so horny that he tried to rape Margaret, by untying her, and thus allowing her to make a run for it. Hack slowly working his way into the terrorists hideout, an abandoned bean factory,takes out all the bad guys leaving only him and Abdul to duke it out at the conclusion of the movie.
Frank Stallone who's not as well known and popular as his famous older brother action hero Sylvester is effective in the fight scenes that he's in and his diction and command of the English language is much better then that of Sly's.
The movie "Terror in Beverly Hills" is only just average with nothing that you haven't seen before in that type of film. What I found really interesting in the movie was the acting of Careron Mitchell as the L.A police Captain Stills who was on the verge of having a breakdown. Not just from the stress of the terrorists kidnapping and threatening to murder Margaret but how he was consistently harassed by the local TV news anchorman and his film crew all throughout the movie. Those jerks were a bigger danger to the president's daughter as well as the police and government authorities, not to mention Hack, risking their lives to save her then even the terrorists were!
Greatest Movie Ever!!!
eakenny282322 March 2005
Every year, the Academy Awards manage to overlook a deserving thespian or too. The hardest working man in show business has never received the accolades he deserves. Of course, I am speaking of Frank Stallone. And not only is this movie his greatest achievement, it is the without a doubt the greatest film of all time. Frank Stallone takes the role of Hack Stone to new heights, displaying a range of emotions not seen until The Rock broke through the cinema wall.
Mr Stallone plays a former Special Forces soldier trying to cope in a complex world not of his choosing. Through a series of catastrophes of world importance, he is thrust in the middle of a battle between good and evil. In order to leverage the release of Middle Eastern terrorists, a band of insurgents capture the President's daughter while shopping in Beverly Hills. Well, terror indeed raises it's ugly head, not only in Beverly Hills, but in a particular industrial park somewhere in the outskirts of LA.
The President faces the largest crisis of his administration. Does he submit to the terrorists demands to release their comrades (being held by Isreal, not the US, but that isn't important right now)? Or does he stare down the terrorists by refusing to negotiate, thereby sacrificing his daughter? He goes with plan C, neither of the above. Plan C? Deploy Hack Stone to infiltrate the terrorists lair and rescue the Presidents daughter.
Frank Stallone does not play the part, he is the part! I was totally convinced that he has had special forces training. You can tell by the fact that he only takes one magazine of ammunition with him, carries no protective armor, no communications gear, and has no coordination whatsoever with the law enforcement people outside, that this man has studied hostage situations. By landing his helicopter directly in front of the building of the terrorists, and not taking any cover or concealment, he manages to throw them off balance. Not only that, but by carrying length of blue rope for no particular reason, Hack manages to play head games with the bad guys. When they see that spool of blue rope, they are so intrigued, that can not logically process what to do. Will he tie us up with the rope? Will he swing down from the ceiling on the rope? Maybe he will lasso some stray cattle. By doing absolutely nothing with the rope, those rascally terrorists are terrified, waiting for the moment when the other shoe drops, and he unravels that rope. The anticipation of the rope is enough to keep anyone on pins and needles.
The supporting cast also deserves some recognition, from police official (Capt. Stills) just days away from retiring, to news reporter with the nasal voice (Tony Motta). I only wish that Capt Stills would have taken the last few days off, because I believe that it is not fair for a man who has faithfully served the citizens of Beverly Hills to lose his pension because of what some terrorists have done. Maybe the Police Union could help him. I digress.
And lets not forget those special effects. I was really convinced that they blew up that car as a diversion. And when those Secret Service agents were killed, let me tell you, I had nightmares for days because it was so realistic. George Lucas can learn a few things from these special effects guys. The chase scene rivaled anything from Bullit or French Connection. They way they kept driving around the same building, no wonder they were able to escape. Perhaps if the Beverly Hills Police Department was able to afford a car a little more reliable than an early 1970's Dodge, then they could have rescued the President's daughter. But then, we wouldn't have a movie then, would we?
Overall, a great movie. A realistic plot, slam bang effects, and the greatest and most handsome man ever to grace the screen.
