Tag Archives: 1980s

virginia madsen in the hitchhiker

The Hitchhiker / Deadly Nightmares

Anthology series The Hitchhiker would see Virginia Madsen take a role in the fourth Seasons first episode, “Perfect Order” which originally aired on February 17th, 1987.

Or, if you’re in the UK you might know the show better as Deadly Nightmares.

The Hitchhiker refers to a central character (Page Fletcher) that connects the otherwise unconnected episodes, he’s a mysterious stranger who wanders into towns to find tales of mystery and or horror unfolding.

The show lasted from 1983 to 1991 in one form or another, hopping channels from it’s original home on HBO before finding a home on the USA Network for it’s final two seasons.

It actually had it’s fair share of properly impressive guest stars over the years, you can find a full list on the WIkipedia page for the show but some highlights include Gary Busey, Willem Dafoe, Helen Hunt, Carrie-Anne Moss and Elliot Gould. The DVD releases love to splash their names over the covers even though they weren’t “famous” at the time.

I won’t lie, I’ve only ever watched one episode of this show, this one, obviously. And, well, it’s weird. Which is probably why I’ve only ever watched this one. I don’t mind weird normally, but this is not in a good way weird.

As the episode starts we meet Simon (Steve Inwood) who is hard at work on his latest project, various models are covered in mud and hung up with ropes. As he’s taking his photos one of the models complains they are bleeding “Shut up, you’re dead” he hisses in return. Edgy.

His mood ruined with the break in atmosphere and the models getting in his face, he orders his lacky to pay them and send them on their way. He retreats to his trusty bottle of alcohol proclaiming he’s scared, presumably of how far he is willing to go for his art. Or, something.

Cut to a hot sexy blonde who we learn is called Christina (obviously, played by Mrs Madsen), admiring Simon’s work in a gallery “If only he’d shoot me” she gushes, “instant fame”.
Virginia Madsen in The Hitchhiker episode “Perfect Order,” wearing a purple spaghetti-strap dress with voluminous blonde curls. She stands with arms crossed, looking unimpressed, while a man in a white suit stands behind her. A busy, stylish shopping area with other shoppers is visible in the background.Her unimpressed suitor convinces her it’s time to leave, but just as they exit the building Simon arrives at the exhibit.

Not wanting to miss the chance to meet one of her idols she runs back inside and abandons her young gentleman. As he makes his way down the street he passes The Hitchhiker.

“Christina wants fame, at any price. Simon wants a perfect masterpiece. Each will learn the cost of fulfilling each others desires” he proclaims.

Simon enters the exhibit, his guests fawning all over him and applauding like he’s a Rock Star, as one patron throws praise at him he growls that he doesn’t care what they think and pulls a machine gun from under his robe. He uses the gun to clear a table of some champagne glasses and stands on top, exciting Christina. “Would you like to see a suicide, huh?” he shouts, putting the barrel of the gun in his mouth. Instead of pulling the trigger he turns the gun on the crowd, threatens a mass killing instead and starts firing into the crowd and on his own pictures. Which obviously earns him a standing ovation once calm is restored. Because, art.

Christina is in awe, “Incredible” she whispers, “You’re incredible” in Simons direction, unheard.

She chases after him as he leaves the building, begging to be his next subject. Most men would be flattered, it’s Virginia after all. Not Simon, cool as a cucumber he asks if she has any family waiting for her before coldly telling her “Model for me, you have to be a victim, a slave”

Christina agrees, Simon whisks her off in his car.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd you get the idea of how pretentious and full of crap this is.

Christina does what Simon wants to the nth degree, letting him do whatever he wants to her. She complies to a sickening degree. Anything in her pursuit of fame and fortune.
Virginia Madsen in The Hitchhiker episode “Perfect Order,” with wet, tousled blonde hair, wearing a thin-strapped top. She leans against a metal pole with her eyes closed and hands gripping it, her face conveying deep emotion. The dimly lit setting adds to the moody, atmospheric tone.Eventually, and I kid you not – Simon devises a maze for her to escape from. What’s she escaping from? LASERS! Because of course she is.

