Review by Peter Syslo
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION (1989) is a somewhat lesser-known film by Tobe Hooper, which capitalizes upon the "nuclear scare" of the 1980s. Actually, when you think about it, a lot of films (since the 1950s) have had plot points based upon the dangers of nuclear fission. This film hinges on that old, but not yet tired, plot point and it also focuses on the consequences of "fooling around" with Mother Nature. While the movie begins with a solid premise and employs some very thought-provoking concepts, it (disappointingly) manages to "dissipate" its power in second half of the film.
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION is directed by Tobe Hooper and is written by Hooper and Howard Goldberg. The film stars Brad Dourif, Cynthia Bain, Jon Cypher, Melinda Dillon, and William Prince.
The film is about a man named Sam (Dourif), whose parents participated in government studies of nuclear shelters, back in the 1950s; government scientists "ensured" the couple's safety by injecting them with a serum that would protect their cells from radiation. But, even though there were no immediate effects of the radiation on Sam's parents, it is apparent that something went wrong because the couple burst (spontaneously combusted) into flames after Sam was born. Years later, the adult Sam is beginning to experience strange things - notably, the way that he can produce fire from various parts of his body, when he is highly emotional. He also discovers that he can cause other people to burst into flames, through the use of his mind (pyrokinesis). With the help of his girlfriend (Bain), he tries to figure out how he can be helped, what kind of secrets are in his past, and he tries to right what went wrong.
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION started off well; it had that cynical tone of the realization that all of the "white-picket-fence" nonsense of the 1950s was a sham. It also had a bit of the atmosphere of FIDO, where everyone is putting up a good appearance but when it comes time to be honest and accept responsibility for one's actions, there are few willing to travel that road. I really liked that bit of social commentary; also, it is relevant to today, not just to the 1950s. Basically, the whole film is about betrayal of trust; the young couple in the beginning succumbed to radiation exposure, in order to make some money (to have the "American Dream") and to do the right thing and support the "good old government". Yes people, it is a part of the overall mechanism of the horror genre: sometimes i nnocent people will act with the best intentions and their actions will come back and bite them in the ass - again, a message that is also relevant to today's society.
All social criticism aside, I did enjoy the "nuclear" horror aspect; it remains one of the true base fears - the fear humanity will be wiped out and that you will get sick from radiation and things will start falling off of you (or in this case, fire will start shooting from your body). I felt that Douriff was very good at reacting to his bodily changes - he was very convincing at showing the horror of losing control of his body and his mind. Overall, his was the best performance in the film, aside from Stacy Edwards and Brian Bremer as Sam's parents.
On the other hand, I felt that the film became a little tedious about halfway through. Once Douriff realized his powers and started uncovering the lies, it just turned into a movie of pursuit and it became all about vengeance. Not that there was anything wrong with some of that, but I just wanted to see him try to harness or use his powers before seeking revenge. Also, I wished that the part of the story about others having the same powers was fleshed out a bit. In essence, I wish that the film skipped over some of the chase (or cut to the chase - heh, heh… yeah, I'm a real idiot) and focused more on the interesting facets of the story, because I do feel that the story is very sound and exciting.
Cutting to the chase: I liked the first half of the film - it just seemed to lose its interesting quality in the second half. Also, I didn't quite understand the nature of Sam's powers and the final scene - What exactly happened to him? What are the exact rules of his abilities? Aside from those details, the effects very pretty decent (it was still the era of matte and practical effects) and the cinematography was very good, especially in the "1950s" section of the film. If you enjoy films about pyrokinesis, such as FIRESTARTER, or if you go in for 1980s films about your body being altered, then you might like SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION. I give it a 5/10.