Mr Stallone plays a former Special Forces soldier trying to cope in a complex world not of his choosing. Through a series of catastrophes of world importance, he is thrust in the middle of a battle between good and evil. In order to leverage the release of Middle Eastern terrorists, a band of insurgents capture the President's daughter while shopping in Beverly Hills. Well, terror indeed raises it's ugly head, not only in Beverly Hills, but in a particular industrial park somewhere in the outskirts of LA.
The President faces the largest crisis of his administration. Does he submit to the terrorists demands to release their comrades (being held by Isreal, not the US, but that isn't important right now)? Or does he stare down the terrorists by refusing to negotiate, thereby sacrificing his daughter? He goes with plan C, neither of the above. Plan C? Deploy Hack Stone to infiltrate the terrorists lair and rescue the Presidents daughter.
Frank Stallone does not play the part, he is the part! I was totally convinced that he has had special forces training. You can tell by the fact that he only takes one magazine of ammunition with him, carries no protective armor, no communications gear, and has no coordination whatsoever with the law enforcement people outside, that this man has studied hostage situations. By landing his helicopter directly in front of the building of the terrorists, and not taking any cover or concealment, he manages to throw them off balance. Not only that, but by carrying length of blue rope for no particular reason, Hack manages to play head games with the bad guys. When they see that spool of blue rope, they are so intrigued, that can not logically process what to do. Will he tie us up with the rope? Will he swing down from the ceiling on the rope? Maybe he will lasso some stray cattle. By doing absolutely nothing with the rope, those rascally terrorists are terrified, waiting for the moment when the other shoe drops, and he unravels that rope. The anticipation of the rope is enough to keep anyone on pins and needles.
The supporting cast also deserves some recognition, from police official (Capt. Stills) just days away from retiring, to news reporter with the nasal voice (Tony Motta). I only wish that Capt Stills would have taken the last few days off, because I believe that it is not fair for a man who has faithfully served the citizens of Beverly Hills to lose his pension because of what some terrorists have done. Maybe the Police Union could help him. I digress.
And lets not forget those special effects. I was really convinced that they blew up that car as a diversion. And when those Secret Service agents were killed, let me tell you, I had nightmares for days because it was so realistic. George Lucas can learn a few things from these special effects guys. The chase scene rivaled anything from Bullit or French Connection. They way they kept driving around the same building, no wonder they were able to escape. Perhaps if the Beverly Hills Police Department was able to afford a car a little more reliable than an early 1970's Dodge, then they could have rescued the President's daughter. But then, we wouldn't have a movie then, would we?
Overall, a great movie. A realistic plot, slam bang effects, and the greatest and most handsome man ever to grace the screen.
John Myhers: hackiest hack that ever hacked, or evil genius?
drumz30 March 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I might just have to opt for the latter. As we all know, there have been many terrible action movies over the years, but this one takes the awfulness to an extreme that I simply can't believe is unintentional. It's one of those flicks that would have been completely pointless for the cast of "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" to parody, because it parodies itself far more deliciously than they ever could.
If I were to pinpoint the exact moment I realized this, it must have been when, after product-placing cans of Pepsi and Diet Pepsi in pretty much every shot where they would make any sense (and a few where they wouldn't), the director chose to begin a scene by literally panning out from the Pepsi can. In retrospect, it really shouldn't have taken me that long.
"Terror in Beverly Hills" is a revelation of glorious badness. At its best/worst, it's at least as funny as anything Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker have done except for "Airplane!" and "Top Secret," and I've got to hand it to Myhers for his resourcefulness: he took an, erm, modest budget and the full knowledge that some people might take this thing seriously and judge him harshly, and he said "okay, fine" and just went with it.
At the same time, the initial kidnapping scene contains many dead bystanders, and the last half-hour rather abruptly jettisons the humor value in favor of the usual sexual violence against women and machine-gun violence against men. The early-nineties score, by turns "Beverly Hills Cop light" and apparently geared toward a genuine suggestion of menace, further complicates things.
An enigma wrapped in a mystery? Nah, I'm almost certainly overthinking it. Maybe the jarring tone shifts are simply due to the fact that the guy knew he was making a bad movie and woke up every day with a different attitude toward that fact.
If I were to pinpoint the exact moment I realized this, it must have been when, after product-placing cans of Pepsi and Diet Pepsi in pretty much every shot where they would make any sense (and a few where they wouldn't), the director chose to begin a scene by literally panning out from the Pepsi can. In retrospect, it really shouldn't have taken me that long.
