Crime Zone
Tags: plot twist

Plot synopsis:
In the fictional country Soleil, a brutal police state at war with Frodan, the government sets up a criminal, Hector, who walks into a police trap. Hector is captured alive at the behest of the police chief and is executed live on television after a brief show trial. Bone, who has recently lost his job at a cryogenics facility for not showing the proper respect to authority, meets Helen, a woman forced into prostitution at the government-sanctioned whorehouse. They are immediately attracted to each other and begin an illegal romance despite several close calls with the police. Bone's friend Creon becomes jealous of their relationship and demands that Bone share Helen with him; disgusted, Bone refuses, and they eventually come to blows over Creon's behavior.
After he observes Bone and Helen engage in petty theft, a mysterious man named Jason offers them passage to Frodan if they will steal records from a secure facility disguised as a hospital. Although suspicious, they accept and successfully deliver the information to Jason, who attempts to delay their reward and talk them into further criminal acts. Frustrated and needing money, Bone and Helen rob a bank, quickly becoming the most wanted criminals in Soleil. Creon attempts to blackmail Helen, but she dismisses his threats; before Creon can attack her, Bone saves her and tells Creon that he would kill him if he weren't leaving Soleil so soon. After losing faith in Jason's promises, Bone and Helen recruit J.D. and Alexi to help them escape.
On the run, Helen and Bone hide out in the plague zone, where they encounter Jason, who is revealed to be a government agent. Jason explains that the government long ago ended any major crime in Soleil, and it is his job to recruit citizens to go on government-sponsored crime sprees that validate the powers of the police state. Helen and Bone briefly take Jason hostage, then flee to a safer location, where they discuss plans to rob upper class citizens stored in the cryogenics facility and hijack military helicopters that Alexi can pilot to Frodan. Creon bullies J.D. into betraying Bone and Helen to the police, with whom he has made a deal. Bone kills his former boss at the facility, and Creon tries to take Helen hostage. However, the police arrive and betray Creon, as Helen warned him they would. Creon takes J.D. and Alexi hostage; when J.D. mocks him, Creon murders J.D.
At the military base, Helen and Bone, who escaped the facility, free Alexi and use Creon as a distraction as they hijack a helicopter. Creon begs to be taken with them, but they leave him behind for Jason to kill. Alexi flies Helen and Bone to Frodan, where they triumphantly land and celebrate their freedom. However, Frodan appears deserted, and Jason is waiting for them at the airfield. Jason casually murders Alexi and a police witness, then thanks Bone for making his plans possible. Jason reveals that everything has been a lie: Frodan is a radioactive wasteland, and the war ended twenty years ago; the "plague zone" is actually radiation that has drifted to Soleil. Jason knows too much for his position to be secure, and the information that Bone retrieved for him is his insurance. Jason allows Bone and Helen to escape, telling them that their continued threat justifies Soleil's military expenditures.

Review: A B-movie...
but not a bad one.
This video was (literally) collecting dust on the shelf of the store where I work.
I dusted it off & took it home to watch, hoping it might be either a) a cheesy and  unintentionally hilarious grade z flick or maybe b)an undiscovered sci-fi classic.
It certainly wasn't a) and I'm beginning to suspect it might be quite close to being b).
Peter Nelson (v.good, and broodingly handsome) and Sherilyn Fenn (also great) had real chemistry as the lovers in Soliel, the repressive 1984-style society, and the action sequences were genuinely thrilling.
Pity about the hammy support by Michael Shaner, but it doesn't undermine the rest of the movie.
If you like Blade Runner and 1984, give this film a chance..
"Come on, show me your dick!".
An agreeably stark and rough post-apocalyptic little Sci-fi b-grade film by Roger Corman's Concorde productions, which depicts a neon-glazed future where citizens are put into categories as they carry out daily routines, are run by strict rules (like state-sanctioned sexual activities), cameras watch their every move, the rich extend their existence in the Garden of hibernation and they're governed by a power-hungry state where a mighty police force keeps order.
This follows two young love-birds going against the trend, by taking up an offer by a stranger to steal some important computer chip where in doing be free of the strangling reign of the dead-end zone.
But things don't go to plan, where they are caught up in a web of murder, mystery and intrigue.
So now they are on the run.
This is what you can call an grimly futuristic twist to Bonnie and Clyde in a post-world war three society.
Quite formulaic, but it does offer up an ambitious surprise or two with its sharply written, if elaborate screenplay.
Director Luis Llosa remarkably keeps a fast tempo, delivering impulsively edgy action sequences, efficiently workable special effects and getting atmospheric vigour out of the smoky low-rent sets.
They do look dingy, but it brings an authenticity about its war-torn decay.
An arrestingly foreboding synthesizer score only adds to the steamy humidity.
