FORGOTTEN FILM: ESCAPE (1990)

ESCAPE is a film that I don’t know if anyone has heard of. As I often ask, can it be forgotten if it was never seen in the first place?

It has been listed in video guides for years, as being the last film starring former Disney star Kim Richards. Released in 1990, it was her sole adult role.

Most believe 1985’s TUFF TURF was her final film. But not only did Kim star in ESCAPE, she also produced it, with a script written by her then husband. Her sister Kyle also appears. And, while I’m sure she didn’t let the Disney lawyers know, the title, along with some plot points (including the fact that Kim and her brother have sort of telepathic powers), could be shameless ways to tie in with two of her most famous films.

The story opens with a journalist witnessing a woman being attacked by three men on a bridge in a small North Carolina town. When he tries to intervene, he is killed.

The journalist’s sister, played by Kim, goes to the town to find out what happened. Was her brother killed by “hobos” as the locals say? Was it by the spirit of Lydia (Kyle Richards), a ghost who haunts the bridge? Or did the evil land baron, Gabriel LaFontaine (Judson Earney Scott of V), have something to do with it?

Soap opera star Kin Shriner motorcycles through town and helps her. Oh yeah, there is also a “special” townsperson named Zoka (Kim Milford) who wanders around like RAIN MAN.

This is one of those films that, half an hour into it, I found myself picking up a book and quickly forgetting the TV was on. And this was even though I wanted to see it for 15 years. The story continued, there were chase scenes in the dark, through drainage pipes, and big explosions at the end, but I had no interest in it.

I can see why no one has heard of it. There really is no reason to see it, even for those curious as to what Kim would have been like as an actress if her career continued.

What is most interesting about the film is the fact that it has a 1988 copyright yet is listed as a 1990 film. It sat on a shelf for two years.

It was released theatrically (if it ever was) and on VHS by Quest.

Quest is a company that I’ve been familiar with as they set up shop at Universal Studios Florida when it first opened in 1990. They began filming movies on the Orlando lot. On tours of the studio in the early days, you would often see one of their films being made (I saw part of the Dedee Pfeiffer film KING'S RANSOM aka SHOOT being filmed on one trip).

Only one of these, the killer monkey film SHAKMA with Christopher Atkins, has made it to DVD. Maybe that was because of the title (which for years after release was mocked in the Orlando Sentinel). Two of the studio's other big films, THE DREAM TRAP with Kristy Swanson and THE SPRING, are still MIA on DVD.

Living it Florida in the early 90’s, I was always hoping that the studio would take off. But, it didn’t. ESCAPE, which was not shot in Orlando, was one of their last films. It must have been a completed film they picked up for distribution.

Quest had a pretty poor VHS release history. I never saw any of their films for rent in stores, but have found many of them in the years since on Ebay. They all open with the old commercial for Universal Studios Florida. If only they had been a success.

And one other thing, check out that video cover at the top. I guess that is supposed to be Kim. Does it even look like her? She didn’t change that much in appearance since TUFF TURF. They just found some generic blond girl and put her on the cover. I don’t think that is Kin Shriner either.

Come to think of it, if that is how Quest handled VHS releases, no wonder they are out of business.

While I wish I could say ESCAPE is a forgotten gem of the past, it isn’t. I guess it is safe to call TUFF TURF Kim’s final film, at least before the recent resuming of her acting career.