What if I told you that back in the early ’90s Christopher Walken made a movie about a killer with a blowtorch that was directed by Anson Williams. That’s right, Walken was directed by Potsie Weber from Happy Days. Making it even stranger is that the film was written by Barry Sadler since the project was going to reunite him with Ken Russell who had directed his script for Crimes of Passion. Somehow Ken didn’t make it out to Oklahoma and Anson Williams took over. Even though the movie didn’t end up on the big screen, All-American Murder has quite a few big moments that deserve to be seen on a large HDTV.
Artie Logan (Ferris Bueller – the TV Series’ Charlie Schlatter) is a bad boy student. He’s already been kicked out of a few schools for his insane pranks including one that involved arson. He’s not playing it safe at Fairfield College (really Oklahoma State University). The bad boy has a collection of snakes in his apartment. He’s playing with fire by having an affair with the chancellor’s wife (Blade Runner‘s Joanna Cassidy). But he ends up impressing Tally Fuller (Melrose Place‘s Josie Bissett). She’s a sweetheart that besides being a star student is head of the cheerleaders and in a sorority. Artie can’t believe his luck when she agrees to go out with him on a second date. Could he wild ways finally be tamed? But their relationship hits a dead end when he arrives for their second date and finds that she’s on fire. She really is on fire and someone lit her up. Artie is the primary suspect and the cops including Richard Kind (Curb Your Enthusiasm) want to lock him up. But Detective P.J. Decker (Walken) is willing to give Artie 24 hours to prove his innocence before locking him up. Is Artie behind this lethal prank?
All-American Murder allows Walken to just kill it on the screen. His character is introduced during a hostage stand-off. Instead of doing the usual hostage banter, Walken does a full mindgame on the guy with the knife with some extra special information. Walken had just done Abel Ferrara’s King of New York and still has a touch of Frank White fearlessness. He plays well off Charlie Schlatter who comes off as a more devious Ferris Bueller. Josie Bissett comes off as so pure and innocent although we learn a bit more about her character as Artie investigates. With this film and Umberto Lenzi’s Hitcher In the Dark, we’re finally getting Bissett’s straight to video movies upgraded to Blu-ray. Both of these films should have been more popular on home video at the height of Melrose Place-mania.
All-American Murder moves at a pretty swift pace. It’s far from a flashy production that you might imagine a former Ken Russell project would contain. I can’t blame Anson Williams for not going overboard with camera tricks and editing since the film was budgeted as a straight to video project. His job primary job as director was to stay on schedule and finish the film. The biggest style element is shooting the rather kinky flashbacks in black and white so they look like a ’60 stag film. Anson provides a fine whodunit film and doesn’t get in the way of Christopher Walken’s special moments. And that’s what we really want out of All-American Murder.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. This is a serious upgrade from the VHS cassette you might have rented from Phar-Mor back in the ’90s. The 2K transfer was taken off the 35mm interpositive. The audio is DTS-HD MA stereo. You’ll hear the blowtorch flame and Walken’s finest moments. The movie is subtitled.
Commentary Track with The Hysteria Continues! The guys give a bit of history and context to the film.
Being On A Team (15:08) sits down with actor Charlie Schlatter at a park. He said Ken Russell was the original director. His interview was mostly him and Ken talking about Keith Moon. And Don Johnson had Christopher Walken’s role. Charlie wasn’t upset about Walken getting the role since he had once begged him for his autograph. He wasn’t sure what to make of Anson Williams taking over for Russell. His Walken stories are the best.
A Valuable Experience (14:47) gets an eye on cinematographer Geoffrey Schaaf. He had worked with Anson Williams on Seaquest and shot Lifestyles Of the Rich and Famous. He was eager to get into feature films and this was his big break. He thought this was going to be a TV movie, but Anson wasn’t shooting it for broadcast censors. He talks about how he had to adjust his technique when they fell behind on the first day.
Vinegar Syndrome presents All-American Murder. Directed by Anson Williams. Written by Barry Sandler. Starring: Christopher Walken, Charlie Schlatter, Josie Bissett, Joanna Cassidy and Richard Kind. Rating: Rated R. Running time: 93 minutes. Release date: May 25, 2021.
