Some of the best thrillers I've seen got incognito releases in the eighties (Michael Winner's "classic" Scream for Help springs to mind!) and Backfire is another decent little thrill ride from the best decade for trash movies. This film does well in that the plot is simple and easy to follow, yet it still manages to keep you guessing all the way through. Don't get me wrong, I love a good complicated thriller; but sometimes keeping things simple can work just as well, and Backfire goes some way to proving that. The film, like many American movies, has a backbone that centres on the Vietnam War and how it invades the lives of those that fought in it. Donny is a Vietnam Veteran who supposedly lives a perfect with his lovely wife Mara in their nice big house. However, he is plagued by nightmares of the war he fought in, and when these nightmares start to become reality; it would seem that there is foul play involved. But, all is not what it seems and the plot thickens when Mara meets a stranger in a bar.
It has to be said that the character drawings are not particularly impressive and could have used some work to make the film work better than it does, but the script is generally good enough to hold the plot up and keep things flowing well. The cast isn't overly impressive either and doesn't feature any massive names, though the actors involved fill their roles fairly well. The female lead is Karen Allen, who you may remember as the leading lady in Raiders of the Lost Ark, while there are also roles for Keith Carradine and Jeff Fahey. The film doesn't have much in the way of atmosphere, though the war themes are well utilised. Many eighties thrillers were of the 'steamy' variety, and it has to be said that there isn't a lot of that here. There isn't much in the way of violence either, so the film mostly relies on drama to portray the story, and that seems to work pretty well. I have to say that the ending came as something of a surprise as I thought it was all building into something much impressive! Still, if you get a chance to see this you might as well; there are certainly worse films out there!