You’ll have to watch the episode to get the full extent of just how, arty, this whole thing is.

Virginia’s acting here, is not great. Given the material it’s not surprising. Nobody here acts well or does themselves any favours to be fair, she’s not on her own. I say “not great” but there are some flashes of talent (not a euphemism, but, yeah that as well – it’s that kind of show) once the initial pandering wears off from the start.

It’s hard to recommend this one for any reason. I just don’t like it. I did a little Googling as I was watching the episode and I’m not the only one who finds it weird. I did also read it’s out of place as an episode of the show so maybe the other episodes aren’t so bad.

Availability:
It’s actually not hard to find The Hitchhiker on DVD from America. The trouble is finding the particularly episode you want. Because of the anthology nature of the series there was no need to put episodes together in the correct order, or even it seems with episodes from the same seasons. I had to check various listings to make sure I got a version with the actual episode on. It doesn’t help that they all have similar covers so you really do have to check.

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Title card for Fire with Fire (1986). The film’s title appears in white serif text against a lush forest backdrop. In the distance, a young woman with curly blonde hair (Virginia Madsen) is seen running away through the woods, wearing a light blue top and red pants, adding a sense of urgency and adventure to the scene

Fire with Fire

Fire with Fire is the film that properly propelled Virginia to the top of most people’s lists. Released in 1986 to negative reviews it would find its way into many viewers hearts and still has its fans today.

By today’s standards, it’s not that great. It’s a very eighties film. Things were different then.

Joe Fisk (Craig Sheffer) is an eighties bad boy, Lisa (our Virginia Madsen) is an artsy, shy Catholic Schoolgirl. Unlikely to cross paths under normal circumstances, the two do come across each other while Lisa is out in the woods taking a photograph of herself as Ophelia for  a project she’s doing and Joe is the “Fox” in a Fox and Hound game the Prison Camp is running.Virginia Madsen as Lisa Taylor in Fire with Fire (1986), floating in a pond in a white dress, evoking a dreamlike or symbolic moment in the romantic drama film.Their eyes meet, tensions are raised.

There are only two problems. Joe is a bad boy and Lisa is a shy Schoolgirl. I know I’ve already mentioned that but that’s how much of a problem it is.

The crime Joe is in Prison for? Punching his Dad. The Prison? Voluntary.

Lisa’s problem? After she graduates from Catholic School she’s to be whisked away to be with her parents in Sweden and attend finishing school.

Gritty stuff. Melodrama is the flavour of the day here.

Joe’s  “Prison Camp” is local to Lisa’s school, on occasion the “inmates” are allowed into town for some rest and relaxation. One night when they are allowed a night at the local Cinema they come across each other again, the tension is high.

It comes time for the Catholic School to do something nice for people to show how nice they are, ideas are bandied around but Lisa comes up with the idea / plan that they should do something nice for the inmates at the local Prison Camp in the form of a Dance they can all attend.
Virginia Madsen as Lisa Taylor in Fire with Fire (1986), wearing a white school uniform shirt and a blue plaid tie, standing in a classroom with a serious expression, while other students in similar uniforms watch her.On the night of the Dance the two steal some moments together before it all goes wrong and the inmates are all whisked away again leaving even more tension between Joe and Lisa.

The next time they get to meet up is at a graveyard where Joe is working, they steal some more moments together before they are caught by Joe’s Boss, uhm “Boss” (Joe Polito) who threatens to throw Joe in proper State Penitentiary for his misdeeds.

Back at the School Lisa is threatened with being immediately shipped off to her parents, never to return.

This is enough for the pair (and a whole bunch of other people) to organise an escape and the pair go on the run. They end up in an idyllic cabin in the woods and the pair can finally be together.

Unfortunately the pair are fugitives, and those gosh darn fugitives must be hunted down.

