Many Sundays throughout the year we will be highlighting a few titles that are considered to be "stuck" on VHS, with no physical releases since the format (discounting VHS transfers on DVDs, etc.) for various reasons, i.e. legal ownership disputes, music licensing issues, or perhaps just perceived lack of interest.

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SLOW BURN, directed by Matthew Chapman (HEART OF MIDNIGHT), brings us an incongruous pairing of traditional noir tropes (including sardonic gumshoe voiceover narration from Eric Roberts) with an unexpected setting of sun-drenched Palm Springs, making for a dissonantly bright & quiet neo-noir - perfectly placed in in the mid-80s (complete with an early Johnny Depp appearance). Its heart yearns for CHINATOWN & THE LONG GOODBYE but has one foot in the door of the ascendant erotic thriller wave. Made for Showtime, it has never been properly released on any format past VHS and is unlikely to have ever screened theatrically.

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FFO: Southern California

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From the back of the box:

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"The desert heat seems cool compared to the red hot emotions of Eric Roberts and Beverly D'Angelo in this searing murder mystery reminiscent of BLOOD SIMPLE and BODY HEAT. As a private detective attempting to track down the missing son of a famed artist in swanky Palm Springs, loner Eric Roberts is slowly drawn to sultry Beverly D'Angelo, the wealthy spouse of a multi-millionaire with a deadly past. Co-starring Henry Gibson and Dan Hedaya, the stylish, tension-packed drama in which evening liaisons turn into nights of terror, maintains its grip from the pulse-quickening opening to the riveting climax."

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dir. Matthew Chapman, 1986
United States, VHS projection
92 mins

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Sunday, 4/6
7:30 DOORS
8:00 SCREENING

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Special ticket rate: $5 general admission, $4 members!