Generally speaking, the ’90s were a bloodbath for reigning horror institutions. Iconic characters and filmmakers alike struggled to sustain their relevancy as audiences moved on and embraced emerging talents and trends. One of these undue casualties was Tobe Hooper, who wrapped up the ’80s churning out deliriously entertaining schlock for Cannon Films before moving to television for cult favorites AMAZING STORIES and FREDDY’S NIGHTMARES. His first ’90s outing, SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION, was the work of an invested, righteous filmmaker with plenty left in the tank. And while all of this looks impressive now, most of this didn’t garner much acclaim or box office success at the time, creating the impression that Hooper’s best days were very much behind him. It’s little wonder, then, that he would spend the rest of his career mostly toiling away on the small screen for the TV and direct-to-video markets. For many filmmakers, such a fate may have been a death sentence; however, Hooper often made the most of it and continued to make interesting films despite the obvious constraints. And the constraints were nothing if not obvious for I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT, a USA World Premiere about a killer Aztec cloak.
Then again, if there was anyone you ever wanted at the helm of a movie involving cursed fabric, it would be Hooper, who takes this premise and runs with it about as far as you could on 90s basic cable. The important thing here is that the script (written by Bruce Lansbury and Philip John Taylor and inspired by a Cornell Woolrich short story) leans right into it early and often, starting with an opening scene that introduces the deadly cloak when a college professor (William Berger) unleashes it from an ancient sacrificial altar and becomes possessed by a homicidal rage that inspires him to kill a security guard. Sometime later, the cloak resurfaces near the campus during a yard sale, where beleaguered undergrad Amy (Mädchen Amick) finds it in search of props for the theater department. This meek girl—who recently lost her parents and has trouble telling people “no”—is drawn to the seductive power of the fabric and knits it into a dress that spells trouble for anyone who wears it.
Despite the silly particulars of the premise, there’s a compelling horror story found in the hook of I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT, where a straight-laced co-ed breaks bad and causes all sorts of mayhem. Thos Jekyll-and Hyde routine would especially be appealing with Amick in the lead: one of the most striking talents to emerge during the 90s, she’s game for the general arc of this story, exhibiting the required range for a role that finds her whiplashing from demure doormat to sultry seductress. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t exploit this range to the fullest, simply because this isn’t exactly a story of psychological turmoil beget by cursed clothing. In fact, Amy quickly realizes how dangerous the dress is and tries to rid herself of it, only to find it haunting her as other people in her life try it on for size—to predictably disastrous results.
As such, I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT is more of an episodic splatter movie without the actual splatter once the cloth starts passing through everyone’s hands. Amy’s classmate and eventual boyfriend (Corey Parker) tries it on for size during a rehearsal and blows his chance at appearing in the production when he takes a fight scene much too seriously. Her snotty cousin (Daisy Hall) wears it on a date that goes horribly awry when it’s obvious her jerk “Big Ten quarterback” boyfriend is only using her for sex. Even Amy’s dear old, wheelchair-bound grandma (Natalie Schafer) can’t resist its lure, leading to an ill-fated game of tug-of-war near a staircase. Eventually—and I suppose this counts as the “plot”—a drug-addicted coroner’s assistant (Dee Wallace) finds the dress and goes on a murderous rampage through town. Meanwhile, R. Lee Ermey investigates the rash of bizarre slayings, while Anthony Perkins provides exposition as Amy’s anthropology professor. It’s a role that seemingly plays against type since he spends most of the movie as a mild-mannered mentor until a third-act conversation gives him a chance to harness his signature creeper persona. Despite not being possessed by the cloak, Perkins goes as big and broad as anyone else to keep the threadbare fuse lit here.
Sustaining that spark is Hooper’s ultimate triumph here. I imagine there was probably some temptation to turn this premise into a farce (I shudder to think what I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT would look like in today’s irony-laced ecosystem), but everyone involved resists going too far over the top, something that’s perhaps surprising considering Hooper’s history of staging absolute freak-outs. Instead, he finds a nice Goldilocks Zone here between camp and po-faced sincerity that works for this kind of late-night, junk-food weekend watch, where the primary motivation was keeping eyeballs glued enough to come back after commercial breaks. The action is plentiful, giving Hooper some nice opportunities to imprint his wild sensibilities with some brutal stalk-and-slash violence and some impressive car stunts. I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT wouldn’t be the first piece of evidence you’d cite for Hooper’s auteurism, but it’s ample proof that he was a reliable genre hand even on a workmanlike production such as this.
