Watch Held for Ransom For Free

So much average

Overrated

Absolutely the worst movie.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Wow... nine comments thus far, and four of them are positive. (Well, maybe three... it's hard to tell if that "4/5" rating is supposed to be read as "four out of five" or "four-fifths of a point", presumably on a scale of 1 to 7319.) Consider this my attempt at tipping the balance back a bit closer to where it should be, namely in the "If you value your sanity or self-respect, for gawd's sake stay away from this load of crap!" category.If I had to say something positive about the movie, though, I would point out that my roommate and I had a perfectly good time trying to remember what those bayou-trash boats that look like they have lettuce centrifuges nailed on sideways behind the driver's seat are called, and that we enjoyed hurling abuse and obscenities at the screen throughout the movie. Oh, and it also ended before the tape ran out.Bad things: not only does the teen starlet who has to strip down to her underwear not get mauled by baboons or fed to the Sarlacc, but you're also forced to spend the better part of an hour pretending that you are going to be surprised when the unscrupulous parental unit with the failing business turns out to be the guy responsible for the brilliant kidnapping plot that involved traveling into the swamp to find some toothless crazies who will kill a couple of people in order to net himself a tidy ransom. Also, I don't believe that any of the cast or crew were injured by flying circular-saw blades during the making of this movie, and that's an injustice of cosmic proportions.

A strait to video release, you have to give it some credit. HELD FOR RANSOM is based on the Lois Duncan novel and you can obviously tell that it is a low-budget film. But the fact that it was based on a book helped give it some more famous actors to star in the film. The film was a little suspenseful you have to admit, but I still don't understand why everyone hated this movie so. I mean, we get to see Tsianina Joelson strip down to her bra and panties. No, but seriously the film was pretty enjoyable for me. It is very realistic as to what some people might do in a hostage situation. It is somewhat different from the book as the film takes place in the sweltering Everglades and the book is in the icy cold mountains. I seriously didn't think it was that bad. HELD FOR RANSOM gets 4/5.

Held For Ransom starring Zachery Ty Bryan, Jordan Brower, and Randy Spelling, among others is set in the swamps of Florida. It centers around five high school students whose school bus is hijacked on the way home when they are the last of the passengers. The five teenagers taken off the bus, tied up, and taken deep into the swamps to a small house where they are to be held hostage. The kidnappers take an instant disliking to their male hostages. While the girls are untied, the three boys have their hands tied behind their backs the entire movie. The boys spend more than a few scenes locked in a small, hot shed. Bryan is even threatened with an alligator. The film has a basically good story. However, it is ruined by frequent use of foul language.

If the "F" word were deleted from this film, there would be no dialog. Actually, it's a "B" movie, which shows how far Dennis Hopper has fallen. Of all the films that Hopper has made with twenty-somethings and teens, this one is incredibly weak.There is no plot and the storyline is hopeless. There is a minimal twist at the end, but it appears to be so ridiculously inconsequential that it lacks any true meaning.Hopper plays a character that is supposed to be brutal, but even that element is watered-down. No sex, no nudity, and violence in this film amounts to Hopper slapping around the oldest kid from "Home Improvement."A dud? You betcha. Suspense? Not even.