The Dead Pool (1988)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Buddy Van Horn

Writers (WGA):

Harry Julian Fink (characters) and
Rita M. Fink (characters) ...
(more)

Release Date:

13 July 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Dirty Harry Just Learned A New Game

Plot:

Dirty Harry Callahan must stop a sick secret contest to murder local celebrities, which includes himself as a target.

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Murder | Prison | Mafia | Drug Overdose

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Insp. 'Dirty' Harry Callahan
Patricia Clarkson	...	Samantha Walker
Liam Neeson	...	Peter Swan
Evan C. Kim	...	Insp. Al Quan
David Hunt	...	Harlan Rook / Ed Butler
Michael Currie	...	Capt. Donnelly
Michael Goodwin	...	Lt. Ackerman
Darwin Gillett	...	Patrick Snow
Anthony Charnota	...	Lou Janero
Christopher P. Beale	...	Dist. Atty. Thomas McSherry
John Allen Vick	...	Lt. Ruskowski
Jeff Richmond	...	Freeway Reporter #1
Patrick N. Van Horn	...	Freeway Reporter #2 (as Patrick Van Horn)
Sigrid Wurschmidt	...	Freeway Reporter #3
Jim Carrey	...	Johnny Squares (as James Carrey)
Deborah A. Bryan	...	Girl in Rock Video
Nicholas Love	...	Jeff Howser
Maureen McVerry	...	Vicky Owens
John X. Heart	...	Bob
Victoria Bastel	...	Suzanne Dayton
Kathleen Turco-Lyon	...	Officer at Trailer
Michael Faqir	...	Sergeant at Trailer
Ronnie Claire Edwards	...	Molly Fisher
Wallace Choy	...	Chinese Store Manager
Melodie Soe	...	Chinese Restaurant Hostess
Kristopher Logan	...	Gunman #1
Scott Vance	...	Gunman #2
Glenn Wright	...	Det. Hindmark (as Glenn T. Wright)
Stu Klitsner	...	Minister
Karen Kahn	...	TV Associate Producer
Shawn Elliott	...	Chester Docksteder
Ren Reynolds	...	Perry
Ed Hodson	...	Paramedic at Elevator
Edward Hocking	...	Warden Hocking
Diego Chairs	...	Butcher Hicks
Patrick Valentino	...	Pirate Captain
Calvin Jones	...	Pirate Tug Reporter #1
Melissa Martin	...	Pirate Tug Reporter #2
Phil Dacey	...	Det. Dacey
Louis Giambalvo	...	Gus Wheeler
Peter Anthony Jacobs	...	Sgt. Holloway
Bill Wattenburg	...	Nolan Kennard
Hugh McCann	...	Young Man on Talk Show
Suzanne Sterling	...	Young Woman on Talk Show
Lloyd Nelson	...	Sgt. Waldman
Charles Martinet	...	Police Station Reporter #1
Taylor Gilbert	...	Police Station Reporter #2
George Orrison	...	Embarcadero Bodyguard #1
Marc Alaimo	...	Embarcadero Bodyguard #2
Justin Whalin	...	Jason
Kris LeFan	...	Carl
Katie Bruce	...	Girl on Sidewalk
Harry Demopoulos M.D.	...	Doctor in Hospital Room
John Frederick Jones	...	Dr. Friedman
Martin Ganapoler	...	Reporter at Pier
James W. Gavin	...	Helicopter Pilot
Craig Hosking	...	Helicopter Pilot
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steven Adler	...	Musician at Funeral (uncredited)
Michael E. Burgess	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Brian Danker	...	Background officer (uncredited)
Duff McKagan	...	Musician at Funeral (uncredited)
W. Axl Rose	...	Musician at Funeral (uncredited)
Slash	...	Musician at Funeral (uncredited)
Izzy Stradlin	...	Musician at Funeral (uncredited)
John Woehrle	...	Cop in video footgage (uncredited)

