Runtime: 97 minutes
Directed by: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Brad Dourif, Cynthia Bain, Jon Cypher, William Prince, Melinda Dillon, Dick Butkus (RIP)
From: Taurus Entertainment Company
RIP Dick Butkus. What unfortunate news this was for me after I had a needed day off from cinema on Wednesday.
It’s shameful to admit now but I grew up a fan of the Chicago Bears football team. Butkus played before I was even born yet he always had a legendary status due to how great a player he was in the NFL. I hardly watch the league now as there have been MANY reasons to despite it in the past decade or so and the Bears have been run so horribly for literally decades, they have been the worst team in the league for at least the past year. Anyhow, Butkus was also an occasional actor after his time on the gridiron; this was an appropriate film for October as it was new to me.
From his spot in the opening credits presumed he had a small supporting role… which he did. Spontaneous human combustion is a pseudoscience that was more discussed in the past than now; purportedly it is someone erupting in flames & dying without an apparent source of ignition—in actuality, it is far more likely that they were individuals who were in poor health & probably passed out while smoking a cigarette. This phenomenon is shown in the film and it happens to revolve around poor Brad Dourif.
Now, he was a victim of circumstance as he was born to parents who were part of a government experiment involving… a vaccine for radiation. Let me quickly step away from the concept of vaccines (I believe in them; it’s just that too many people don’t) and move on by saying that this isn’t quite the carbon copy of Firestarter that it seems to be from vague descriptions. Spontaneous Combustion-the film-is a HOT mess that I don’t love as much as some do. After all, Dourif just happens to live within eyesight of a nuclear power plant about to open, and there are many WTF moments—perhaps the most astonishing is that Brad’s girlfriend has a phone and radio w/ bright neon tubing that is tremendous in 2023, as aesthetics.
Honestly, I was dumbfounded at just how weird this got. This does have ambition and the message was clear: the sins of nuclear fears in the 1950’s had a devastating impact on subsequent generations. How the story was told was rather peculiar and was not always effective; it had ambition but boy was it oddball and the lo-fi effects only added to the surreal nature. That said, the performances from Cynthia Bain as the lead girl and especially Dourif helped invest me in this tale. It does have some unforgettable moments, including a cameo from John Landis who has a rather nasty fate that may be enjoyed depending on your opinion of him as a human being.
Some do love this movie so YMMV. As for the Chicago Bears, they happened to have a game last night-right after the Butkus news was made public. They had a 14 game losing streak but finally garnered a win, over the Washington Commanders. It’d have been especially bitter if they had lost yet again
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