An Occasional Hell (1996) User Reviews

So Bad It's Good

[john_gartner · 5/10 · 3 July 2005]

This is the quintessential B-movie. Despite the presence of some recognizable "talents" in the cast, it is as obvious and amateur as films with budgets over $1 million get. It seems as though Tom Berenger, who also produced the film, decided he wanted to be in a movie where he would get to "work" with the always semi-nude Kari Wuhrer. Fortunately there is ample screen time for Wuhrer, who haunts Berenger ala Hamlet's ghost as a Daisy Duke-ish trollop. Berenger's buddy Stephen Lang (they worked together on Gettysburg) probably didn't need much convincing for a role featuring several sex scenes with the curvaceous Kari. Tom was probably chatting about making the movie with pal and regular co-star Charlie Sheen (Platoon and Major League), who suggested that Valeria Golino (whom Sheen got to know filming Hot Shots) would have the perfect nipple's for Berenger's sex scene. The film features shots of the actors at needlessly odd angles, and has several lines that are unintentionally laugh out loud funny. Poor Ellen Greene wastes a few minutes picking up her check, and Berenger's tearful admission is a hoot. 20 minutes into the film (SPOILER ALERT), you see Geoffrey Lewis (who has perfected the dim wit role) digging a grave-sized hole, but it's not until an hour later that voila, Berenger realizes that might be a good place to look for a dead body. If you have a six-pack and are in an MST3K kind of mood, rent this and ad-lib your night away.

So so mystery

[ODDBear · 6/10 · 24 January 2005]

Tom Berenger portrays a college professor who returns to his former line of duty as a detective when Valeria Golino hires him to investigate her husband's death. Berenger's character suffers from old wounds which inhibit his abilities and also induce some weird hallucinations.

So so mystery-thriller benefits heavily from Tom Berenger's outstanding performance as the tragic lead character. Too bad the script and bland direction couldn't do better, this is standard mediocre fare all the way. Robert Davi does a good supporting job, as does Valeria Golino. They all deserve better.

Tired and tiresome mystery flick.

[gridoon · 4/10 · 16 August 2003]

"An Occasional Hell" is a low point in Tom Berenger's career. His acting in this picture is so lifeless that when people refuse to tell him what they know about the case he's investigating, he looks as if he's about to say "Fine, what do I care anyway?". The script is so slow-moving that at times it doesn't seem to be moving at all, and the direction is so pedestrian that, without the brief flashes of nudity, this could easily pass off as a TV movie. Apparently everyone associated with this movie was just too tired to even try making something good out of it. Everyone, that is, except Kari Wuhrer, who is incredibly sexy as always, and gives the film its only spark; sadly, her role is all-too-brief. (*1/2)

aptly named film

[dcnilsen · 3/10 · 6 April 2017]

film is aptly named because once in a while you come across a film which provides an occasional hell to have to watch...actually this one would be highly recommended for viewing by an arborist- wooden plot, wooden script, wooden acting, etc, etc, etc....I like tom berenger, but this is the equivalent of painting by numbers on steroids...and not even the nude scenes can help this turkey, but I can highly recommend it if you want to have a nice nap mid-movie, then wake up not feeling as though you missed anything...berenger's imaginary visits by the female missing from the crime scene are particularly annoying and ridiculous and add absolutely nothing to the plot...all in all such drivel that I was compelled to stop watching a little over halfway through, which after reading the reviews, turned out to be a wise move...the people advocating this disaster as a triumph are in need of god knows what, but taste comes forefront to my mind

A man who must first learn to live with his past, tries to solve a murder.

[The Boz · 1 August 1998]

This is not a stellar performance by Tom Berenger. This obvious low-budget movie does not make an impression. The plot seems to have many holes and the story line never really comes together. Berenger, a former cop, and now college professor is lured into finding the killer of a woman's husband and also tries to find the husband's lover. The movie's flashbacks are confusing and never make things that clear. The movie jumps around too much and it never gives the viewer a chance to get comfortable with any one character or situation. This movie falls short of expectations and is one of Berenger's saddest roles and performances. He never seems to be comfortable with his character and it seems way too obvious in this movie.

