Vibes (1988)
Let's go digging into the eighties again. I mean why not there were so many movies made that decade that it's a smorgasbord of good, bad and ugly. This time we hit the late eighties for a flick that most people missed. Vibes.
First things first, this movie was a huge flop. Like a belly flop at the Olympics type of flop. With a budget estimated around 18 million it brought in less than 2 million. So this was at the theaters and then gone so fast that most folks probably didn't even notice it was on in the first place. With that kind of crash it most likely didn't get much fanfare when it hit the rental market either. To be honest I never heard of it until a friend and I caught it cable several years back.
Now onto the plot. The movie is about a two psychics who are talked into a trip to Ecuador to help allegedly help a person find his son who is lost in the mountains. Turns out to be a con and they were actually brought there to help find a mysterious and dangerous treasure. But they aren't the only ones who are after this treasure.
Sounds like a bit of okay fun. But then we get to the casting, and it's the kicker. They psychics are played by Jeff Goldblum and Cyndi Lauper, yes that Cyndi Lauper. The person who conned them into the job is played by Peter “hey look it's Columbo” Falk. We even get a couple minutes of Steve Buscemi tossed in there for good fun. Plus a few others who are “Hey it's that guy.” actors from the 80's. So the casting is actually both solid and fun. Heck Cyndi turns out to be much better than I expected.
Special effects were decent for the era. A lot of on location filming was done and looks nice but nothing spectacular. Some of the dialogue is painfully from the 80's and wants to make sure you know it. Music is done by James Horner, another unexpected gem for this movie, and it fits. So there isn't a whole lot of failings going on for this movie. But there isn't anything that adds up to a blockbuster either.
In the end this movie sort of falls right into the “Okay” of movie ratings. It's not going to set the world on fire and your not missing anything if you don't watch it. But it's a decent little romp mixing comedy, supernatural and adventure all together. A solidly decent movie from a decade that brought a huge swath of terrible films. I would recommend that people at least give it a viewing but it's nothing to rush out for.
"Look at you, you got some of the flop on your sleeve!"
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