Body Count Movie Review

Alyssa Milano has paid her dues in a number of flicks you wouldn't go near if she weren't in them. As these quickly made entries go, Body Count isn't bad. For key stretches of the film, director Kurt Voss employs the radio drama technique of letting the sounds within a house build an effective atmosphere of horror. Even if everything unravels at the end, the production team deserves credit for trying something different. Susanne (Milano) is in love with Daniel (Justin Theroux), and he's finally bringing her home to meet his well-heeled folks. They include familiar faces from the small screen: Marta (Lost in Space) Kristen as Marilyn, Ron (Planet of the Apes) Harper as Jack, and Robert (CHIPS) Pine as Wilson. The first part of the movie is your standard edgy gathering of relatives, but it gets interesting when Susanne and Daniel are alone in the dark and hear truly terrible things happening to Aunt Estelle, Cousin Allen, Justin, and the rest of the clan. THEY MAY BE NEXT. Is there anything they can do to save themselves from a danger they can't even see? Ice-T is co-billed with Milano, who also serves as executive producer. Both are good here and this modestly made chiller may actually succeed in giving you a chill or two. Voss’ previous credits include Border Radio (co-directed with Alison Anders), Genuine Risk, The Horseplayer, Baja, Amnesia, and Poison Ivy 3: The New Seduction. AKA: Below Utopia.

1997 (R) 88m/C Ice-T, Alyssa Milano, Justin Theroux, Tommy (Tiny) Lister, Jeannette O'Connor, Nicholas Walker, Eric Saiet, Marta Kristen, Ron Harper, Robert Pine, Richard Danielson; D: Kurt Voss; W: David Diamond; C: Denis Maloney; M: Joseph Williams. VHS, Closed Caption