July 8, 1997:  ("Scanlines" wishes to thank Encore Movies & Music, I Luv Video, and Vulcan Video for their help in providing videos and laser discs)

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Freeway

Admit it. Didn't seeing Ferris Bueller's Day Off make you do something just a little naughty? Anyone? Anyone?

The opening credits for this film show R. Crumb-ish drawings of sexy Little Red Riding Hoods being chased by a lascivious wolf, and that's exactly what Freeway turns out to be: a modern-day Little Red Riding Hood story. When first we meet heroine Vanessa (Reese Witherspoon), she's in a class with her boyfriend learning how to read at kindergarten level. Her coke-whore mom gets arrested by an undercover cop while her stepdad paws her in the motel room where they all live. Rather than go to foster care, Vanessa handcuffs her probation officer to the bed and sets off for her grandma's house, basket in hand. She says good-bye to her boyfriend, who gives her a gun to sell to finance her trip. On the way, she's picked up by yuppie/solid citizen/youth counselor Kiefer Sutherland, who also happens to be the big bad wolf in the form of the Highway 5 serial killer.... Maybe you've gotten weary of serial killers in movies, but Kiefer Sutherland brings a new twist to his part, oozing real malevolence as the hideously (yet somehow comically) disfigured Bob. This movie is disturbing, terrifically violent and funny as hell, breaking free of clichés you'd expect to see in this kind of film. Vanessa is a real switch as well; when you think she's going to be another helpless victim, she turns out to be self-reliant and tough. She's smart, sexy, and takes absolutely no shit from anyone, not even the cops -- expect to see more of Reese Witherspoon in the future. An original, inventive twist on a too-familiar theme, with great dialogue, believable characters and bizarre set pieces. -- Jerry Renshaw

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Toto the Hero (TOTO LE HERO)

"Nothing ever happened in this guy's story," portends the opening of this French treasure, but don't you believe it. A stunning tale that combines mystery, fantasy, drama, action, comedy, and a little bit of everything else, Toto The Hero (Toto le Hero) is one of those films that's kept me coming back again and again, because I get a little more out of it with every viewing. The plot revolves around Thomas (Bouquet, as an adult), a simple man who is convinced that he was switched at birth with neighbor Louis (Ferney), the kid who had it all, and the story sweeps us from Thomas' days in the crib to his ultimate revenge on Alfred as an old man. Brilliantly constructed, the film tracks Thomas at three different ages (plus additional sidetracking) á la Slaughterhouse Five, so it requires a bit of effort on the viewer's part to keep up with the plot, not to mention the subtitles. While van Dormael and Duquenne worked together again recently on the critically disregarded The Eighth Day, Toto already has the makings of a long-term classic, and should simply not be missed. -- Christopher Null

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Sixteen Candles
The Breakfast Club
Ferris Bueller's Day Off