"Terror in Beverly Hills" is a revelation of glorious badness. At its best/worst, it's at least as funny as anything Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker have done except for "Airplane!" and "Top Secret," and I've got to hand it to Myhers for his resourcefulness: he took an, erm, modest budget and the full knowledge that some people might take this thing seriously and judge him harshly, and he said "okay, fine" and just went with it.
At the same time, the initial kidnapping scene contains many dead bystanders, and the last half-hour rather abruptly jettisons the humor value in favor of the usual sexual violence against women and machine-gun violence against men. The early-nineties score, by turns "Beverly Hills Cop light" and apparently geared toward a genuine suggestion of menace, further complicates things.
An enigma wrapped in a mystery? Nah, I'm almost certainly overthinking it. Maybe the jarring tone shifts are simply due to the fact that the guy knew he was making a bad movie and woke up every day with a different attitude toward that fact.
Hack Stone to the rescue!
Woodyanders15 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
A group of evil no-good terrorists from the Middle East abduct the president's daughter Margaret (an irritatingly shrill portrayal by Lisa Hayland Heslov) while she's out shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills (they even blow up a car as a distraction). It's up to erstwhile special forces agent and ace martial artist Hack Stone (the almighty Frank Stallone in peak two-fisted macho form) to save the day.
Boy, does this uproariously awful clunker possess all the right wrong stuff to qualify as a real four-star stinkeroonie: We've got ham-fisted (mis)direction by John Myhers (who also wrote the gloriously asinine script), ineptly staged action set pieces, the terrorists are all crude stereotypes (their ruthless leader who naturally has some kind of personal beef with Hack Stone is even named Abdul!), clumsy use of strenuous slow motion, pathetic (far from) special effects, a mechanically bouncy synthesizer score, plain cinematography, tin-eared dialogue ("Don't you worry about anything -- that Hack don't kill that easy"), lots of excessive and blatant product placement for Pepsi, and even some tasty gratuitous female nudity thanks to a scene that takes place in a strip club. The fact that legendary B-pic god Big Bill Smith's voice as the president was obviously dubbed by another actor who sounds absolutely nothing like Big Bill further adds to this flick's considerable cheeseball charm. Moreover, Cameron Mitchell contributes a hilariously cranky turn as the supremely irascible Captain Stills, who curses like an angry truck driver throughout and complains a lot about how he's on the cusp of collecting a full pension. An absolute craptastic hoot.
Boy, does this uproariously awful clunker possess all the right wrong stuff to qualify as a real four-star stinkeroonie: We've got ham-fisted (mis)direction by John Myhers (who also wrote the gloriously asinine script), ineptly staged action set pieces, the terrorists are all crude stereotypes (their ruthless leader who naturally has some kind of personal beef with Hack Stone is even named Abdul!), clumsy use of strenuous slow motion, pathetic (far from) special effects, a mechanically bouncy synthesizer score, plain cinematography, tin-eared dialogue ("Don't you worry about anything -- that Hack don't kill that easy"), lots of excessive and blatant product placement for Pepsi, and even some tasty gratuitous female nudity thanks to a scene that takes place in a strip club. The fact that legendary B-pic god Big Bill Smith's voice as the president was obviously dubbed by another actor who sounds absolutely nothing like Big Bill further adds to this flick's considerable cheeseball charm. Moreover, Cameron Mitchell contributes a hilariously cranky turn as the supremely irascible Captain Stills, who curses like an angry truck driver throughout and complains a lot about how he's on the cusp of collecting a full pension. An absolute craptastic hoot.
I have this theory about great bad pictures .....
merklekranz23 August 2019
Everything has to go exactly perfect in the bad department to produce a true epic of bad. Such perfection obviously struck a home run with "Terror in Beverly Hills". Bad script, check, bad director, check, bad acting, check, over dub all dialog, check, washed up name actors on board, check, overkill Pepsi product placement to pay for the atrocity, check, gratuitous nudity, check. Now stir this awfulness up and hope what emerges from the cinema sludge is not just bad, but great bad. "Terror in Beverly Hills" hits all of the above great bad qualifications, and thus can take it's rightful place along side what I consider to be Oscar material bad cinema, "Mighty Peking Man". Pepsi must be extremely proud to sponsor such greatness, with product placements everywhere. Cameron Mitchell is a standout here, and acts like he never even read the script while he totally improvises his Police Captain character. It's also possible he was paid per F. bomb he drops, or the inept director just said "surprise me" with your performance - MERK
Terror in Beverly Hills is a ton of silly and absurd fun!
