RELENTLESS 3 A Film Review Copyright Dragan Antulov 1999
Coinciding with the emerging popularity of movies that deal with anything related to serial killers, RELENTLESS, 1989 low budget thriller about LAPD detective Sam Dietz, played by character actor Leo Rossi, spawned three more sequels. RELENTLESS 3, third in the row, features Sam Dietz again, but this time detective, who had to catch vicious serial killer in his very first case, doesn't want to deal with similar line of work. Divorced, demoralised and transferred, he reluctantly returns to his old post when Los Angeles becomes a hunting ground for another serial killer, and evidence indicate connection with one of Dietz's old cases. To make things even more interesting, it seems that the killer deliberately stages murders in order to bring Dietz to the investigation.
Fans of the British TV films and mini-series like PRIME SUSPECT or CRACKER would probably see a lot of similarities RELENTLESS series of movies. They both feature vicious psychopathic killers, yet also give a lot of, usually depressive, details about chief investigator's private lives. This one isn't an exception, but similarities with British television are only in content. The execution and style is different, which makes this film mediocre piece of entertainment at best. Useless, gratuitous erotica also doesn't help either, obviously making this film longer than it should be. The actors are good, though - Leo Rossi is fine as usual, and William Forsythe plays one of more compelling villains in his career. Signy Coleman as Dietz's love interest, is, on the other hand, quite miscast. But she won't have to worry about it in the future career, since RELENTLESS 3 wasn't supposed to be anybody's finest moment anyway.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
Review written on May 11th 1999
-- Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax Fido: 2:381/100 E-mail: dragan.antulov@st.tel.hr E-mail: dragan.antulov@altbbs.fido.hr E-mail: drax@purger.com
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