Hardcore

Hardcore is a nicely engaging old-school thriller that draws us into the behind-the-scenes world of the porn industry in all three major Californian cities (LA, San Diego, San Francisco). The pleasant country music in the introduction and conclusion contrasts with the escalating intensity of uncovering the increasingly darker places in which a desperate father searches for his lost daughter. Impressively depicted bad guys, a stifling atmosphere and a statement on the confrontation between youthful innocence and the depraved face of adult society. Today the film is no longer so shocking, but it works superbly by building up a dramatic story and fragile human nuances (the helpful prostitute, dialogue with the daughter). Season Hubley is both beautiful and sensuous. The similarity to 8MM cannot be coincidental, as that more recent film is built on the same psychological pillars. In fact, it’s practically a remake. (05/08/2023)

A clear inspiration for 8MM, with Schumacher's later film not only drawing on the theme, but even carefully copying some scenes. What starts out as a staid church flick turns into a compelling insight into the porn industry with a concerned dad looking for his daughter in this messy cesspit. The transformation of George C. Scott is fascinating, from a naive Christian guy who confusedly moves from one porn establishment to another making you feel his anxiety, to a confident fighter who, after being taught a lesson, has to change his search tactics, and you watch with interest as he unravels the clues with meticulous consistency, just like Nicolas Cage would do 20 years later. Schrader always hit the mark in his scripts and the huge boom of the porn industry in the 1970s was perfect for his incisive commentary. PS: Note to Malarkey: The 1970s were anything but "puritanical". After the peak of the sexual revolution at the turn of the 60s and 70s, Western society went all out and open in hard sex, with the grindhouse, midnight and 'adult' cinemas plus sex businesses that were all over the tabloids. (02/12/2023)

I wouldn’t expect anyone in the puritan 1970s America to film a crime investigation movie revolving around the pornographic industry. Hardcore is an interesting change that doesn’t shy away from anything. I even felt as if the creators found the actresses at Woodstock, because a lot of them had no control over themselves and it added to the movie quality; and I don’t mean considering the hookers, I mean considering how realistic the movie tried to be. And as far as the story goes, I gave it a solid three-star rating; especially thanks to the lead role, but also thanks to the classic 1970s America atmosphere. But then came one of the most brutal endings that immediately knocked me out and showed me one of the roughest scenes I’ve ever seen in a 1970s movie. I didn’t even know anything about the movie, that’s how much it blew me away. (09/03/2014)

A disturbing story, brought to attention again by the more watchable Schumacher version. Yet it's hard to watch such a film and compare it to the situation we know in the Czech Republic where we were introduced to porn clumsily and in a big way after the revolution. Understanding a snuff film combined with the North American version of the Dutch Reformed Church is not easy. Still, I dare say that if so-called adult entertainment became sophisticated and truly entertaining, snuff films might not stand a chance at all. This means that confused little girls from broken homes would have a slightly safer path to pubescent defiance. It is on this level that Hardcore got only halfway there. What's the point of the father's harrowing journey, whom the daughter forgives right away? (03/31/2010)