Phantom, The (1996)

The Phantom is by no means a masterpiece, but it's still highly entertaining. It's a film that kids remember as being awesome and for good reason--the film is absolutely ridiculous. Stylistically a rip-off of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the plot is riddled full of gaping flaws in logic, but the action sequences are fantastic. Billy Zane can't act to save his life, especially not in a skin-tight purple suit. While I love Treat Williams, his portrayal of villain Xander Drax definitely left something to be desired. In fact, I much preferred the (smaller) presence of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as yet another juicy Asian villain. The music is the worst aspect of the picture, maintaining the exact same intensity and style throughout which was pretty boring.

6/10

Dead Heat (1988)

Imagine a buddy cop action movie. Imagine it with zombies. Now imagine one of the buddy cops is also a zombie. Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo (gag!) star in exactly that. The film makes up for its low production values with charm, energy, and creativity abound by throwing in really fun and funny action scenes, an interesting plot, a cameo by Vincent Price, and some inspired (but not necessarily good) special effects. The film is directed by the excellent editor Mark Goldblatt (editor of such greats as The Terminator, Commando, T2, and Starship Troopers). If you've got 80 minutes to kill, Dead Heat is loads of fun.

7/10