Steve (Harry Hamlin) works at a Porsche repair garage by day and by night reigns as the "King of The Mountain", the most successful and talented of a group that organize, wager on and participate in races up and down the narrow, winding roads of Mulholland Drive in the hills on the edge of the San Fernando Valley. In his highly tuned 356 Speedster, Steve races against both newcomers and veterans alike, never really considering the risks associated with the lifestyle or if there might be more for him elsewhere.
Steve's friends Buddy (Joseph Bottoms) and Roger (Richard Cox) want to get into the music industry, and although they once raced alongside Steve, their focus has shifted away from racing in favor of their potential careers, leaving Steve to reign as King alone, racing night after night for the thrills, but without much of the joy he once got from the racing. Aside from wanting the thrill, Steve is egged on by Cal (Dennis Hopper), a co-worker and the former King who reigned until a near-fatal accident destroyed his now aging, dilapidated Corvette and drove him over the edge mentally.
When Steve meets Tina (Deborah Van Valkenburgh), a young singer working with Buddy and Roger, he quickly falls for her and tries to introduce her to the world of street racing, but finds that she isn't as enthralled with it as he is and isn't interested in returning to the races or in being involved with a man is constantly risking his life for a thrill. Torn between Tina and his life as a racer, Steve must choose to either remain King, or abdicate and leave so that he can start over in "real life". All the while, Cal is secretly rebuilding his Corvette, and he wants a shot at winning his title back.
The film's climax depicts a dangerous, high speed race down the hill between Steve and Cal. Elvira is in this also.
Starring Harry Hamlin Joseph Bottoms Deborah Van Valkenburgh Richard Cox Seymour Cassel Dennis Hopper
Edited by William Steinkamp
Production company
PolyGram Pictures
Distributed by Universal Studios
Release dates May 1, 1981
Running time 90 min.
Language English
Box office $2.1 million[1]
[ 16. March 2016, 17:16: Message edited by: TerdNthePoolGGB ]
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Interesting film and i´ve been looking for a vhs copy, goes for 10 euros here at the moment.
Love the poster!
Posted by TerdNthePoolGGB (Member # 9818) on :
Hey atomik. I'm not sure how much 10 euro is in US but on eBay its going from $20-50. I just scored a copy on vhs for .99 at Red Racks
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Well that was a steal!
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
This looks pretty good fun,great cast as well I'd also like to check this one out!
I see it took 2.1 million at the box office and I looked up on IMDb and it was budgeted at 2 million so it barely broke even if even that which is a pity!
Terd let us know if you can if it's worth picking up?
[ 19. March 2016, 04:06: Message edited by: the young warrior ]
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
I had completely forgotten this movie even existed until you guys brought it up. And I saw it in a theatre, I think, back in the day. (Or I hallucinated seeing it in a theatre, I can't remember.) While it has some okay racing scenes and no movie with Dennis Hopper and Debra Van Valkenburg can be all that bad, it's really a piffle, a completely forgettable "looks like it was made for TV" film. (I think that it was based on a magazine article.) Other than the Mulholland racing stuff, there is no real plot to speak of, and Hamlin, Bottoms, and Cox are colorless, boring characters. It's one of those orphaned 80s films with no DVD release--and no one really clamoring for one either.
Posted by TerdNthePoolGGB (Member # 9818) on :
That's what makes it great Crash. No DVD but in enough demand to bring in some good cash on EBay.
