Torchlight (1985)

The marriage of a young and successful couple is jeopardized when he becomes heavily addicted to cocaine. Her inability to help him and his inability to stop are leading them both into a downward spiral.

Director:

Thomas J. Wright

Writers:

Pamela Sue Martin (screenplay), Pamela Sue Martin (story),

Stars:

Pamela Sue Martin, Steve Railsback, Ian McShane

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pamela Sue Martin	...	Lillian Weller
Steve Railsback	...	Jake Gregory
Ian McShane	...	Sidney
Al Corley	...	Al
Rita Taggart	...	Rita
Rudy Ramos
Arnie Moore	...	Richard
John Jacobs	...	J.J.
Todd Ruff	...	Guy
Samantha Harper	...	Sandy
Barbara Lindsay	...	Sheila
Rod Colbin	...	Dr. Urban
Nicholas Mele	...	Dr. Kameraman
Richard Baun	...	Curator
Lisa Marie Gurley	...	Pat

Storyline

The marriage of a young and successful couple is jeopardized when he becomes heavily addicted to cocaine. Her inability to help him and his inability to stop are leading them both into a downward spiral.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | cocaine | husband wife relationship | drug addiction | drug addict | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

February 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cocaine-Paradise

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Ventures International (FVI), Torch Productions Inc., UCO Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"All the Love in the World"
Music by Carly Simon
Words by Carly Simon & Tim Mayer
Keyboard Played by Neil Larsen

User Reviews

Perfectly awful but McShane perfectly chilling

This movie is so bad it's almost great, on the order of a SHOWGIRLS type fiasco. I recommend finding a copy in some bargain bin or video store and inviting a few sarcastic friends over for lots of laughs. Viewers are supposed to care about the couple (Pamela Sue Martin and Steve Railsback) but the creep-factor is so high whenever Railsback is on screen, it's hard not to shiver with repulsion and fear at him. He looks like he's going to turn into a zombie and eat Pamela Sue's head off at any moment. There is no way anyone like Pamela Sue's sweet and innocent character would get involved with the weirdo Railsback plays! Whoever cast this movie has some 'splainin' to do!

That said, watching the downward spiral of Railsback's character into the drug world is highly entertaining, if only because it brings him into contact with a sweating, primped, slick-haired, and fascinatingly evil Ian McShane. As usual, when McShane is on screen, you cannot take your eyes off him. He plays Railsback's drug contact - and as someone else said - would fit right in as a character in SCARFACE or THE SOPRANOS. He acts everybody out of the water in this one. Mcshane once said he'd 'rather be sh*t in a hit than a hit in sh*t." Unfortunately, he was definitely the latter in TORCHLIGHT!