Steel and Lace (1990)

Directed by Ernest Farino [Other horror films: N/A]

Steel and Lace isn’t a movie I’d heard too much about before watching. In fact, while I had known of the movie in a vague sense, I think it’d be fair to say that I couldn’t have said a single thing if asked what it was about. All of this is to say that I went into this one pretty blind, and I have to admit that while I liked some of the ideas here, along with the effects, I’m not sure the execution was to my liking.

It’s a bit of a twist on the rape/revenge style of exploitation that was somewhat common in the 1970’s into the 80’s, with such films as I Spit on Your Grave, The Last House on the Left, Savage Streets, Demented, and Ms. 45 (two of those I don’t see as horror, being Savage Streets and Ms. 45). I don’t know of many of these types of films from the 1990’s, though, so that was one of my big points of interest when getting into this movie.

Combining both the tragedy of rape with some science fiction elements of artificial intelligence, Steel and Lace (certainly an apt title) is definitely an interesting, almost unique movie. I think it’s strengths lie in the strong cast, solid special effects, and genuinely fascinating idea. I think it’s held back, though, by the execution of some of these ideas, along with elements of the finale.

When it comes to the kills, most are good. I think the most striking is perhaps an individual being lifted up into some helicopter blades, and while the injury (i.e. death) looks weak, the idea has feeling. There was also a good decapitation and another fellow got lit on fire via lightning bolt. The weakest kill here, I think, would be either an individual being sucked of his lifeforce (or whatever – I couldn’t tell exactly how that character actually died) or someone getting #drilled. Not that the latter kill couldn’t have been good, but I don’t think they had the special effects to back it up.

Another area which I think warrants a positive mention is the cast, most of whom are strong. The primary protagonists, David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London, Mirror Mirror 3: The Voyeur, Amityville: A New Generation, The Sleeping Car) and Stacy Haiduk (Luther the Geek, Attack of the Sabretooth), work well together, and I thought Haiduk did rather stellar. Clare Wren and Nick Tate had strong moments also.

Of the group of men who stood together to protect a rapist (that’s how rich, white men do), those being Michael Cerveris, Scott Burkholder, John J. York, Paul Lieber, and Brian Backer, only two stood out. Burkholder (House IV), York, and Lieber were okay, but Brian Backer (a surprising face to see, as he played Alfred in The Burning) and Michael Cerveris had more character. Lastly, Bruce Davison (Willard, X-Men, and Kingdom Hospital) was nice to see, though I wish his character went a different direction.

Which is sort of fair for the movie as a whole, I think. The ideas here were decent, and they mostly worked out, but toward the end, I did lose a bit of interest, as it dealt more with the emerging emotions of an android, which wasn’t a bad route to take, but I also didn’t care for how it was approached. Also, Davison’s character felt almost too villainous, especially given that the reasons he wanted revenge were completely legit.

More than anything, Steel and Lace is a bit of an oddity. It’s not really the type of film that I’d expect from the 1990’s, though it does sort of make sense when you consider other films from around the same time period, such as Hardware or Death Machine. Even so, while there’s some things in this movie to enjoy, I also think it’s fair to say there’s not really a ton of memorable material here. It’s far from a poor movie, but I do personally find it a bit below average.

6/10