Spontaneous Combustion was the lesser Tobe Hooper film. Mind you, I grew up in a time when everything from this film to The Mangler was available for young eyes to watch. Growing up wondering what made Hooper so special for years kinda soured me on that guy. Chucky catches fire and Freddy Krueger plays old? Yawn. That’s not to say that this film didn’t have its charms.
However, the film is Firestarter for men in their 30s. It’s neat to see how the history of atomic warfare plays into making a horror tale about a mutant. But, all I can remember is John Landis blowing flames out of his mouth. Thankfully, it’s a shorter film, but I still can’t help feeling bad for Brad Dourif. He works super hard, but he can’t really elevate the material.
I know that some will mention that Code Red/Dark Force/Banana Bill’s bunker had a better version of this movie on Blu-ray. I wasn’t able to check it out before this review, but I can only describe what I see. There is room for audio improvements, clear channel differentials and supplemental material. Still, I’m not sure how much can go into improving the film.
Spontaneous Combustion is out now!
