Kidnapped

Kidnapped

It seems the motivation for this film was, "Let's take every cliché in the book, put some * in it, and call it a movie." There's the police sargeant's "If you walk out that door, it'll cost you your badge!" and "If you keep going like this, he'll walk!", the hero of the movie and his chimpanzee - YES, A CHIMPANZEE (uhm, what was the point of that?), a woman kidnapped from a zoo with absolutely no bystanders anywhere, the sleazy pickup artist who was definitely supposed to be Italian, Lance LeGault as the bad guy... cliché, cliché, cliché!! And the worst thing of all is, I watched this pitiful excuse for cinematography to the end, happy to hear the English language after being an ex-pat here in Prague. Czech TV bought this film because it was cheap - they didn't even bother to dub it. You shouldn't even bother to watch it.

The mid-80's turned out a series of mediocre movies about women disappearing for different reasons...white slavery, organ harvesting, serial killers. This one doesn't even have these plotlines going for it. Worth seeing only if you want to see David Naughton in a role besides "American Werewolf in London". Otherwise look for "Angel" or "Coma" and you'll get more drama. Language, brief nudity, drug-use, violence

"Kidnapped" is a very annoying film. It all starts with Barbara Crampton's ridiculous character, which morphs from scared screaming and helpless, to super hero in the final frames. It takes way too long to reach the weak finale, and at 100 minutes the film seems interminable. If the padding involving a pet chimpanzee, and David Naughton's cutesy infatuation with Crampton, had been eliminated, the movie would have benefited. The best scenes involve some comedic moments in a porno shoot, and Jimmy Walker as an adult video shop owner. Otherwise, expect some of the worst stunt work, some of the corniest dialog, and acting no better than a porno flick. Naughton, Crampton, and especially Charles Napier, are totally wasted. - MERK

KIDNAPPED is an odd but entertaining B-movie thriller of the 1980s, boasting a familiar cast and a plot with an odd mix of elements. The story is about a teenage girl who is kidnapped by a sleazy pornographer who plans to exploit her on film, and the efforts of her older sister to rescue her. That premise in itself makes this sound like a dark and sleazy film, but in fact it has a real lightness of touch and a lot of random comedy elements like a friendly chimpanzee and the antics of David Naughton's goofy cop/love interest. When you discover that the vulnerable teenage kidnap victim is played by a Playboy playmate it all begins to make sense. Barbara Crampton is the heroine of the piece and delivers as solid a role as ever, while Naughton cashes in on some of the same trademark vulnerability that saw him excel in An American Werewolf in London. The rest is a mix of brief action scenes, dated fashions, some romance, and lots of nudity.