Cue the helicopters, dogs, guns and plenty of manpower to track the two down.Virginia Madsen as Lisa Taylor in Fire with Fire (1986), looking distressed while standing behind Craig Sheffer as Joe Fisk, who is wearing a red plaid shirt and aiming a rifle with a determined expression, a wound visible on his forehead.I might sound like I’ve a dim view of the film, but I don’t. But I do recognise the absurdity about it all as well. The whole thing is highly improbable and could only have been made in the eighties.

That said, I was actually surprised to see how much love there is for this film when I was researching a little around it. Fair play, there are loads of dodgy eighties films I love as well, and given the popularity for the whole Stranger Things stuff it seems I’m (we’re) not on my (our) own.

The film has all kinds of now famous faces that you might more reognise today than you would have back them. J.J. Cohen, Kate Reid, Jean Smart, Tim Russ, D.B. Sweeney and Kari Wuhrer to name but a few.

Virginia is obviously young in this film. She’s trying and actually does a competent job at “Eighties Girl in Peril”. But it’s very cheesy acting, it’s not a bad thing, it fits the film perfectly and anything else would just be odd to be fair.Virginia Madsen as Lisa Taylor and Craig Sheffer as Joe Fisk in Fire with Fire (1986), standing face to face in an intense moment, their eyes locked. Madsen’s curly blonde hair frames her concerned expression, while Sheffer, wearing a red plaid shirt, has a wound above his eyebrowIf you’re a fan of the whole Eighties thing then you can’t do much better than this for a perfect Romance / Drama film of the time and I would wholeheartedly recommend it. If you’re not, then probably best you avoid watching this one. I guess you had to be there.

Virginia has fond memories of the film. In The AV Clubs now defunct “Random Roles” series she’d be reminded of it;

“I’m becoming one of those older people who has way too many stories. [Laughs.] But I will say that more people ask me about Fire With Fire than any other movie I’ve done, including Sideways. But for some reason, no one ever knows what Fire With Fire is called. They always say something like, “Oh, you know, that movie where you’re floating in the pond?” “Yeah, that’s Fire With Fire.” But the movie was originally called Captive Heart, which is a much better title, but then we were given the song “Fire With Fire” [by Wild Blue] for the end credits, so they named the film Fire With Fire, too. That was an ’80s thing to do: You’d have your soundtrack and your movie at the same time. But, yeah, that was a beautiful experience. I loved making that movie.”

I commented on the Kenny Loggins music video that Virginia was in for I’m Free how similar that was to this movie and having watched it again I’m absolutely convinced you could take scenes from this film and remake the original. It’d be a fun project if anyone could find the time. And, a very niche audience that would get it…

Availability:
Not too bad thanks to a recent American release, it also appears to be a region free DVD so if you aren’t in the States then you shouldn’t have a problem.

Gallery:

Trailer:

TV Spot:

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virginia madsen in american playhouse a matter of principle

American Playhouse – A Matter of Principle

A Matter of Principe is TV episode of American Playhouse, an American anthology series which aired from 1982 through till 1996 on the PBS channel.

Spanning a total of 13 Seasons and 176 episodes, American Playhouse has had some properly good talent go through its doors. The likes of Kenneth Branagh, Jeff Daniels, Ed Harris, Raul Julia, Jason Robards and Susan Sarandon have all had their parts to play in the American Playhouse legend.

“A Matter of Principal” is an episode from the show’s fourth season, the second episode of that season in fact. It of course features Virginia Madsen starring alongside Alan Arkin and his real life wife, Barbara Dana. It’s the story of a poor family who worry that Santa won’t visit them if they don’t have a tree due to their Dads refusal.

The episode was shown on the 3rd of December so although it was a bit early by my standard it was one to show with a Christmas theme.

Now. I’m a grumpy old “Bah humbug” type of guy, “Christmas Films” aren’t my thing. At all. Not even a little one. Well, I guess “Violent Night”, that’s a good Christmas Film. If you’re about to say “But what about Die Hard?” then you can get off my site now, and never ever come back.

