Running Scared [DVD]

Paul Walker (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS) plays Joey Gazelle, a low-level Mafia thug, who finds himself in the middle of a drug deal gone wrong, equalling a hail of gunfire and some dead undercover cops as the net result. Fleeing from the scene, Joey steals one of the revolvers, used to kill the cops and stashes it in his own basement, in the chance that it may one day prove useful against his own gang. Unfortunately, Joey's 10-year-old son, Nicky (Alex Neuberger) and his best friend, Oleg (Cameron Bright), see where the weapon is hidden. Oleg, whose Russian mob-connected stepfather is physically abusive towards him and his mother, steals the gun to exact revenge. Shooting his father in the shoulder, he runs away with the gun. This forces Joey to embark on a nightmarish 18-hour race to locate Oleg and the gun before his own gang, the Russian Mafia, or bad cop, Detective Rydell (Chazz Palminteri). In a film dedicated to directors Sam Peckinpah, Walter Hill, and Brian De Palma in the closing credits, Kramer splatters the screen with a level of violence that would make those masters proud. Drained of bright colours, stylish, and feverishly fast-paced, RUNNING SCARED is one bloody thrill-ride.