Usually
thrown-in with the 1970s cycle of disaster films (AIRPORT, EARTHQUAKE, THE
TOWERING INFERNO, etc.), James Goldstone’s ROLLERCOASTER
(1977) is actually much more in the style of the
classic Alfred Hitchcock suspense thriller, and in that regard it is one of the
best films of its type to emerge from that decade. George Segal turns in a
marvelous performance as Harry Calder, a safety inspector for a big insurance
firm, who finds himself caught up in a game of cat and mouse with an
intelligent, blackmailing young psychopath (Timothy Bottoms) who is crisscrossing
across the US planting bombs in some of the country’s biggest and most
populated amusement parks.
A
spectacular opening sequence, in which Bottoms’ unnamed character derails the
old wooden Rocket rollercoaster ride at Ocean View Amusement Park in Virginia,
is later followed by a tense and extended scene in which Calder, acting as bag
man for the ransom money, is sent all over the Kings Dominion theme park by the
psychopath, in an attempt to wear him and the cops down, disorienting them
until he has the chance to snatch the suitcase filled with a cool million
(well, it bought a lot more in 1977 than it does today). Adding suspense to
this scene is the revelation that Calder is carrying a bomb, planted in the
walkie-talkie which the bomber has delivered to him to enable communication.
There are some terrific moments here, none more so than when Calder is ordered
to ride the Rebel Yell rollercoaster, the first person camera doing a dizzying
twirl off the ride’s highest turn, momentarily giving the impression that the
coaster is soaring off its track.
Segal’s
performance in ROLLERCOASTER has
nice moments of humor and a great sense of mid-70's polyester swagger (a
running subplot has him trying electric shock therapy to help him quit
smoking), and he and Bottoms play off each other wonderfully. A nice supporting
cast includes Richard Widmark as a gung-ho federal agent, Harry Guardino as a
police chief, Henry Fonda as Calder’s boss, Susan Strasberg as his girlfriend
and a teenaged Helen Hunt as his daughter.
Originally
released in Universal Studios’ short-lived Sensurround process (initially
developed for EARTHQUAKE in 1974), ROLLERCOASTER
also benefits from a nice score by Lalo Schifrin, who mixes
the usual amusement park calliope sounds with cues that are very reminiscent of
past classic Hitchcock soundtracks (Bernard Hermann’s PSYCHO score in particular). Using expensive speakers
that had to be specially installed in cinemas who wanted to take on the format,
Sensurround bumped up the bass in the low frequency range, causing the seats
and floors of the cinema to rumble in correlation to the onscreen action. Other
than EARTHQUAKE and ROLLERCOASTER, Sensurround was only used for two other
feature films, the war adventure MIDWAY (1977) and the theatrical version of
the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA pilot from 1978. While I saw ROLLERBALL upon its
initial release in Australia, it was at the drive-in (taken along by my older
sister and her future husband) so I unfortunately did not get to experience the
movie in Sensurround, though I at least did get to see BATTLESTAR GALACTICA in
that process.
Mixing-up
the soundtrack a bit are a couple of numbers by cult American New Wave rock band
Sparks, who perform two of their numbers - Fill
‘er Up and Big Boy - during the
climactic third act, which takes place during the July 4th grand
opening of the 360 degrees Revolution rollercoaster at Magic Mountain in
California. According to varying sources, the producers originally hoped to
have either KISS or the Bay City Rollers perform in the film, but had to settle
for Sparks after the other choices fell through (KISS would eventually invade
Magic Mountain for their own film, KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM OF THE PARK, the
following year). As cool as it might have been to see KISS performing here, it
is great to see Sparks get some decent screen time in a Hollywood production
(though Sparks themselves often cite their appearance in the film as one of
their biggest career mistakes, and the songs which they perform in the film are
absent from the soundtrack LP released by MCA).
Long
overdue for a home video upgrade, ROLLERCOASTER comes to hi-def in a limited
(3000 copies) Blu-ray release from UK outfit 101 Films, who finally give the
film the attention it deserves. Spread out over two discs, the release features
both the US theatrical cut and the slightly longer German cut (in English
language), which contains a couple of seconds of extra blood (in the opening
roller coaster crash and during the climax). The transfer looks wonderful,
preserving some nice light film grain yet adding so much depth and definition
to the movie, and the amusement park sequences have never looked more vibrant
or pulsating with colour (especially the neon-lit night scenes filmed at the Ocean
View Amusement Park).
Extra features on the ROLLERCOASTER Blu-ray include an audio commentary by UK
film journalists Allan (The Dark Side, Infinity)
Bryce and David (Sheer Filth) Flint,
a short featurette on the film and the 70s disaster film cycle (enjoyable if not
overly-revealing), and an interview with Tommy Cook (who cooked up the
original story for the film and served as an associate producer). The original
theatrical trailer is also listed amongst the special features on the back
cover of the sleeve and in the promotional specs, but I was unable to locate it
on either of the discs. The Blu-ray is packaged in a cardboard slipcase and
includes a very nice 28-page colour booklet printed on thick stock, which
contains an essay on the film by Scott Harrison and a piece on the Sensurround
process by Allan Bryce. The commentary by Bryce and Flint is pretty casual and
free-flowing, not a lot of production information revealed but an enjoyable
chat between two people who appreciate the film and have some entertaining
observations about it, my favourite moments being those where the pair discuss
the Lalo Schifrin score and the participation of Sparks (and rumoured KISS and Bay City
Rollers involvement).
Though
I would have loved a documentary featurette on the Sensurround process and a
bit more variety in the packaging (the slick and cardboard slipcase both feature the same photo and design, ignoring the film’s great range of international
poster art), this is still a much-welcomed and essential purchase, and will
hopefully help this still somewhat underrated movie find the much larger
audience that it deserves.
You
can order the ROLLERCOASTER Blu-ray from 101 Films HERE.
Review Copyright John Harrison 2018