Can the appearance of Virginia Madsen change all of that and have me looking fondly on a yuletide film?Virginia Madsen in A Matter of Principle (1984), walking down a small-town street with a young man. She wears a brown coat and a dark hat, her long hair cascading over her shoulders. The slightly grainy image captures a vintage atmosphere, with storefronts, a reflection of a courthouse dome in the window, and a parked car in the background.No. No she can not.

I mean, to be fair – I’ve seen worse.

We’re introduced to the Purdy family via Flag Purdy (Alan Arkin) is in the bank disputing the fact that he’s paid his bill but is informed he’s not paid the tax. He claims he didn’t vote for the tax and so he shouldn’t have to pay it. Straight away we know who has the principles in this one then.

Flag returns home to his family and we soon find out there are more than a couple of them living under the one roof. Flag and his wife Ada (Barbara Dana) have been blessed with an ungodly amount of children, and that’s including a newborn. The eldest, Lou Ellen (Virginia) helps out around the house but she’s far from impressed with her Dad’s penny pinching ways.

Virginia Madsen in A Matter of Principle (1984), sitting at a table in a modest home, wearing a light-colored coat. She appears to be in conversation with a woman across from her, who is dressed in a dark coat. A man in a plaid jacket stands in the doorway, looking concerned. The dim lighting and simple decor emphasize the film’s small-town, working-class setting.Flag is doing his best not to spend any money that he doesn’t have to do. No heating in the house, when his wife hints at an electric blanket he offers to lie on her side of the bed to warm it up, and then of course there is the crux of the movie, the Christmas tree. He claims he doesn’t want a tree in the house because if The Good Lord wanted trees in the house then he would have planted them there” and it’s just “contrary to nature”.

The family are determined to have a Christmas this year and they work against him to bring some festive cheer to the house. Lou Ellen along with her fiance buy the house a tree which leaves Flag less than impressed culminating in a stand up row between him and the family when he catches them celebrating.

Slowly the family get more and more disillusioned with Flag and begin to ignore his wishes, much to his chagrin.

I won’t go into more detail, it’s a short “film” at just under an hour long. But, well it’s a Christmas film so I’m sure it won’t take a lot of your brain power to work out how the rest of it goes, especially if you are familiar with the tale of Scrooge.Virginia Madsen in A Matter of Principle (1984), sitting at a dinner table with a serious expression. She wears a brown coat, and her long hair is pulled back. Beside her, a woman in a knitted vest and collared shirt looks on attentively. The simple setting, with plates of food and glasses on the table, emphasizes the film’s small-town, working-class atmosphere.Considering it’s an early outing for Virginia Madsen in her career she gets quite a pivotal role in this one, you can tell she’s pretty much still learning the ropes but she manages to impress among the cast.

Availability:
Adding this to your physical media collection isn’t that easy at the moment. It saw a release on DVD in the US but beyond that I’m not sure and the details are sketchy. I snagged a copy of it a LONG time ago, before I even knew what it was and back when it was just listed on iMBD as “A Matter of Principal” with no mention of “American Playhouse”. I don’t remember it being particularly hard to find at the time, but obviously these things change.

If you’re looking for a copy on DVD to call your own then I’d suggest using “A Matter of Principal”, “American Playhouse: A Matter of Principal” or even just “American Playhouse” to try and get there. Maybe add “DVD” to the end of your search.

Digitally, is another matter and one you might have to settle for until a random copy appears on eBay, or even Amazon.

Gallery:

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virginia madsen in michael jackson liberian girl music video

Michael Jackson – Liberian Girl

Dropping back into the world of Music Videos we see Virginia Madsen dropping, briefly, in to the music video for Michael Jackson‘s Liberian Girl.

Michael Jackson isn’t a favourite singer of mine by any stretch of the imagination, I do appreciate that he was amazing at what he did and very few could touch him at the top of his game. And, I am partial to a song or two of his. Billie Jean and Smooth Criminal both stand out as two songs I’d turn up if they came on the radio.

Liberian Girl was the 9th (!!) single from the stupidly popular Bad album released in 1987. It reached Number 1 in just one country, Ireland but it was widely regarded as a hit around the world.

