4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 130 Minutes 7 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Dennis Hopper
Cast: Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Jack Nance, William Sadler, Barry Corbin, Leon Rippy, Debra Cole
Texas set neo-noir thriller The Hot Spot (1990) is directed by Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider) and is based on the 1953 pulp-crime novel Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams. In it drifter Harry Madox (Don Johnson, TV's Miami Vice) rolls in a small Texas town in a 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk looking for work. He grabs a beer at the local watering-hole/strip club, then walks across the street to a car dealership owned by George Harshaw (Jerry Hardin, "Deep Throat" from The X-Files!) and gets hired on as a car salesman. Other employees include salesman Lon (Charles Martin Smith, The Untouchables) leggy accountant Gloria Harper (Jennifer Connelly, Phenomena). Soon after he encounters the boss's wife, Dolly (a never hotter Virginia Madsen, Candyman) who rolls up in her convertible pink Cadillac looking like sex on wheels, she takes a liking to him and it's not long before they are knocking boots behind the boss's back.
When a local burger joint catches fire while he's visiting the bank he takes note that the bank staff are all volunteer firefighters, the only person left at the bank s it's manager Julian Ward (Jack Nance, TV's Twin Peaks), who Harry is introduced to when the manager emerges from the shitter with a copy of Juggs men's magazine rolled up in his hands. For some reason Julian confirms that bank staff are all volunteer firefighters, and that the video security system at the bank has never worked right, which leaves an impression on Harry, with him thinking a well-timed fire could be the perfect opportunity to rob the bank, which he does, setting fire to the building across the street with a improvised incendiary device.
While the building is burning a homeless guy gets caught-up in the fire and Harry, not willing to let an innocent die for his robbery, ends up running inside the collapsing building engulfed in flames to save the guy's life. The town might be small but the local cops, Sheriff (Barry Corbin, TV's Career Opportunities) and Deputies Tate (Leon Rippy, Eight Legged Freaks) and Buck (Virgil Frye, Graduation Day), are not dim, noting he showed-up to the fire late they suspect him right away, and throw him in the slammer. However, he's sprung pretty quick when Dolly offers an eyewitness account, telling the Sheriff she saw him on the street just as the fire broke out. Of course, she's lying, she knows what's up, and tells Harry that if he does not kill her husband, who has a weak heart, or she's going to spill the beans to the cops.
It's already established that Harry has an aversion to killing innocent men, and he tells her to forget about, but she really wants poor George out of the picture, and she's willing to fuck him to death herself if she needs to! Harry starts pulling away from her at that point and turns his attentions towards good-girl Gloria, who he seems to have real romantic feeling for, and after discovering that she is being blackmailed by a local low-life Frank Sutton (William Sadler, Demon Knight) who is blackmailing her using some naked photos of her over her head. This leads to several violent encounters between the two men, and as the plot thickens, it seems that the only way out of this web of smalltown lust, greed and extortion is gonna be old fashioned murder.
Hooper's adaptation is a slow-burn neo-noir with a western tinge to it, every scene feels sweltering, the cinematography moodily captures every bead of sweat as it drips from every pore, you can feel the stifling heat radiating through the screen. Throughout the film Harry is setting fires, fucking and fighting, all of very well shot by Ueli Steiger (Singles) with lingering shadows and swaths of atmospheric colored lighting set-ups. The mood of the film is also greatly enhanced by the score which was composed by Jack Nietzsche (Cutter's Way), with an all-star band that includes blues legends John Lee Hooker and Taj Mahal, iconic jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, and guitar player Roy Rogers. It;s a pretty phenomenal soundtrack and it holds up to listening on it's own away from the film, too, so definitely check it out.
