''Pure Danger'' is a 1996 action film starring and directed by

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in the films '' Soul Man'', '' The Hitcher'', '' Grandview U.S.A.'', ''Red Dawn'', '' Secret Admirer'' and '' The Outsiders''. He has also appeared in '' Get ...

. It co-stars

Teri Ann Linn Teri Ann Linn (born April 7, 1961) is an American actress and singer who also worked in Finland and Italy. She originated the role of Kristen Forrester Dominguez on '' The Bold and the Beautiful'', appearing regularly from 1987 to 1990, brief ...

, Michael Russo,

Marcus Chong Marcus Scott Chong (né Wyatt; born July 8, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for playing Miguel Mendez in the short-lived crime drama, ''Street Justice'' (1991–1993), real-life activist Huey P. Newton in '' Panther'' (1995), directed by ...

and

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again ...

. The story concerns an ex-con cook (Howell) and a waitress (Linn) who happen upon stolen diamonds, and find themselves on the run from the two gangs looking to get them back, respectively led by a mafioso (Russo) and his African-American rival (Leon).

Plot

Cast

Production

''Pure Danger'' was C. Thomas Howell's second film as a director after 1995's ''Hourglass''. The transition remained difficult, as people often dismissed it as an actor's whim, and his private lifestyle did not give him much political sway in Hollywood. The

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

, based on unspecified sources, has filming taking place during parts of September and October 1995. Although some establishing shots place scenes in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

, main unit photography took place in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. Comedian Scott "Carrot Top" Thompson, who had a similar cameo in ''Hourglass'', makes an appearance as a morgue truck driver in the climactic chase.

Comments by Marcus Chong

In a 2019 book detailing his grievances against the movie business, actor Marcus Chong blames Howell and PM for destroying his relationship with the

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

talent agency during the making of this film. According to Chong, he took the part of "Freethrow" as a favor to his sister

Rae Dawn Chong Rae Dawn Chong (born February 28, 1961) is a Canadian-American actress. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film '' Stony Island'', and in 1981 starred in the fantasy film '' Quest for Fire'', for which she received ...

, who was Howell's ex-wife. He was later called to perform ADR, but could not attend on the desired date due to his commitment to a stage play. Chong claims that Howell was unduly rigid in refusing to reschedule the recording session. Instead, the director joined PM employees in making angry phone calls to Chong and William Morris, causing him be let go and hurting his career.

Release

''Pure Danger'' was released on VHS by PM Entertainment on September 10, 1996.

Reception

''Pure Danger'' has received mixed to positive reviews. Mike Mayo of ''

The Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...

'' praised the "quickly paced action" and the "terrific car chases" for which PM Entertainment is known. Although he found that some Tarantino stylings were "blatantly borrowed, the L.A. locations are well-chosen and the humor is rough, earthy, and original", making the film "refreshingly unpredictable". Mistakenly referring to it as Howell's directorial debut, ''

VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever MusicHound (sometimes stylized as musicHound) was a compiler of genre-specific music guides published in the United States by Visible Ink Press between 1996 and 2002. After publishing eleven album guides, the MusicHound series was sold to London-ba ...

'' called the movie "fast paced and surprisingly entertaining". Sister publications

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...

and ''The Motion Picture Annual'' were less enthusiastic, describing it as "a convoluted crime caper" which "borders on the truly tasteless, and features too many criminals to keep track of". It further complained that " 's never quite clear whether ''Pure Danger'' is intended as comedy or drama."

Related works

Howell directed and starred in another crime film for PM Entertainment the following year, '' The Big Fall''.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0117406 1996 films 1996 action thriller films American action thriller films American gangster films Films set in the Las Vegas Valley Films directed by C. Thomas Howell 1990s English-language films 1990s American films