The Music video featured a who’s who of, well, everyone with many a famous face featuring in the 5 minutes or so of the songs running time. It was filmed in 1989 over two days in Los Angeles in April. The premise being that all these famous people show up to make the video but Michael himself is nowhere to be found, only for the big reveal at the end to be that he was actually shooting them the whole time.

It’s honestly an insane list of people that are included in the video, some of them more relevant at the time than they are now, but among them you can find the likes of Paula Abdul, Whoopi Goldberg. Lou Diamond Phillips, John Travolta (with Olivia Newton-John, obviously), Steven Spielberg, Dan Aykroyd and Danny Glover.

Deep stuff.

Anyway. Virginia is on screen for a few seconds with David Copperfield (who is floating, obviously).

virginia madsen in michael jackson - liberian girl music videoAnd, that’s that.

Availability:
All good here, so long as YouTube exists you should always be able to find it.

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virginia madsen in zombie high

Zombie High

Now then. Zombie High. Where to start, or even – What to say?

So. Zombie High, is a horror comedy from 1987, It’s also known as The School That Ate My Brain.

And, you’ll wish someone would actually eat your brain as you watch this one. If you watch this one, I wouldn’t recommend it. I mean, I like “bad” films, but this is, terrible.

Virginia Madsen takes on the role of Andrea who gets a scholarship to a prestigious school, Ettinger. However, it quickly comes to her attention that everything at the school might not actually be as it should be.Virginia Madsen in Zombie High (1987), wearing a bright blue coat over a red top, her curly blonde hair framing her face. She looks slightly intrigued or amused while standing outdoors on a lush college campus, hinting at the film’s eerie yet youthful atmosphere.The plot is, I don’t know to be honest – I won’t lie, I picked up the recent re-release of this on Blu-Ray and tried to watch it but I could only get so far before my interest fell off a cliff. I mean it when I say it’s not even a good bad movie to watch. I know there are some people who get some kind of kick out of this kind of movie, but that isn’t me.

The basic idea is that Andrea starts at a new school with her boyfriend, Barry (James Wilder). It’s not long before they discover a plot to turn all the unruly students into model citizens of society by swapping out their brains.

I know I gave Class some stick, but this is much more the kind of “first film” you’d expect to see from an up and coming actress. Virginia Madsen already had Electric Dreams and Dune under her belt before she signed on for this.

There aren’t even any real Zombies in it, it’s more a Stepford Wives kind of deal with the students of the school being “changed”.

To be fair, and for what it’s worth – Virginia Madsen does seem to play it relatively straight in this one, she’s not dialling it in as much as you might think. From the bits I saw (I obviously paid more attention when she was on screen) she does a more than competent job and makes the most out of what she’s got to work with. Not exactly the best place to advertise her acting skills, but I guess it shows a good work attitude / ethic if nothing else.Virginia Madsen in Zombie High (1987), emerging from a pool with slicked-back wet hair and a serious expression. Wearing a dark purple swimsuit, she looks up with a mix of concern and determination, the dimly lit water behind her adding to the film’s eerie atmosphere.But, I can safely say this one confuses me. I mean, there are other films where I can’t help but wonder “why?” that she’s been in over the years but this one truly boggles my mind. Did she lose a bet?

She’s not on her own to be fair, Sherilyn Fenn, Richard Cox, Paul Feig and quite a few other famous faces from film and TV can be found lurking around in this one.

I’m not going to rip this to pieces here, there are plenty of other sites doing that much better than me with my recent half-watch of this.

To be fair, the film does have its fans as well – I assume it has some kind of following or it wouldn’t have gotten the blu-ray release. For that, at least, I’m grateful, as a collector.

At the risk of repeating myself,  I won’t ever understand “why?” though. It had to be the losing a bet thing, right?

Availability:
Not bad if you’re after the Blu-Ray. 88 Films recent release (the one I bought) is still easy to get hold of on all the sites you’d expect, if not there then eBay and Amazon aren’t short of them. Some copies come with a DVD version of the film as well – I couldn’t find a standalone version on DVD, so you might have to get the Blu-Ray just to get the DVD.

