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read or seen either, the Shop is a paranoid organization that investigates psychic powers and paranormal happenings to see if they have potential for use as weapons, then performs highly secret and highly unethical experiments on the unfortunate individual who displayed the powers. The Shop is notorious for its paranoia, killing anyone who might let the people of the U.S. of A. in on what the government really does with their tax money. And the Shop, with- out Angelo’s knowledge, replaces Jobe’s injec- tions (which heighten intelligence) with the chimp formula (which heightens aggression). Suddenly, Jobe is super-smart and has phe- nomenal psychic powers. That’s great, except that the aggression drugs - combined with his heightened intellect - have given him a Christ complex. He thinks he’s some kind of god, and he’s going to take over the world by entering the world’s electrical system. And in the time- honoured tradition of horror movie characters who get god-like powers, he wanders around town killing his worst enemies before going to

VSI to carry out his evil plan.

I won’t spoil the ending for you. I’d go crazy trying to describe the special effects. Suffice it to say, there’s room for a sequel.

- Now, on to the more technical aspects of the film. The parts are well acted, save one. That one is Pierce as Angelo. He tries gamely to preserve the atmosphere, and mostly he suc- ceeds, but his dialougue is sometimes so ab- surdly melodramatic and overwritten you either laugh out loud or groan and cover your ears. He sounds just like Spock on the old Star Trek reruns as he pontificates about the educational nature of his work and his stand against vio- lence: ‘‘I must use this ... work... for the.. betterment .... of ....... mankind......(?).....””

As hinted at above, this film is an unholy crossbreeding of sci-fi and horror, in the same category (if not the same caste) as Alien or

2001: A Space Odyssey, even though it’s ground

based. As science fiction, the movie is right up there with Star Trek in terms of silly plot devices. As a horror movie, it has a few genu- inely chilling moments, like the tense lawnmowerassassination scene or the part where Angelo discovers his wife acting like a refugee from Stepford. As a special effects bonanza, it

hits on all cylinders.

Scenes to Wateh For: The bit with the big, red, evil-looking lawnmower chasing the guy through the house; the priest who goes out in a way we’d love to visit on certain Roman Catho- lic molesters; poor Jake’s demise; and the unbe- lievable and funny string of coincidences that lead to the explosive climax. Oh, and the special effects for virtual reality. They’re incredible.

Favourite Line: Terry, Jobe’s employer, turns to the priest and says, in a thick and hilarious Irish accent, ‘‘Gawd, you’re such a pious asshole.”’

Judgement: Made for a tenth of what Termi- nator 2 cost, and with special effects almost as good, The Lawnmower Man deserves a good, long look. It was one of the biggest “‘gotta-see’’ movies of the last couple years, and it deserves the honour. With a fun, fast, friendly storyline and some really good dialogue (and the fantas- tic special effects), this is a movie you gotta see. Just remember: It’s got nothing to do with the silly short story by Stephen King. He sued them so his name wouldn’t be on the picture.

Next Time: Dances With Wolves. Til then,

ciao (7)! @

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