Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Woodyanders Eccentric itinerant rare object collector Aaron Quicksilver (marvelously played with lip-smacking quirky relish by Christopher Lloyd) relates two offbeat tales of terror. First and cutest story, "Chattery Teeth" - Amiable traveling salesman Bill Hogan (a fine and likable portrayal by Raphael Sbarge) picks up psychotic hitchhiker Bryan Adams (a pleasingly grating and intense turn by Silas Weir Mitchell) and a strange wind-up toy during a drive home. This segment makes nifty use of the dusty desert back roads location, generates a good deal of tension, and boasts a hysterically goofy climax with the chattering teeth toy attacking Adams in an upside down van. Veteran character actress Veronica Cartwright has a neat secondary role as crusty diner owner Myra while the fetching Missy Crider does well as cheery newlywed bride Olivia Harmon Parker. Second, funniest, and most delightfully outrageous story, "The Body Politic" - Wealthy and prestigious plastic surgeon Dr. Charles George (a splendidly saturnine performance by Matt Frewer) has his affluent life ripped asunder after his precious hands develop homicidal lives of their own. This deliciously daft vignette deftly mines an uproariously off-the-wall line in inspired black humor and goes for broke with a positively gut-busting premise in which malcontent disembodied hands declare a revolution against their human oppressors (!). Frewer's bravura physical acting keeps this one buzzing; he receives sound support from Cynthia Garris as George's concerned wife Ellen, Bill Nunn as equally worried shrink Len, and Amelia Heinle as upset nurse Darlene. Clive Barker and John Landis pop up in cool cameo roles. Writer/director Mick Garris maintains a snappy pace throughout, creates and sustains an entertaining lighthearted ooga-booga carnival spookhouse atmosphere, and wisely doesn't treat any of this engaging foolishness seriously for a minute. Shelly Johnson's slick cinematography provides an impressive polished look. Mark Mothersbaugh's twangy and spirited score hits the rousing shuddery spot. A hugely fun and amusing omnibus outing.

