This film by Jim Sotos (the director of the surprisingly decent eighties slasher 'Sweet 16') is apparently a remake of the earlier infamous film of the same title by Shaun Costello and starring Harry Reems. Forced Entry was never meant to be a mainstream flick, but it would appear that Sotos was trying to turn it into one with this film as the plot is basically the same but we don't get any of the sexual violence, which is a bit of a shame because that's the only thing that most people will have tuned into the original for and it's always going to be difficult to make an R-Rated film based on this plot line and make it a success. The plot is very simple and focuses on a psychopath who works at a gas station. It's the old story of abuse as a child and this man suffered at the hands of his mother; which has lead to an acute hatred of women. Naturally, he decides to use his job (which involves meeting women) to find females to have his way with and murder. However, soon he meets Nancy and actually falls in love with her, which puts him at odds with his murderous rage.
On the whole, it has to be said that this film is not successful and the only part of it I really liked was the music on the opening credits sequence. Showing the violence and gore is not always necessary in films; but it is in this one. The original was meant to shock and it did; but this film's neglect towards showing the violence means that it is not shocking, not true to the original and it also doesn't feature a plot strong enough to hold up a film like this without violence. Ron Max is the lead and while he convinces as the psychopath, he isn't very charismatic and the performance feels a bit flat. Luckily, there's some female talent in the form of Tanya Roberts and Nancy Allen on hand to help the film along. The film features a voice over that shows us what the psycho is thinking and feeling and it's all rather generic stuff and the film could have done without it. There's not a great deal of interest created in the plot and the ending is both predictable and generic. The film has a handful of decent moments and it's worth tracking down as a companion piece to the original; but it's not very good unfortunately.
On the whole, it has to be said that this film is not successful and the only part of it I really liked was the music on the opening credits sequence. Showing the violence and gore is not always necessary in films; but it is in this one. The original was meant to shock and it did; but this film's neglect towards showing the violence means that it is not shocking, not true to the original and it also doesn't feature a plot strong enough to hold up a film like this without violence. Ron Max is the lead and while he convinces as the psychopath, he isn't very charismatic and the performance feels a bit flat. Luckily, there's some female talent in the form of Tanya Roberts and Nancy Allen on hand to help the film along. The film features a voice over that shows us what the psycho is thinking and feeling and it's all rather generic stuff and the film could have done without it. There's not a great deal of interest created in the plot and the ending is both predictable and generic. The film has a handful of decent moments and it's worth tracking down as a companion piece to the original; but it's not very good unfortunately.