Questions and Answer Review

[Aristides-2 · 1/10 · 9 December 2006]

This will be a "Why" review which will then provide some "Answers". Why: does the college teacher teach a class from an elevated proscenium stage? Answer: The location manager of the film forgot to book a classroom on the day the scene was to be shot. College graciously allowed them to use their theater for a couple of hours. Why: are some of the students in their thirties? A: The "main" student in the scene, an older man, was chosen because he's related to one of the producers. The director, seeing him at lunch with his producer friend, realizes that he will stick out like a sore thumb and therefore tells her casting person to cast most of the class with, errrrh, older actors. Why: does the Berenger character, a former cop for god's sake, act like a virginal nincompoop when he speaks to almost anyone else in the film? A: B., without a strong director, he directed himself and decided to play dumb-naive Southern. Why: does the missing waitress appear from time-to-time as a fantasy-image? A: to show audiences that the prof is a "famous writer" who desperately needs a muse......to write true crime crap yet! Why: does the scene with the muse, riding on the external front of prof's car, have the background moving backwards? A: because the director, cinematographer and script supervisor forgot or didn't know that when you have a camera axis change from scene to scene what appears forward-going will project backwards. Why: does the color of the prof's car change on a car surveillance sequence? A: See previous answer and add property master, teamster and key grip to the answer. One of these people should have caught the error Why: and how could the town's newspaper know, the day after the murder, that "the waitress" was in the car with the victim? No one saw them together. A: a thing like this will happen to a hack writer grinding out a script under time pressure. Why: does the prof. keep injecting a yellowish fluid into his arm? A: Maybe his body doesn't provide enough urine for his every six hour evacuations and so he has to add it to his system. Why: didn't the savvy ex-cop, investigating a missing person who was present at a murder, make the connection that a huge hole being dug by two retards (set in the South so of course common folk are all perverted, repressed morons) near the site of the crime scene take days if not weeks to think that it might be a place to bury another murder victim. (This burial site is next to the murderer's house which is located near huge swamps which would be perfect to get rid of a body; oh the inbreeding that takes place Down South and the damage to the intellect!.) Much, much more but only time for one more Why. Why was this movie made? A: They thought with Berenger in it they could market it into profitability. As if that would be enough given the illogical script they were planning on filming. Too, he probably got more money than they wanted to spend and started cutting costs in many ways that unfortunately turned up on the screen.

Gripping plot & well rounded characters, let down by weak ending.

[alitosca · 3/10 · 13 October 2004]

From the first frame, this film glues you to the screen, with a gripping plot that is full of potential. As we learn more about the victim's wife and the university professor she employs in the role of reluctant detective, we are determined to delve further into the minds of this mysterious woman and the laconic southern gentleman, who is forced to confront his own past demons.

Regrettably, this strong foundation is undermined by the failure of the film to shine any light on the personalities of the victim or his abducted companion - elements that are essential to understanding the fate which overtakes them. And sadly the denouement is glaringly obvious - a limp ending to what should have been a superb thriller.

A girl can't help it - it's Tom Berenger...

[middsgo · 5/10 · 7 July 2008]

BUT - I wanted to thank John Gartner of Portland for his hilarious (and sometimes educational) comments!

I'm not sure which Berenger film I saw first, but he has warmed the cockles of my heart (to be genteel) from the first. In this flick, the shot where he reveals to his lover the dirty little secret underneath his shirt was worth the whole movie! - See, we gals can salivate over just a hint of the rest of what's there - or maybe it's just me, I'm an easy mark for a certain type of... ahem... torso, shall I say? But I'll never understand why guys are even attracted to that Daisy Mae-type critter - so obvious, so over-the-top; and here, she was really, really annoying, and just wouldn't go away! I, for one liked Berenger's deceptively easy-going southern man characterization. It doesn't have to be revolutionary if it works. As for his crying scene, I didn't think it was bad at all, as it was sudden and unexpected. To me, it was his lover's reaction that came across as forced and unconvincing.

What I like about this actor is that he often plays roles as what I consider a real man - he's a man's man, yet fully capable (sooner or later, often gradually) of connecting with a woman in a palpably tender way. If you think about it, there aren't many actors who can achieve this. They're either too intense at being tough to switch gears believably, or they're too obsessed with being proper at all times...sorta like a lot of actual people...

So, I guess I'll not heartily defend the script or the plot, etc., but I will vouch for Tom Berenger. In my book, he reliably adds quality to any film.

Weak story is never overcome ......

