Piégés

The problem with most contemporary movies is the question of credibility. Most action epics constitute theme park thrill rides with outlandish stunts that cost mega bucks not only to stage but also to enhance with CGI effects. Hollywood always tries to scale down their budgets but rarely their believability when it comes to action pictures. Venezuela-born director Eduardo Rodriguez and freshman scenarist Gary Spinelli strive for credibility in "Stash House," with Dolph Lundgren and Briana Evigan. This well-made but often nondescript melodrama weds three genres: the surveillance saga, the house pictures, and the crime thriller. Lots of movies are now depicting their narratives from the perspective of surveillance cameras, like the "Paranormal Activity" flicks. We've also had a rash of movies about haunted housed. Usually, these movies concern houses that are either inhabited by supernatural adversaries as well as the setting for evil things. Since Don Siegel's 1958 melodrama "The Line Up," Hollywood has used the plot about the innocent people who learn than drug dealers have hidden their illicit narcotics in their belongings, since as the Audrey Hepburn movie "Wait Until Dark." A young married couple lands the real estate deal of a lifetime until they realize to their horror that their sumptuous house is a hiding place for concealing heroin supplies and a prison for a California drug enforcement czar. No sooner do our cute couple discover hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of heroin than they encounter two ruthless adversaries that lay siege to their house. One of the cartel gunmen is Dolph Lungren and he isn't happy about the circumstances. "Stash House" isn't bad and the husband and wife twosome are appropriately sympathetic, while Dolph plays a murderous villain who occasionally comes to their aid. Pretty Briana Evigan of "Step Up 2 the Streets" plays a veterinarian. Despite the apparent claustrophobic setting, "Stash House" emerges as rather nimble, particularly the ending when the villainous Dolph masquerades as our heroine's father. Clearly, "Stash House" couldn't have cost too much after they paid off Dolph and Briana. The action takes place in two settings, an animal clinic and the house were the drugs are stashed. The villain thinks of a cool way to bluff himself out of the house swarming with police for a finale that is provocative. Dolph gives a good account of himself. Neither as visually flamboyant or nor as free-wheeling as Rodriguez's later shoot'em up "El Gringo," "Stash House" is better than average and doesn't wear out its welcome.