Hostages! (1980)
(aka Under Siege / Traficantes de Pánico)
DIRECTOR: René Cardona Jr. (Night of 1000 Cats, Tintorera)
STARS: Stuart Whitman (Guyana - Cult of the Damned), Hugo Stiglitz (Nightmare City), Marisa Mel (Danger: Diabolik), Francisco Rabal (Sorcerer), Antonella Interlenghi (City of the Living Dead, Yeti)
SYNOPSIS: A group of violent thieves stage a large robbery at a casino in Puerto Rico. It gets messy and many innocent people are killed. The criminals kidnap one bystander as the group separates to confuse the police. Eventually three of the desperate men end up in a fancy neighborhood and decide to hide in one of the homes. Inside they find a rich businessman (Rabal), his wife (Mel), sexy daughter (Interlenghi) as well as the maid and cook. At this point the film becomes a riff on The Desperate Hours as the family tries to survive and alert the police. Top billed Whitman is the no-nonsense police chief who spends most of the film in an office talking on the police radio. One final attempt by the crooks to get free has the men demanding an airplane to take them to freedom. The film has some surprisingly good car chases that look dangerous as hell. I bet someone got injured as the cars smashed their way though city streets. One female criminal gets torn in half by a parked truck as she hangs out of a moving vehicle shooting at cops. Her blood and guts on display would look right at home in a Lucio Fulci film. Prolific genre fave Hugo Stiglitz (still working in 2022!) plays a tough police sergeant. He made this film the same year he was saving the world from crusty faced zombies in the so-bad-it's-great classic Nightmare City. A local movie theater is playing 1967's Three Fantastic Supermen.
Fullscreen / Color
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R
(aka Under Siege / Traficantes de Pánico)
DIRECTOR: René Cardona Jr. (Night of 1000 Cats, Tintorera)
STARS: Stuart Whitman (Guyana - Cult of the Damned), Hugo Stiglitz (Nightmare City), Marisa Mel (Danger: Diabolik), Francisco Rabal (Sorcerer), Antonella Interlenghi (City of the Living Dead, Yeti)
SYNOPSIS: A group of violent thieves stage a large robbery at a casino in Puerto Rico. It gets messy and many innocent people are killed. The criminals kidnap one bystander as the group separates to confuse the police. Eventually three of the desperate men end up in a fancy neighborhood and decide to hide in one of the homes. Inside they find a rich businessman (Rabal), his wife (Mel), sexy daughter (Interlenghi) as well as the maid and cook. At this point the film becomes a riff on The Desperate Hours as the family tries to survive and alert the police. Top billed Whitman is the no-nonsense police chief who spends most of the film in an office talking on the police radio. One final attempt by the crooks to get free has the men demanding an airplane to take them to freedom. The film has some surprisingly good car chases that look dangerous as hell. I bet someone got injured as the cars smashed their way though city streets. One female criminal gets torn in half by a parked truck as she hangs out of a moving vehicle shooting at cops. Her blood and guts on display would look right at home in a Lucio Fulci film. Prolific genre fave Hugo Stiglitz (still working in 2022!) plays a tough police sergeant. He made this film the same year he was saving the world from crusty faced zombies in the so-bad-it's-great classic Nightmare City. A local movie theater is playing 1967's Three Fantastic Supermen.
Fullscreen / Color
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R
(aka Under Siege / Traficantes de Pánico)
DIRECTOR: René Cardona Jr. (Night of 1000 Cats, Tintorera)
STARS: Stuart Whitman (Guyana - Cult of the Damned), Hugo Stiglitz (Nightmare City), Marisa Mel (Danger: Diabolik), Francisco Rabal (Sorcerer), Antonella Interlenghi (City of the Living Dead, Yeti)
SYNOPSIS: A group of violent thieves stage a large robbery at a casino in Puerto Rico. It gets messy and many innocent people are killed. The criminals kidnap one bystander as the group separates to confuse the police. Eventually three of the desperate men end up in a fancy neighborhood and decide to hide in one of the homes. Inside they find a rich businessman (Rabal), his wife (Mel), sexy daughter (Interlenghi) as well as the maid and cook. At this point the film becomes a riff on The Desperate Hours as the family tries to survive and alert the police. Top billed Whitman is the no-nonsense police chief who spends most of the film in an office talking on the police radio. One final attempt by the crooks to get free has the men demanding an airplane to take them to freedom. The film has some surprisingly good car chases that look dangerous as hell. I bet someone got injured as the cars smashed their way though city streets. One female criminal gets torn in half by a parked truck as she hangs out of a moving vehicle shooting at cops. Her blood and guts on display would look right at home in a Lucio Fulci film. Prolific genre fave Hugo Stiglitz (still working in 2022!) plays a tough police sergeant. He made this film the same year he was saving the world from crusty faced zombies in the so-bad-it's-great classic Nightmare City. A local movie theater is playing 1967's Three Fantastic Supermen.
Fullscreen / Color
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R