Paul Andrews Quicksilver Highway starts in a desert deep in the the middle of nowhere as a newly married couple Kerry (Raphael Sbarge) & his babe of a wife Olivia Harmon Parker (Missy Crider) have a flat tyre on their car, Kerry says he will have to walk to the nearest town for help & sets off. Olivia sits in the car for hours waiting for her husbands return, eventually a travelling showman in a Rolls-Royce pulls up, he gets out & offers assistance & company while she waits. In his rather spacious looking trailer he introduces himself as Aaron Quicksilver (Christopher Lloyd), a traveller who collects bizarre stories about the dark side of America. He begins to tells Olivia one of these stories...Travelling salesman Bill Hogan (Raphael Sbarge again) is trying to get home for his sons birthday but is finding the going tough as a huge sandstorm makes driving the desert highways hazardous. He stops off at a road-side store run by Myra (Veronica Cartwright) & her husband Scooter (Bill Bolender) whom give him a pair of large metal mechanical novelty teeth as a present for his son. While there Bill gives a lift to a hitchhiker named Bryan Adams (Silas Weir Mitchell) who at first is polite but soon turns nasty as he pulls a knife & tries to rob Bill, during the confrontation they crash & Bill is trapped. Bryan isn't happy & decides to 'hurt' Bill but help comes in a very unexpected form...Back in the desert & Kerry returns, however it's not a happy reunion...Next we're off to an amusement park called 'Pacific Park' where pickpocket Charlie (Matt Frewer) makes a good living stealing wallets. Charlie comes across an attraction named the 'Exposition of Delightful Horror'. Inside he is welcomed by Quicksilver who shows him the 'Hand of Glory' & tells yet another tale...Dr. Charles George (Matt Frewer again) is a rich & very successful plastic surgeon catering for the wealthy, he is regarded as the best in the business. However strange things begin to happen to Charles as he seems to be suffering from hand spasms. It isn't long before it becomes clear that something sinister is going on as his hands strangle his wife Ellen (Cynthia Garris) & one chops the other off with a meat clever which sets a disturbing plan into action...Back at the amusement park Charlie leaves Quciksilver's attraction & is promptly brought to justice...Quicksilver Highway was a made for TV film that was written, co-produced & directed by Mick Garris that is watchable enough but is far from special. The script is based on two short stories, one by Stephen King called 'Chattery Teeth' & another by Clive Barker called 'The Body Politic'. I have not read either story but unfortunately both of them are very thin & don't translate to the screen that well, unless it's just Garris's poor teleplay. Both stories are too long & feature very little in the way of a twist which is an absolute must as far as these anthology stories go as far as I'm concerned. They both just plod along at a fairly pedestrian pace without much in the way of shocks, surprises or horror. Having said that there are a couple of great scenes, in particular the sequence in which Bill is threatened at knife-point by Bryan which is genuinely quite unnerving to watch & the scene when Charles chops his hand off with a meat clever as you see his face reflected in the shiny steel as it comes down & a pretty good severed hand effect. However these bits are few & far between & the rest of Quicksilver Highway really isn't that great. I also think that it would have been a lot better if the filmmakers had made three shorter stories rather than just two long ones. Garris does little to liven things up, I just don't find a pair of walking false teeth scary & in fact I was trying hard not to laugh. The hand segment features some ridiculous disembodied hands running around exactly like Thing from The Adams Family only with worse special effects & even more comical results, this is all taken & presently with deadly seriousness by director Garris which was a bad move as Quicksiler Highway loses a lot of credibility with it's overall play-it-straight humourless tone. There is no real gore or violence, a brief scene with some severed fingers & a really cool shot of Charles cutting his hand off, other than that forget it. The acting is OK with Lloyd always being fun to watch & a special mention goes to Missy Crider who is one fine looking young lady. Clive Barker turns up in a small role as a anaesthesiologist as does director John Landis in the same scene as a surgical assistant. Technically Quciksilver Highway is better than I expected & at times manages to escape it's TV film origins with some nice cinematography & on location shooting, the music is very cheap sounding though. Generally speaking Quicksilver Highway is a reasonable way to pass an hour & a half but there are much better horror anthologies out there. Worth a watch but nothing spectacular.

Roddy-15 Stephen King may be the man behind Shawshank Redemption, Dolores Clairborne and the Green Mile. But he was also the man behind Thinner, Children of the Corn and one of the worst episodes of the X-Files ever. Clive Barker (you could say he is King's English counterpart) was the writer behind Hellraiser, Lord of Illusions. But he was also the man behind the novel Coldheart Canyon. Both writers have talent. But they have pitfalls too; we are all human.And Quicksilver Highway isn't exactly their best.Quicksilver Highway seems like a movie made out of two mediocre stories that came out of the minds of two great writers. Perhaps they were among their worst stories. If that was the case, they shouldn't have made it to television. The first one, the Clattering Teeth, isn't so bad. But it is unoriginal and dull. So dull you just want it to end. But it goes on and on. Eventually it becomes tiresome; since this movie was made for TV, you may find yourself going to the kitchen to look inside the refrigerator before it ends and the other one begins. The second story, the one written by Clive Barker, seems more like the work of Stephen King. Here we have a hand that gets life of its own and turn against its owner. Soon other hands join a revolution. The story could have consumed thirty minutes of your life. But it didn't stop when it should have. Just like the first story, it went on and on. Maybe you can forget about the hands walking around on their own and return to the kitchen. This film may help you gain weight but gets short when it comes to entertaining us. Quicksilver Highway only has two stories. Not five or three like Creepshow I and II. After you watch this film, you feel like you have escaped out of a neverending nightmare. It is obvious that they wanted to stretch the stories long enough to make a film and not another episode of the Twilight Zone.Perhaps it is a good idea to avoid this one at all cost.

todd2u This movie wasn't all that good. Christopher was awesome in this movie, and thats it. That was the only good thing about this movie. It just isn't scary other then Christopher's part in the movie. It just wasn't all that good. I recommend watching some other scary movie. This wasn't worth it.