SummaryA lowlife drifter (Johnson) who sells used cars in a Texas burg robs the local bank and gets involved with two women: one bad (Madsen), one innocent (Connelly). Based on Charles Williams' 1952 novel "Hell Hath No Fury." (MGM)
Directed By:Dennis Hopper
Written By:Charles Williams, Nona Tyson
The Hot Spot
Metascore
Mixed or Average
55
User score
Generally Favorable
6.8
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
55
38% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
54% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
8% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
90
Seeps with atmosphere, unfolds at a deceptively relaxed pace, steadily accumulates noirish grit, then dizzily plunges into a Lynch-like plumbing of the dark passions and nasty secrets at the heart of Main Street, USA.
75
Only movie lovers who have marinated their imaginations in the great B movies from RKO and Republic will recognize The Hot Spot as a superior work in an old tradition - as a manipulation of story elements as mannered and deliberate, in its way, as variations on a theme for the piano.
63
An overlong guilty pleasure. [12 Oct 1990, Life, 4D]
50
It's also supposed to be atmospheric, noirish, and touched with nihilism. But the director, Hollywood bad boy Dennis Hopper, lays it all on so thick that the film verges on self-parody.
50
Pretty enjoyable as a piece of campy sleaze--especially for the first half hour, before the storytelling starts to dawdle.
40
Director Dennis Hopper continues the fumbling manner of "Colors" and the forthcoming-but-disowned "Catchfire," drawing out what ought to be a 72 minute B-picture into two hours and ten minutes of sweaty silliness with three pretty stars who can't quite bring themselves to be camp enough for the material.
25
A case of ho-hum humping leading to boring betrayal. The ingredients are predictable and the snail's pace is punishing. [26 Oct 1990, Daily Datebook, p.E3]
User score
Generally Favorable
6.8
58% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
33% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
8% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
May 22, 2011
8
I feel this movie misses its point, maybe being too much a straight-forward. Sometimes, I could feel the book (that I never read) which the movie is from being shredded up to fit in a 2-hour movie. Lack of subtlety from both the three main characters, thought great acting from them all. I felt both sorry and relieved that the movie was over...
