Cult Movie Theatre: Black Moon Rising

Tommy Lee Jones as Quint.

To supplement his income as a director early in his career, John Carpenter penned screenplays--several of which were subsequently produced without his involvement. He wrote the Western Blood River for John Wayne's production company. It was intended as a star vehicle for The Duke, but he died before the movie was made.

Another Carpenter screenplay, written around 1980 was Black Moon Rising. Carpenter once called it his "my car is stolen and I'm going to get it back story."  His script went unproduced for almost ten years until the release of Black Moon Rising in 1986. Carpenter received a co-writing credit on the screenplay, but otherwise had nothing to do with the finished film. He even claims to have never seen it.

Linda Hamilton as a car thief.

Tommy Lee Jones stars as Quint, a high-tech thief employed by the government to steal a data tape from a corrupt corporation. He nabs the cassette tape, but not before a rival--now working for the bad guys--recognizes him. At a desert gas station, Quints hides the tape in an experimental hydrogen-fueled car being transported to Los Angeles. His plan is to find his own way to L.A. and retrieve the tape once there.

Quint's plan goes awry when the car is stolen--along with many other luxury vehicles-- from a nightclub parking lot. Quint follows the car thieves to a twin-tower complex where the stolen cars are being kept under heavy security. It won't be easy, but his only course of action is to steal the car back so he retrieve the tape.

The experimental Black Moon.

It's a shame that John Carpenter didn't direct Black Moon Rising. As he showed in Escape from New York and Assault on Precinct 13, Carpenter has a gift for fast-paced action films with colorful characters. However, in the hands of journeyman director Harley Cokeliss, Black Moon Rising is a perfunctory heist film elevated by Tommy Lee Jones's convincing performance and some modestly impressive car chases.

Jones captures Quint's world-weary facade--one can't imagine him staying in retirement for very long. As a car thief who becomes Quint's lover, Linda Hamilton sports a big '80 perm and a lot of pouty attitude.  Sadly, she displays none of the natural strength that she did in The Terminator two years earlier. She and Jones also make an odd pair--in fact, I was somewhat stunned when Cokeliss cuts from the pair riding in her Mercedes to a bedroom lovemaking scene!

Robert Vaughn as the villain.

The supporting cast includes veterans such as Robert Vaughn, Richard Jaeckel, and Kennan Wynn--and then gives them little to do. Vaughn does his best to make his villain creepy by mooning over videos of Hamilton's character from the night he "recruited" her off the street.

The film's saving grace is an extended heist sequence that culminates in the climax. It doesn't come close to Topkapi or even The Return of the Pink Panther, but still generates reasonable tension. Indeed, if you keep your expectations low, Black Moon Rising is a satisfactory popcorn movie--but it's a small bag of popcorn and you'll still be hungry.