tarbosh2200029 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
When an evil gang of middle-eastern terrorists led by the sinister Abdul (Vossoughi) comes to Beverly Hills, well, terror ensues. Their main target is Margaret (Heslov), daughter of The President (no actual name for The President is ever said) (Smith). They kidnap her while she's shopping and spirit her away to "the old bean factory". While LAPD Captain Stills (Cam) is crankily and dyspeptically working his way through the situation, it becomes evident to all concerned that only one man can rescue Margaret, take down the terrorists, and restore law and order to Beverly Hills: HACK STONE (Stallone). (Hack Stone is not an anagram for Frank Stallone; we checked). Will the fantastically-named Hack Stone, who is a former Special Forces soldier and now Karate instructor, be able to complete his mission? Or will terror reign at the old bean factory...er, I mean, BEVERLY HILLS? Find out today...
Here's a movie that delivers what it promises - terrorists come to Beverly Hills. It also gets sillier and sillier as it goes along. It starts out fairly seriously, with comments about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the threat of terrorism in our time, which actually makes 'Terror fairly topical even today. Well, about as much so as Terror Squad (1988), Hostage (1987), or Scorpion (1986). VERY quickly, however, we are launched headlong into a highly-entertaining morass of ridiculousness that we as viewers do not return from.
Thanks to its rock-bottom budget, we get some classic nonsensical dubbing/dialogue, wonderfully stupid chase/shooting scenes, and the whole outing has that vibe of absurdity that fans of fun movies will recognize immediately. It's almost like a cousin of Provoked (1989), and there's even a McKeiver Jones III-like character. And that's the key to Terror in Beverly Hills - its characters. Even with all the preposterous goings-on, what stands out are the characters, no matter how small they are in the overall scheme of things.
Of course, we have the aforementioned Cam Mitchell, who puts in a performance that enlivens the proceedings. Then we have the great William Smith, perfectly cast as The President. Unfortunately, like most of the other characters, his voice was dubbed, so his trademark gravel is not heard. Naturally, there's Hack Stone, AKA Frank Stallone, who ties it all together. The main difference between Stone and Stills is that Stone drinks regular Pepsi (with a very prominent place on his desk) but Stills prominently drinks Diet Pepsi. Have the Pepsi people ever seen this movie? But the smaller parts, the incidental roles, are what really make 'Terror a gem. There's Crystal, the 911 dispatcher who really cares about her job and has terrific typing skills, there's Brian Leonard as Tony Motta, the enthusiastic and pushy TV news anchor, and there's Captain Leonard (the McKeiver guy), who really shines as an LAPD detective. But the show is well and truly stolen by the charming interplay between Bruce and Gandhi, two locals.
All that isn't surprising, as director Myhers was primarily known as an actor himself, but he did direct one movie per decade in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Obviously this was his 80's entry, released in the golden year of 1989. Myhers passed away shortly thereafter in 1992. Evidently the old bean factory that is so central to the story was a real place, as in the end credits, the California Bean Growers Association are thanked. You don't see that every day.
In the end, Terror in Beverly Hills is a ton of silly and absurd fun, and despite its limited resources, it is vastly better than The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991). If you only see one movie where something bad happens to Beverly Hills, see this one.
Here's a movie that delivers what it promises - terrorists come to Beverly Hills. It also gets sillier and sillier as it goes along. It starts out fairly seriously, with comments about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the threat of terrorism in our time, which actually makes 'Terror fairly topical even today. Well, about as much so as Terror Squad (1988), Hostage (1987), or Scorpion (1986). VERY quickly, however, we are launched headlong into a highly-entertaining morass of ridiculousness that we as viewers do not return from.
Thanks to its rock-bottom budget, we get some classic nonsensical dubbing/dialogue, wonderfully stupid chase/shooting scenes, and the whole outing has that vibe of absurdity that fans of fun movies will recognize immediately. It's almost like a cousin of Provoked (1989), and there's even a McKeiver Jones III-like character. And that's the key to Terror in Beverly Hills - its characters. Even with all the preposterous goings-on, what stands out are the characters, no matter how small they are in the overall scheme of things.