The film has a dusty western noir vibe to it, but it also has the lustful drive of an early '90s erotic thriller, and it's worth noting that both Virginia Madsen and Jennifer Connelly get nude in this one. I love the style of the film, lots of shadowy cinematography with noir shadowing, plus lots of moody red and blue drenched lighting, it's a pretty stylish flick. The movie was a bit of a bust when it arrived in the cinema in 1990, but I don't know why, this is a tasty little neo-noir gem. Is well acted, the direction is terrific, and it looks gorgeous, but maybe people just weren't ready to accept TV star Don Johnson making the switch to leading man in a film, whatever the reason, cinema goers missed out, this is a sexy neo-noir with a wonderfully lusty performance from Virginia Madsen as Texas peach Dolly Harsahw, and a solid turn from Don Johnson as the drifter who rolls into town and finds himself tangled up in a web of greed, lust and murder.
Audio/Video: The Hot Spot (1990) gets a 4K upgrade from radiance Films who previously released the film on Blu-ray in the UK, while both Shout! Factory and Kino Lorber released it on Blu-ray here in the U.S.. This new 4k UHD represents a 4K restoration from the original negative, presented in HDR10/Dolby Vision, overseen and approved by cinematographer Ueli Steiger. The 4K presentation looks tremendous, grain is nicely resolved and the image looks flawless with richly detailed textures. The gorgeous WCG grading offers warm colors that are richly hued and deeply saturated, you can almost feel the sweltering heat radiating off the screen, and those colored lighting sequences are quite radiant. The black levels and shadow detail are nicely dialed in and contrast and depth impress. Skin tones are warm and natural looking throughout, the sultry scenes of Madsen sexing up the screen do not disappoint.
Audio comes by way of uncompressed English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and well balances, dialogue is nicely prioritized, room acoustics and ambient sounds fare well, and that terrific score comes through wonderfully. The accompanying Blu-ray features the same 4K restoration in 1080p HD with SDR color-grade, and the same DTS audio, and it looks terrific, just slightly less terrific than the UHD counterpart.
Radiance's edition is well-stocked with new and archival extras. New disc extras include the 20-min Nick Dawson on Dennis Hopper and The Hot Spot, an interview with the editor of Dennis Hopper: Interviews (2023), plus the 22-min Duane Swierczynski on Charles Williams’ source novel, the crime writer and expert looks at the adaptation and provides a background of the author (2023).
Archival extras carried over from the previous Kino Lorber Blu-ray include the include the 5-min Archival interview with Dennis Hopper (1991), who discusses The Hot Spot, the piece features behind-the-scenes footage of of the making of the film as well as of blues legend John Lee Hooker. Also carried over from the Kino release is the 7-min Interview with star Virginia Madsen (2021) and a slightly rough looking but solid zoom-style 6-min Interview with William Sadler (2021).
The 2-disc release arrives in a clear Scanavo full-height keepcase with a Reversible Wrap featuring original and new artwork by Time Tomorrow, plus a 28-Page Limited Edition Booklet featuring extensive writing by critics Elena Lazic on the film, Leslie Byron Pitt on the erotic thriller genre and the film’s place within it, and an archival piece on the film featuring an interview with Hopper by RJ Smith, as well as cast and crew credits, and transfer notes. We also get the Removable Obi-Strip which leaves the wrap free of extraneous text and labels.
Special Features:
- 4K restoration from the original negative, presented in HDR10/Dolby Vision, overseen and approved by cinematographer Ueli Steiger
- Archival interview with Dennis Hopper, who discusses The - Hot Spot and features footage of John Lee Hooker and images from the set (1991, 4:35)
- Interview with star Virginia Madsen (2021, 7:02)
- Interview with star William Sadler (2021, 6:24)
- Nick Dawson on Dennis Hopper and The Hot Spot, an interview with the editor of Dennis Hopper: Interviews (2023, 20:24)
- Duane Swierczynski on Charles Williams’ source novel (2023, 22:12)
- Trailer (1:50)
- ReversibleWrap featuring original and new artwork by Time Tomorrow
- 28-Page Limited edition booklet featuring writing by critics Elena Lazic on the film, Leslie Byron Pitt on the erotic thriller genre and the film’s place within it, and an archival piece on the film featuring an interview with Hopper by RJ Smith
Screenshots from the Radiance Films Blu-ray:
Extras:
