Saturday 7 June 2014

38: The Slam (3.04)

1979; 48 minutes
Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written and Produced by Nicholas Corea;
Directed by Nicholas Corea

The story begins with David having been arrested for theft, vagrancy, and damage to property.  He is 'slammed' up in a prison run by a fascist despot, where the 't's are crossed but the regime is less than democratic.  He's locked up with a small group of men plotting an escape and dragged into it despite just wanting to stay out of potential trouble by carrying out his sixty-day sentence.

Tense episode and one that holds much potential for destruction locking 'Hulk' up inside an isolated desert prison, something that is partly realised though not to the extent I hoped.  The pinnacle scene - taking place in a minimally lit holding cabin - is when David is visciously beaten (for being suspected of snitching) by a group of prisoners - the Hulk's appearance sparks a moment of exhiliration as the prisoners fly backwards, and some small scale destruction occurs.

An enjoyable episode featuring the much loved and highly prolific Charles Napier, who also turned up in the later episode Triangle as well as the TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns, both times as different characters (this was quite common for Napier, who had varied bit roles in a number of TV series at the time, often popping up later on as someone entirely different).

Number of Fists: ****

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