In my quest to cover Jean-Claude Van Damme’s late 1990s period, and sift through the direct-to-video releases for any hidden gems, we ride into Inferno (1999), which works as Van Damme’s version of a modern western. He gets to rock a pair of jeans, wear a singlet, sport a straw hat, and wander through a desert aesthetic that feels like a cross between A Fistful Of Dollars, a Bon Jovi music video and a New Age slideshow with the amount of coyotes you’ll see howling against a gigantic moon. Van Damme is Billy Lomax, a drunken suicidal loner who rides a motorcycle out into the Mojave to visit his old war buddy, who may be a ghost, or might be real. Van Damme gets a second chance at life when a meth biker gang steals his ride and leaves him for dead. Next thing you know, he is walking into a one horse town where military test pilots buzz their jets at low altitudes and the locals live in fear of two warring drug gangs filled with seedy character actors (Larry Drake, Jeff Kober, Lee Tergensen, etc). However, Van Damme starts to play one side against the other (and don’t worry, film nerds, somebody does name-drop Yojimbo in case the homage wasn’t clear). He also beds the lonely diner waitress and makes fast friends with kooky elders including Bill Erwin dragging around an oxygen tank and a shed full of weapons, and Pat Morita with a British accent and a white suit, disposing of bodies with clingwrap and a dump truck. There is some decent action, but it’s not so much about the martial arts fight sequences here – it’s more about the goofy wild west vibe. Van Damme in particular seems to be having a lot of fun, pulling a smile as he flirts over apple pie, showing off his butt and then kicking some butt. The last film directed by John G. Avildsen (of Rocky and The Karate Kid fame) who wanted to take his name off the movie after Van Damme got into the editing booth; Bill Conti provides the score. There’s also some iffy racial stereotypes and casting with Danny Trejo playing a Native American Indian and some cliche mysticism. Aside from that terribleness, I had a fun time with this wacky entry into JCVD’s slide into the video store shelves. Available to stream on Amazon Prime. Recommended.
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