Far from Home (1989 film)
| Far from Home | |
|---|---|
 VHS cover | |
| Directed by | Meiert Avis |
| Produced by | Donald P. Borchers |
| Written by |
Theodore Gershuny Tommy Lee Wallace |
| Starring |
Matt Frewer Drew Barrymore Richard Masur Susan Tyrrell |
| Music by | Jonathan Elias |
| Cinematography | Paul Elliott |
| Edited by | Marc Grossman |
Production company |
Lightning Pictures Planet Productions |
| Distributed by |
Vestron Pictures Artisan Entertainment |
Release dates | June 30, 1989 |
Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $11,859[1] |
Far from Home is a 1989 independent thriller film. It stars Matt Frewer, Drew Barrymore, Richard Masur, Susan Tyrrell, Jennifer Tilly, Dick Miller, and Anthony Rapp. John Spencer also appears in a cameo appearance. It centers on a divorced father who breaks down in a desert town along with his teenage daughter, forced to stay in a trailer park they attract the intentions of a troubled local who becomes dangerously fixated on one of them.
The film was directed by Meiert Avis, in his feature film directorial debut. Barrymore's book, Little Girl Lost, which describes her battles with addiction, was written around the same time as this film was made.[2] The film was shot in the Black Rock Desert and in Gerlach, Nevada.
Synopsis
Charlie Cox (Matt Frewer) is a divorced writer who lives in Los Angeles. Charlie and his daughter Joleen (Drew Barrymore) are on their way home from a cross country vacation when they run out of gas in Banco, Nevada—a small town located in a remote part of the desert.
It's the day before Joleen's 14th birthday. When they stop in the Banco Supermarket, they notice that there's no one behind the counter, but sheriff Bill Childers (Dick Miller) is in the store.
When Joleen looks at the floor behind the counter, she screams. That's because she has just seen the body of the store's owner, Ferrell Hovis, in a pool of blood.
Charlie and Joleen later check a nearby gas station owned by a friendly Vietnam war veteran named Duckett (Richard Masur), but Duckett is not expecting to have any gas delivered to the station for at least another day, so Charlie and Joleen check into the nearby Palomino Guest Ranch and Trailer Park, which is owned by an abusive landlady named Agnes Reed (Susan Tyrrell).
Joleen soon meets Agnes's teenage son Jimmy Reed (Andras Jones). On that night, while Agnes is taking a bath, Agnes is killed when a hand reaches in through her bathroom window and pushes a small fan into the bathtub water, electrocuting Agnes.
That night, Charlie and Joleen also meet their neighbors, fellow travelers Louise (Karen Austin) and Amy (Jennifer Tilly). On the next day, when Jimmy tries to rape Joleen, Joleen is rescued by Pinky Sears (Anthony Rapp), another teenager who lives at the guest ranch.
Later that day, Charlie and Joleen agree to car pool with Louise and Amy, and that night, as they are about to leave the guest ranch, the killer blows up the car—with Amy in it—to prevent Joleen from leaving.
The killer is now obsessed with Joleen, whose diary is stolen by the killer. On the next day, when Jimmy tries to rob Duckett's gas station, Jimmy is accused not only of trying to rob the gas station, but he's also accused of the murders of Ferrell, Agnes, and Amy.
Duckett goes to Pinky's trailer, where he discovers that Pinky's mother has been dead for some time, and her body is covered with bags of ice. Pinky, who is the killer, shows up and stabs Duckett with a screwdriver, and then Pinky leaves. When Joleen goes to Pinky's hideaway to hang out with him, she finds her diary, and comes to the realization that Pinky is the killer.
When Duckett radios Bill's car and tells Bill and Charlie that Pinky has Joleen, Bill and Charlie head to the hideaway to find Pinky and Joleen, and at the hideaway, Pinky kills Bill.
Pinky chases Joleen up to the top platform on a nearby radio tower. Charlie tries to get up on the platform, but Pinky stops Charlie by cutting Charlie's hand.
Pinky says that he thought Joleen loved him. Duckett, who is sitting in a nearby vehicle with a rifle in his hands, fires a shot that causes Pinky to fall off of the tower. Pinky dies when he lands in a large satellite dish below.
Later, Duckett explains about Pinky keeping his mother's body iced, and then explains what he has figured out—that Pinky started slipping over the edge before Pinky ever met Joleen. Pinky has been keeping ice on his mother's body and leaving her TV on because he didn't want to believe that she got sick and died, he really didn't want to believe she was gone.
Pinky had to somehow get food for himself, so when Pinky went to the supermarket to get food, and Ferrell denied him, he killed Ferrell. Pinky had to live somewhere, so when Agnes went after Pinky, angrily demanding that Pinky pay rent that he couldn't afford, Pinky killed Agnes. Pinky became obsessed with Joleen, so when Joleen, Charlie, Amy, and Louise went to leave, Pinky blew up the car with Amy in it to stop Joleen from leaving.
Charlie, Joleen, and Louise leave Banco, and they head home to California.
Cast
- Matt Frewer as Charlie Cox
- Drew Barrymore as Joleen Cox
- Richard Masur as Duckett
- Susan Tyrrell as Agnes Reed
- Anthony Rapp as Pinky Sears
- Jennifer Tilly as Amy
- Dick Miller as Sheriff Bill Childers
- Andras Jones as Jimmy Reed
- Karen Austin as Louise
- Connie Sawyer as Viney Hunt
- Murrill Maglio as Man in Trailer
- Teri Weigel as Woman in Trailer
- John Spencer as TV Preacher
References
- ↑ "Far From Home (1989)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
- ↑ Barrymore, Drew (February 1990). Little Girl Lost. Atria. ISBN 0-671-68922-3.