Of all the revered horror filmmakers of his generation, Hooper is one of the few who still feels underappreciated somehow. I know that’s absurd to say about the director of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and POLTERGEIST, two of the most lauded movies ever made. Those two productions loom so largely, though, that Hooper’s other work is unfairly caught in their shadows, with CHAIN SAW especially etching itself into the first line of his obituary decades before his death. What must it have felt like to be told you had essentially peaked at the age of 30, despite having a lengthy, productive career spanning 40 years? However it felt, Hooper’s productivity almost feels like an act of defiance in retrospect: yes, he “slummed it” on TV and video for 20 years, but this was a byproduct of a misunderstood genius taking what he could get, and even something as tepid as I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT catches a spark with him at the helm. One thing that’s evident from all of Hooper’s productions is his infectious love for movie-making, and his voluminous output during the ’90s suggests a compulsive need to create, something that should be celebrated instead of shunned. Manning a made-for-USA Network movie less than a decade after POLTERGEIST seems like a precipitous fall from grace, but you’d never know it from watching I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT, which remains nothing if not an absolute hoot for 90 minutes.
THE DISC:
I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT is such an overlooked entry in the Hooper canon that it’s only now making its official disc debut, jumping straight from its ancient VHS release to Blu-ray. KL Studio Classics has made the wait worthwhile, though, by restoring the film elements with a new 2K transfer and producing a solid set of supplements. The presentation is top-notch, with the 35mm elements only occasionally showing the slightest wear; detail is excellent, while the color palette—especially that red dress—pops on the screen. It’s almost a cliche to say a film has never looked better, but it’s certainly true in this case since I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT has only been released on analog, standard-definition formats.
The supplements are robust as well, highlighted by a pair of audio commentaries: the first features Kristopher Woofter and Will Dodson, editors of AMERICAN TWILIGHT: THE CINEMA OF TOBE HOOPER, while the second features filmmaker and historian Michael Varratti. KL has also produced a pair of interviews in conjunction with Red Shirt Pictures. The first finds Dee Wallace sitting down for a nice chat that mostly focuses on I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT, though she does briefly mention some of her other notable horror work. The second has cinematographer Levie Isaacks recounting his long association with Hooper (he’s the voice on the radio at the beginning of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE) before discussing the choices he made on I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT. He also briefly mentions that he was set to reteam with Hooper on a production that sadly never got funded.
The neatest supplement here is MAKING I’M DANGEROUS TONIGHT, 47 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage that can be paired with a commentary by videographer Stan Giesa and Michael Felsher. The footage is real fly-on-the-wall stuff, capturing various scenes and sequences. It’s always interesting to see such a raw, uncompromised look at a film set, and I couldn’t help but smile when the first shot here finds Hooper strolling through the set, sipping from a can of Dr. Pepper. Talk about capturing a man in his essence.
An 18-minute video essay from filmmaker and programmer Chris O’Neill provides a nice overview and analysis of the film, particularly when it highlights certain shots and lighting to reveal how some of Hooper’s auteurist signatures shine through. Finally, a video trailer for the film takes you back to the glory days of VHS previews, right down to a booming voice announcing the cast and the film’s title. Considering how inexplicably obscure this film has been for 30 years, this release is quite a godsend for Hooper fanatics. It was one of the major missing pieces from his filmography on home video, leaving only NIGHT TERRORS and THE APARTMENT COMPLEX as his only feature films in need of a disc release. While I can’t vouch for the latter, I can assure you that NIGHT TERRORS is indeed something else, and I would love to see Kino Lorber tackle it if it’s in the cards. And if it isn’t, maybe the label can at least continue carving its TV movie niche by releasing Wes Craven’s NIGHT VISIONS, one of the last films from his oeuvre in need of release.
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Tags: anthony perkins, Blu-ray, Corey Parker, Cornell Woolrich, Dee Wallace, KL Studio Classics, Madchen Amick, R. Lee Ermey, Tobe Hooper, USA World Premiere Movie
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