I also noticed that the VHS copy isn’t hard to find on eBay either, if that’s your thing. Obviously not as plentiful as the Blu-Ray but it’s worth checking for.

And, if you just want to watch it without fear of commitment then you can also check out YouTube to see what you can find.

Trailer:

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Title card for Class (1983), featuring bold yellow text over an industrial parking lot with a white van and an orange sports car. The background includes a factory with smokestacks, setting the tone for the film’s contrast between working-class and elite prep school life.

Class

Everyone has to start their professional career somewhere, and 1983’s Class would be that somewhere for Virginia Madsen.

Her first role would be small but for most of the intended audience, an unforgettable one but one she has expressed regret at, or at least an “Oh. Ew. I don’t want to talk about that.” when asked about the movie in a 2013 interview with AV Club. She wouldnt go into much detail but she’ would say “Those guys were assholes. They were really shitty to me. It was bad. Bad memories.”

A few years later in 2017 AV Club would ask one of her co-stars, Rob Lowe, about the quote and he would back her up with “Her big part in that movie required her shirt to get ripped off, and looking back, it couldn’t be a more egregious, vintage, lowbrow, 1980s Porky’s-esque, shoehorned-in moment.”Virginia Madsen in Class (1983), standing in a school uniform while holding a tray of food. She has long blonde hair and wears a plaid skirt with a white blouse and a vest. Three other young women in similar uniforms sit on a couch, engaged in conversation. The setting is a warmly lit living room with vintage decor, emphasizing the film’s prep school atmosphere.Certainly not hard to imagine that the movie wouldn’t hold fond memories.

And, that’s fair enough. This kind of scene was common in 80’s Teen Movies, and It’s a scene that has clearly stayed with her over the years, a reminder of how the Hollywood machine sometimes capitalises on young talent without giving much thought to respect or boundaries.

Billed as a comedy-drama Class, is a weird kind of film. At least by today’s standards. It never quite knows what it is trying to be. When it’s funny, it’s. Well, actually not that funny but you can see the humour that they were trying to go for. And when it’s serious, it’s jarring at best.

The cast wasn’t anything to be sniffed at, or at least it wouldn’t be today. Joining Virginia Madsen and the aforementioned Rob Lowe in the credits are John Cusack, Andrew McCarthy, Jacqueline Bisset and Alan Ruck to name but a few.

It could be argued that if Class was made later in most of its cast’s career it would be written about as an ensemble piece.
Virginia Madsen in Class (1983), standing in a plaid school uniform skirt, white blouse, and vest, arguing with a young man in a black blazer. Her long blonde hair is flowing as she speaks with an intense expression. Several other students in suits react in the background, while an older woman sits nearby with a teacup, observing the confrontation. The setting is an elegant, vintage-style living room with large windows and floral curtains.The plot of the film follows the story of new to the school student, Jonathan (Andrew McCarthy), who is shown the way of the school, and world,  by Squire Franklin Burroughs,  the Forth (Rob Lowe), or “Skip” for short. Skip encourages Jonathan to come out of his shell, takes him to bars, encourages him to meet women and that kind of thing. Problem being that the first woman who comes across happens to be an older woman, and, rather predictably that older woman, Ellen (Jaqueline Bisset) turns out to be – Skips Mother.

Drama ensues, hi-jinks happen, other things kick off in the School and, you know the rest if you’ve ever seen an eighties American school film. And if you’ve not, you’ve not missed much.

Still, as I said – Everyone has to start somewhere, right?

This might not have been the dream or ideal start to a career for Virginia, but it was a learning experience in it’s own right, and thankfully one that wouldn’t define her career.

Availability:
Class isn’t hard to track down, heck I can’t tell you the amount of bargain bins and second hand shops I’ve seen the DVD in over the years. As for Blu-Ray, as far as I can tell it’s only ever had an American release but seems to be freely available at the time of writing.

Based on your location (or, use of VPN) you’ll probably be able to find it available on streaming services somewhere. Again, at the time or writing it’s available on both Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.

Trailer:

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