Directed by
Buddy Van Horn

Writing credits (WGA)
Harry Julian Fink		(characters) and
Rita M. Fink		(characters) (as R.M. Fink)
Steve Sharon		(story) &
Durk Pearson		(story) &
Sandy Shaw		(story)
Steve Sharon		(screenplay)

Produced by
David Valdes	....	producer

Original Music by
Lalo Schifrin

Cinematography by
Jack N. Green		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ron Spang

Casting by
Phyllis Huffman

Production Design by
Edward C. Carfagno

Set Decoration by
Thomas L. Roysden

Makeup Department
Shirley Dolle	....	hair stylist
Monty Westmore	....	makeup artist (as Monatgue Westmore)

Production Management
David Valdes	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
L. Dean Jones Jr.	....	first assistant director
Robert J. Mooney	....	second second assistant director
Tena Psyche Yatroussis	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Edward Aiona	....	property master
F.X. Crowley	....	assistant property master
Ronald C. Jacobs	....	lead man (as Ron Jacobs)
Bob Lawless	....	stand-by painter (as Robert Lawless)
Barbara Munch	....	set dresser
Jerry Swift	....	assistant property master
Dwight Williams	....	construction coordinator

Sound Department
Rick Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gene Ashbrook	....	boom operator (as Byron Eugene Ashbrook)
Danny Benson	....	cable person
Richard S. Church	....	sound mixer
Virginia Cook-McGowan	....	sound editor
Teri E. Dorman	....	sound editor
Jay Engel	....	adr editor (as Jay N. Engel)
Les Fresholtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dee Dee Goldner	....	assistant sound editor
Robert G. Henderson	....	supervising sound editor
David M. Horton	....	sound editor
Joseph A. Ippolito	....	sound editor
Alan Robert Murray	....	supervising sound editor
Walter Newman	....	sound editor
Vern Poore	....	sound re-recording mixer
Brooke H. Ward	....	assistant sound editor (as Brooke Henderson Ward)
Marshall Winn	....	sound editor
John Roesch	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Carolyn Tapp	....	foley recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Joe Day	....	special effects
Bob Finley III	....	special effects (as Robert Finley)
Chuck Gaspar	....	special effects
Thomas Mertz	....	special effects
Bruce Robles	....	special effects

Stunts
Michael Adams	....	stunts
Hank Baumert	....	stunts
May Boss	....	stunts
Tony Cecere	....	stunts
Vince Deadrick Sr.	....	stunts
Scott Dockstader	....	stunts
Diamond Farnsworth	....	stunt coordinator
Steve Geray	....	stunts
Andy Gill	....	stunts
Gene Hartline	....	stunts
Orwin C. Harvey	....	stunts
Freddie Hice	....	stunts
Larry Holt	....	stunts
Jeff Imada	....	stunts
Maria R. Kelly	....	stunts
Kevin Larson	....	stunts
Walt La Rue	....	stunts
Lane Leavitt	....	stunts
Burt Marshall	....	stunts
Carol Neilson	....	stunts
George Orrison	....	stunts
Mark Orrison	....	stunts
Debby Porter	....	stunts
Rex Rossi	....	stunts
Spike Silver	....	stunts
Brian Smrz	....	stunts
Dick Warlock	....	stunts
Chuck Waters	....	stunts
Danny Weselis	....	stunts
Webster Whinery	....	stunts
Danny Wong	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan Cohen	....	second assistant camera
Jim Dunford	....	dolly grip (as James Dunford)
Buzz Feitshans IV	....	first assistant camera
Norman G. Langley	....	camera operator
Víctor Pérez	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Vance Piper	....	first assistant camera
Marcia Reed	....	still photographer
Douglas Ryan	....	camera operator (as Doug Ryan)
Bruce D. Spellman	....	best boy grip (as Bruce Spellman)
Tom Stern	....	chief lighting technician
Bill Young	....	key grip
Peter N. Green	....	camera department intern (uncredited)

