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| "Jimmy, she's gonna blow!" |
THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT is an example of cheesy eighties aesthetics at its best, from the title credit's font down to the de rigueur presence of arcade games--even the parts that take place during WWII are not immune from its all-encompassing touch. The story follows the fictionalized account of the infamous Philadelphia Experiment held in the Philly naval ship yard in 1943, where the destroyer escort Eldridge is subject to a radar-cloaking invisibility test that goes horribly wrong. On the ship are affable buddies David Herdeg (Michael Paré) and sidekick Jimmy Parker (Bobby Di Cicco) who jump overboard as things get wonky, billows of smoke and neon glow surrounding them, inadvertently catapulting headlong into a time warp and landing in the Nevada desert, year 1984. As David and Jimmy start cluing in to what's transpired, they're hand is forced into kidnapping innocent bystander Allison Hayes (Nancy Allen) at a middle-of-nowhere roadside diner where she is filling up with gas. The police soon catch up and land them in jail and hospital, where Jimmy suddenly vanishes into the ether and Allison begins exhibiting a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome. Hilarity at the hospital ensues when the Keystone cop MPs get on the case, causing the young couple to go on a cross country help-seeking spree while the military scientists responsible track David down in the hopes of fixing the "wrinkle in the continuum" they've created (which has disappeared an entire town in the process).
Master of horror John Carpenter executive produces, a good pairing with director Stewart Raffill. They turn out a well-paced, fun-to-watch movie where the the story just flows. The mostly-cute B-movie denizen Michael Paré gives a good turn with a Joey-from-'Friends' performance while the lovable, quintessential 80s-girl Nancy Allen (Robocop I, II, & III) provides ample lightheartedness for a role in which her character believes so much in her man one questions her sanity.
To watch THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT is like unearthing a forgotten episode of V (original series) just without the aliens. Not to be missed are Jimmy and David hurtling through hyperspace 80's-bound, the generous-with-her-cigarettes drag queen filing her nails in jail, Jimmy's rocket-man return-trip space suit, or the bodies of random sailors half-fused into the metal frame of The Eldridge!
Get it while it's up:
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