I'm Dangerous Tonight

It's accurate to say Tobe Hooper peaked early in his career when he directed The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, one of the most influential horror films of all time. It's also misleading because to reduce Hooper's output to one movie or to say he never made another one as good is to overlook a filmography filled with offbeat projects and hidden gems.

One such project is I'm Dangerous Tonight, a TV movie made for the USA Network and inspired by a novella (unread by me) by Cornell Woolrich, the noted crime writer who also wrote the story that inspired Hitchcock's Rear Window. 

Nothing but Trouble

Nothing but Trouble is a movie I love telling friends about if they've never heard of it. I always preface my description by asking them to consider what kind of movie they would expect with that title and a cast headlined by Chevy Chase, Dan Aykoyd, Demi Moore, and John Candy.

Invariably, when I tell them what the actual movie is like and how it unfolds, my friends go wide-eyed, their mouths hang open, and they look at me like me like I'm completely crazy.

New York financial advisor Chris Thorne (Chase), to impress his new neighbor Diane (Moore), agrees to drive her to Atlantic City, along with a pair of obnoxious clients. Taking the "scenic" route through the village of Valkenvania, Chris unknowingly runs a stop sign, and the village constable Dennis (Candy) takes the foursome to the local courthouse, presided over by the 106-year-old Justice of the Peace, Alvin Valkenheiser (Aykroyd, who also wrote and directed). The Judge and his family have a habit murdering passing travelers who violated even the most minor of traffic laws, and they have no plans of letting Chris, Diane, and the others go free.