Monday, September 01, 2008

Albert Pyun Goes to Hell

In a surprising move, Albert Pyun is revisiting the 1984 film Streets of Fire with his latest flick, Road to Hell. This seems like an incredibly unusual move to me; making a sequel to a critically condemned Walter Hill exercise in style and Steinman. Either this is another wrong-headed turn in an already maligned career by Pyun or an incredibly ballsy tribute to a misunderstood film. What seems really ballsy is that I have yet to read Hill's reaction to the use of his characters in Pyun's work.

Utilizing green screen to provide the scenario with an unreal setting (and cut costs), the production seems somewhat similar to Francis Ford Coppola's studio-bound fantasy One From the Heart or, more accurately, like Robert Rodriguez's Sin City which has left a definite mark on the artwork for Road to Hell.

Sin City meets Road to Hell

I'm not a huge fan of Streets of Fire but I imagine that seeing it a few times on cable in the '80s might have made a difference. I didn't see Hill's film until just a few years ago. For me, it didn't stand the test of time.

I have a love/hate relationship with Pyun. When he's on, the guy's brilliant (Brain Smasher: A Love Story), when he's not, it's crap city (Alien from L.A.). I impatiently await Road to Hell to see what Pyun can do with Hill's work.

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