There are people who are not happy about Hendricks release - especially an activist group led by Jackson Roth ( Robert Englund) and Catherine "Sunny" Macintosh (Barbara Champion).Ĭatherine heads a group called "Christians against Moral Decay." Roth and Catherine are among those who are angry that Hendricks did not get the death penalty for killing Tiana and torturing Genevieve and the other five teenagers. And Genevieve still has intense nightmares. But, the memories of what Hendricks did are still fresh in the minds of Helverton's residents. While he's under the influence of his medicine, Hendricks is timid and apologetic about what he did. Hendricks moves back to his old neighborhood. Three years later, Hendricks is released.ĭoctors at the Meistrich Institute state that Hendricks, who has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic with a severe chemical imbalance, is okay as long as he is on his medication. But a year later, Hendricks is declared not guilty by reason of insanity and he is put in the Meistrich Psychiatric Institute. After a brief struggle in which Captain Howdy gets shot, Mike arrests Captain Howdy, whose real name is Carlton Hendricks ( Dee Snider). Gage not only finds Genevieve naked and bound, with her mouth stitched shut, but also five other teenagers who are in similar predicaments. Later, however, he figures out Captain Howdy's location, and finds Captain Howdy's torture chamber. Meeting the mysterious Captain Howdy online, Mike gets Captain Howdy to invite him to a party, but Mike's planned bust goes awry. But it is not until Mike's niece Angela Stravelli ( Amy Smart) informs him of Genevieve's penchant for meeting strangers through the Internet that Mike gets his first lead. Mike discovers that Captain Howdy is into "body art" that includes great quantities of tattooing, piercing, branding, and scarification. Tiana's tortured body is found in the car's trunk with her mouth stitched shut, and there is no sign of Genevieve. The case takes an unexpected turn when Tiana's car is pulled out of a lake. With the assistance of a younger cop named Steve Christian (Brett Harretson), Gage begins searching for Genevieve and Tiana. When neither Genevieve nor Tiana has returned home by the next morning, Toni alerts Mike. What Captain Howdy doesn't know is that Genevieve's father is local cop Mike Gage ( Kevin Gage), whose wife is named Toni ( Elizabeth Peña). As it turns out, Captain Howdy has lured them into a darkness from which there may be no escape. Upon "meeting" another apparent student who goes by the screen name of "Captain Howdy," Genevieve and Tiana decide to attend a party at Captain Howdy's house. Fifteen-year-old Genevieve Gage ( Linda Cardellini) and her best friend Tiana Moore (Amat Rhoe) are typical high school students who spend their idle time surfing the Internet and sending messages to strangers via chat rooms. Strangeland isn't a bad film, but considering the concept, it makes you wonder how much potential this flick really had.The place is Helverton, Colorado, a town of about 350,000 people. The film does possess something worth mentioning, Dee Snider as the villain. However, I still enjoyed the film, even though the plot was imperfect, and the cast were so-so. If Dee Snider would have spent time rewriting a second draft, then maybe we would have had something very memorable on our hands. There are some very interesting ideas at work here, but the script clearly suffers from being underdeveloped. I was very much surprised and I really didn't think it was that bad. There's nothing truly remarkable about this one, except if you're looking for an underrated B movie, then check this film out. There's an inventive plot in its somewhat sketchy script, and it works well enough for its 90 minute run time. Although not perfect, I felt that Strangeland wasn't as bad as what every critic has said. The film has a dark, moody, melancholic atmosphere which adds to the tone of story. In a way that's what makes him appealing. Snider's character is eccentric, bizarre and psychotic who says stuff that really doesn't make any sense. The acting is fairly decent, never anything good but definitely not as bad as what many critics have said. Although Snider's ideas are a bit rough, there are still plenty of good things going for the film. This is an underrated film that has a unique concept. Strangeland which is written by Heavy Metal musician Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame.
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