Of course, we have the aforementioned Cam Mitchell, who puts in a performance that enlivens the proceedings. Then we have the great William Smith, perfectly cast as The President. Unfortunately, like most of the other characters, his voice was dubbed, so his trademark gravel is not heard. Naturally, there's Hack Stone, AKA Frank Stallone, who ties it all together. The main difference between Stone and Stills is that Stone drinks regular Pepsi (with a very prominent place on his desk) but Stills prominently drinks Diet Pepsi. Have the Pepsi people ever seen this movie? But the smaller parts, the incidental roles, are what really make 'Terror a gem. There's Crystal, the 911 dispatcher who really cares about her job and has terrific typing skills, there's Brian Leonard as Tony Motta, the enthusiastic and pushy TV news anchor, and there's Captain Leonard (the McKeiver guy), who really shines as an LAPD detective. But the show is well and truly stolen by the charming interplay between Bruce and Gandhi, two locals.
All that isn't surprising, as director Myhers was primarily known as an actor himself, but he did direct one movie per decade in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Obviously this was his 80's entry, released in the golden year of 1989. Myhers passed away shortly thereafter in 1992. Evidently the old bean factory that is so central to the story was a real place, as in the end credits, the California Bean Growers Association are thanked. You don't see that every day.
In the end, Terror in Beverly Hills is a ton of silly and absurd fun, and despite its limited resources, it is vastly better than The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991). If you only see one movie where something bad happens to Beverly Hills, see this one.
granite hard marine Hack Stone is a one-man war zone!!
Weirdling_Wolf25 April 2024
Hardline terrorists bloodily execute a kidnapping in glitzy Beverly Hills on able crooner Frank Stallone's watch, their first mistake! Routine 80s cheapnis B-Shoot 'em up is given additional heft by smooth due Stallone and B-legend Cameron Mitchell. Shallow, crass, and technically shoddy, its frequent bellicosity should keep hardened schlock-seekers amused! Moth-balled dialogue, bouncy, low-rent synth score, cheapo pyro, daytime soap thesping, conspicuous Pepsi product placement, and a weirdly dubbed William Smith lend Terror in Beverly Hills some additional schlock-tastic charm! Will the beleaguered president (William Smith) acquiesce to the evil terrorist's demands and release 55 of their Palestinian brothers? Watch the gloriously dopey, goof-laden Terror in Beverly Hills to find out, just don't say I didn't warn ya'!!!!! Snarkiness aside, Cameron Mitchell's hilariously hypertensive Police Chief is an expletive, bad-tempered treat! Slicker than a well-oiled whetstone, tougher than whale bone, granite hard marine Hack Stone is a one-man war zone!!
Dull would-be action movie
lor_15 June 2023
My review was written in March 1991 after watching the film on AIP video cassette.
This 1988 actioner about Middle East terroritsts is topical fare for video fans who don't mind a B-pic approach.
A group fo Palestinian fantaics, led by Behrouz Vassoughi, fly to Beverly Hills and kidnap the American priesident's daubghter and demand the relase of Palestinian prisoners. Frank Stallone, who runs a karate school, is brought in and the terrorists kidnap Stallone's family.
John Myhers' perfunctory direction and a score that sounds too much like Stewart Copeland's tv "Equalizer" music brand this film as strictly routine. Despite his top billing, Stallone's role doesn't occupy much screen time. William Smith as the president is unconvincingly dubbed.
This 1988 actioner about Middle East terroritsts is topical fare for video fans who don't mind a B-pic approach.
A group fo Palestinian fantaics, led by Behrouz Vassoughi, fly to Beverly Hills and kidnap the American priesident's daubghter and demand the relase of Palestinian prisoners. Frank Stallone, who runs a karate school, is brought in and the terrorists kidnap Stallone's family.
John Myhers' perfunctory direction and a score that sounds too much like Stewart Copeland's tv "Equalizer" music brand this film as strictly routine. Despite his top billing, Stallone's role doesn't occupy much screen time. William Smith as the president is unconvincingly dubbed.
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