Casting Department
Jan Forman Campi	....	casting: San Francisco (as Jan Campi)
Olivia Harris	....	casting assistant: Los Angeles
Nancy Hayes	....	casting: San Francisco

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Darryl M. Athons	....	wardrobe: men (as Darryl Athons)
Deborah Hopper	....	costume supervisor: women
Glenn Wright	....	costume supervisor: men

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Michael Cipriano	....	assistant film editor
Joel Cox	....	supervising editor
Jack Garsha	....	color timer

Music Department
Robert Fernandez	....	scoring mixer
Donald Harris	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Keith Dillin	....	transportation coordinator
Robert aaron Brown	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Marco Barla	....	unit publicist
Bundy Chanock	....	set medic
Jack Gallagher	....	set production assistant
Judie Hoyt	....	assistant: Mr. Eastwood
Linda Sony Kinney	....	production secretary
David R. Lawson	....	first aid
John Lehane	....	location manager
Michael Maurer	....	production accountant
Lee McDonald	....	assistant: Mr. Eastwood
Lloyd Nelson	....	script supervisor
Tom Rooker	....	production associate
Jennifer Van Horn	....	production associate
James J. Wilhelm	....	craft service (as James Wilhelm)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents) (as Warner Bros.)
• Malpaso Productions

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1988) (USA) (theatrical) (as Warner Bros. Pictures A Time Warner Entertainment Company)
• Warner Bros. Finland (1989) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1989) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1995) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner Home Video (1989) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (deluxe edition)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Tony's Food Service  catering

Also Known As:

Dirty Harry in The Dead Pool (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Spain:18 | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | USA:R (certificate #29247) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1989) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1988) | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:12 | France:Unrated | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2008) | Australia:M | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

1954 Mason Street, North Beach, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

This film have a Top 10 single used as a non original score: Guns N' Roses' hit single "Welcome to the Jungle".

Goofs:

Continuity: During the final chase scene, Callahan and the bad guy are running down a wharf. In one view, Callahan is running through a column of steam. in the next cut, he is well beyond the steam, and the bad guy is running through it. Yet again, in the next cut, Callahan is exiting the column of steam.

Quotes:

Harlan Rook: Did you ever notice how time seems to slow down at night?

Movie Connections:

Features Phantasm (1979)

Soundtrack:

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

Pool Of Dead Critics

This was altogether too simple for the critics back in '88 -- the whole idea was to point the barrel of the joke right back at the criticism.

Whereas the previous Dirty Harry features sat on a platform of utter contempt for bureaucrats and political correctness, here it's expanded to contempt for journalists, and especially the subspecies of 'media critics'. As if they couldn't make it clearer, a 'movie critic' is murdered, and treated as an occurrence of 'death of celebrities by threes'.

Yes, this is explicitly about movie making; the previous four movies suffered from poor supporting casts that only got in the way of the narrative. Here Van Horn deliberately employs good actors to play bad genre roles and thus turns the series on its head.

Along the way, we get a nice comment on "Bullitt", this time deflating the over touted car chase with a gag: an explosives laden model '63 Z06 (instead of a fastback Mustang, to drive home the point).

By this time, the .44 Magnum is treated as a character, with a 'voice' that rolls off the cityscape like thunder...the bad guys run at the mere sight of it. To put the icing on the 'man with the biggest gun' motif, Clint dispatches the villain with an earlier one liner ("you're S.O.L.") and a movie prop harpoon. The elaborate conflation of sexual double entendre, humor and cowboy justice went soaring over many heads. Arnold wishes he was half this funny in "Last Action Hero".

Ah, we miss Harry...but his retirement to Carmel was both serendipitous and necessary. By the end of this, he's killed off every cartoon bad guy left in the movie universe, paving the way for both the dimensional villains of "Die Hard" and its ilk, AND the hosannas bestowed on "Unforgiven".