[merklekranz · 5/10 · 18 October 2018]

As the opening credits roll, there is a montage of Civil War photographs flashing on the screen. This is a definite reminder of two facts. the movie you are about to see takes place in the deep South ( as if that needed explaining), and that two Confederate Officers from the fabulous film "Gettysburg" are in "An Occasional Hell". So you get Tom Berenger and Stephen Lang, with Berenger given very little to work with, and Lang barely in the movie. Suspects abound but with little logic as to why they might commit a murder. I found this film to be confusing, unsatisfying, with a rushed conclusion, that makes little sense. Throw in the unending flashbacks, and what you are left with is a mess of a movie. Avoid. - MERK

Nothing to write home about

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 3/10 · 13 September 2016]

An Occasional Hell is one of countless cable TV crime melodramas that start to blur together if you've seen enough. They don't often have high budgets, and as such usually only contain a few elements: a handful of actors, a murder mystery, deception, eroticism and very little in the way of fancy special effects. This one has a solid lead in Tom Berenger, who can make anything watchable, and great supporting players who pitch in as well. The story, or lack thereof, is where the problem arises. Berenger plays an ex cop and forensics wizard turned college professor, who is hired by sultry widow Valeria Golino (remember her from Hot Shots? Lol) to solve the murder of her husband and his hot young mistress (Kari Wuhrer), who has vanished. It turns out the mistress may have been involved with drug runners (random) the state troopers get involved and it's all one big mess that neither Berenger nor the plot can seem to figure out. There's a cynical lead Trooper played by a snarky, laid back Robert Davi, and other assorted people including Richard Edson, Ellen Greene, Geoffrey Lewis and a kooky Stephen Lang, who shows up in flashbacks as Golino's eccentric civil war enthusiast husband. None of it makes all that much sense or seems to flow in a way that's believable, but Berenger makes it somewhat worthwhile, as do that other players. Just below average stuff.

Valeria Golino makes the film

[MIKE-966 · 8/10 · 13 October 1999]

I've seen Valeria Golino in comedies, but till now not in such a film. In this film she shows what an allround actress can. I was deeply impressed by both of the players, Tom and Valeria. It's a pity that I didn't see the full length of the film, but it held me in my chair from the beginning to the end. My advice: See the movie.

It's okay

[bombersflyup · 4/10 · 14 March 2018]

An Occasional Hell is a watchable film that never really goes anywhere.

I thought Tom Berenger was going to be the killer, teaching a class on the subject, victim's wife asking Berenger to solve it having seen his name on a document in the victim's possessions. It was a given they were going to get sexual, but as for the killer just being the guys on the land shooting them, that was bland but also surprising that this is all the writers had come up with. They were really digging a hole for the body out the front of the house, really. The acting's fine, just nothing much to work with. Kari Wuhrer doesn't really get to play a character here, she's briefly in the start then only in Berenger's imagination. The fact that it's his imagination, you would think her appearances wouldn't be so dull. Why the hell's he imagining her up a tree? It's also odd since he had never met her in the first place.

A solid and engrossing mystery thriller

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 8 June 2007]

Tom Berenger gives a typically excellent and engaging performance as Ernest DeWalt, a retiring, laid-back and amiable former cop turned crime novelist and college professor who's asked by the fiery, enticing Elizabeth Laughton (well played by the lovely Valeria Golino) to investigate the murder of her unfaithful husband Alex (a fine Stephen Lang) and the disappearance of his sultry tramp mistress Jeri Gillen (a smoking hot Kari Wuhrer). Both DeWalt's attraction to Elizabeth and his precarious health complicate things to a substantial degree. Director Salome Brezinger, working from an absorbing script by Randall Silvis, wrings plenty of tension from the gripping story and adroitly creates a pungent, vivid and sweltering downhome Southern atmosphere. A top-notch supporting cast qualifies as another major asset: Robert Davi as a compassionate detective, Richard Edson as a sleazy whitetrash druggie, Geoffrey Lewis as a bumbling oaf, and Ellen Greene as a sassy diner waitress. As an added bonus, both Wuhrer and Golino take their clothes off. Anton Sanko's flavorsome, harmonic country score and Mauro Fiore's bright, pretty cinematography further enhance the overall sound quality of this nifty little winner.

You get to see ALL of Steven Lang in this movie...

[bribabylk · 10 July 2007]

... and that's about the main thing going for it, and even he has a flat butt. Seriously, the whole thing about the murder weapon being a Civil War era musket has been done to death on the mediocre detective shows filling space on the TV schedules today; and it's pretty obvious who the killer is within the first 20 minutes. The performances aren't bad; in fact they're too good for the B-grade material. Hope everyone was well paid. You should really only see the movie if you have to watch EVERYTHING with Tom Berenger, or Steven Lang, or Kari Wurher, or Valerie Golina, etc. Ellen Green from "Little Shop of Horrors" makes a very brief appearance, and it was nice to see her again - she doesn't really get the film / TV work she deserves; kind of like Celeste Holme's career, which should have been bigger than it was. I saw this on cable; maybe the DVD has some extra features that make it more worth the while.