The performances are quite impressive.
Peter Nelson is ably good with a very delectable Sherilyn Fenn as the young on-the-run couple Bone and Helen who are dreaming of a better life and to get that the rules are to be broken.
Because they wouldn't kiss ass.
The collectedly smooth David Carradine (who also was one of the associate producers) goes about his business in a very cunning manner.
Then there's durable support by Michael Shaner and Orlando Sacha.
By-the-way kick-ass cover artwork too."No way.
We're going out in style.".
pleasant and enjoyable.
i feel this movie can be appreciated by fans of the bmovie scifi genre.
it takes a bit of patience to watch it, i've seen it about two times.
the second time was better.
i zoned out and watched it, my friend did not like it and fell asleep.
meanwhile i enjoyed this visual feast.
its based in your post apoc city underground.
the main character is kicked out of his police job.
back to his seedy apartment.
ironically he claims he'll be going back to nothing.
although he still has his place and seems to be getting by.
he wants to get out of the city, a sort of ghetto with bleak implications.
an amazing line is delivered by a fascist city guard, who bursts into his apt, because they saw him with a known prostitute outside of the legal zone the other day...
"is that the normal size of your ----" referring to his privates the society is exploitave and interrogative.
i really appreciate the sound track and back alley progression of the film.
i like the gritty nature of the film.
technically this is not a pleasing film and will not enthrall techno junkies.
use of the imagination is required.
i feel this adds well to post-apoc completist essences..
Whoa, this movie kinda sucks....kinda hard....
I have seen a lot of low budget, poorly produced sci-fi and horror flicks, and I *usually* can find something of value in them, but this movie from 1988 is by far one of the worst.
Crime Zone makes Albert Pyun's Cyborg look like a masterpiece.
Let's see....where to start.....the lighting, props, costumes and effects are REALLY poor.
I mean, people aren't stupid, it's obviously a bb gun Helen carries around through the last half of the film.
I think I saw the same gun at Wal*mart last week.
I don't even want to discuss the plot let alone the acting.
I don't know how David Carradine got mixed up in this film, because the other actors are quite lame.
I guess Sherilyn Fenn is OK, but Peter Nelson and Michael Shaner are REALLY lame, I think even I could act better.
Lets not forget about the score.
My god, it sounds like it was made with a Toys 'R' Us kids Casio keyboard.
I gave the movie a 3/10 because some company actually had the balls to release this p.o.s..
Now I know why it hasn't been released on DVD yet.
Maybe Criterion should put out a special collector's edition of it!
Haha.
I think I even liked Troll 2 better, and that is really freakin sad.....
A very enjoyable and unjustly overlooked futuristic sci-fi action flick.
In yet another bleak and depressing depiction of the future (this time as a post-plague, post-World War III, perpetually dark and desolate wasteland run by strict authoritarian "1984"ish Big Brother types), young lovers Bone (a solid and engaging portrayal by the handsome Peter Nelson) and Helen (a winningly fiery'n'feisty turn by the sexy Sherilyn Fenn) are hired by crafty rich guy Jason (a really amusing and entertaining David Carradine) to pull off a few heists.
When Jason doesn't live up to his side of the bargain Bone and Helen become wanted on the lam fugitives ala Bonnie and Clyde.
Luis Llosa's capable, energetic direction (Llosa went on to helm the trashy Sly Stallone vehicle "The Specialist" and the delightfully hokey giant killer snake hoot "Anaconda"), Daryl Haney's witty, profane script, Rick Conrad's rousing synthesizer score, and fine supporting performances by Michael Shaner as Bone's obnoxious brother Creon, Orlando Sacha as amiable old-timer Alexi and Robert Englund lookalike Don Manor as petty crook J.D. all ensure that "Crime Zone" makes the grade as a lively, exciting and overall above average sci-fi action romp..
Didn't Seem to Click.
This was a difficult movie for me to rate.
First of all, I usually enjoy films with Sherilynn Fenn because she adds a unique quality to movies with her beauty and youthful charm.
Throw in David Carradine and any movie would probably be somewhat successful.
Additionally, I really enjoy films of an apocalyptic science-fiction nature.
Unfortunately, things just didn't seem to click for me in this one.
While Sherilynn Fenn (as "Helen") certainly did her job well enough I don't think David Carradine ("Jason") was used as extensively as he should have been.
Additionally, Peter Nelson ("Bone") seemed more like a supporting actor than someone in the lead male role.
Along with that I didn't care for the performance of Michael Shaner ("Creon") at all.
Likewise, the sets were extremely cheap looking and the action was kind of boring.
Granted this was a Roger Cormen film and low-budget productions are his specialty.
But it didn't seem to work in this particular case.
That said, I rate the film as slightly below average.