Director: Ralph L. Thomas
Notable Cast: Donald Sutherland, Chad Lowe, Mia Sara,
Knut Husebo, Rutanya Alda, Eddie Jones, Mark Burton, Adrian Sparks, Tiger
Haynes, Minnie Gentry
The use of the ‘based on true events’ gimmick is such a wild
card that it’s hard to predict what it actually means for a film. In the case
of Apprentice to Murder, it’s a signifier that the film is going to ride
its melodrama pretty hard. The film had a decent amount of hype around it for
me, thanks to be somewhat of a rare film prior to the new Arrow Video Blu Ray release,
but now that it’s in my collection, it’s understandable why the film went by
the wayside without much of a murmur. Apprentice to Murder is
forgettable. It certainly has its merits, particularly in how the film handles
its performances and many of its subplots. On the whole though, perhaps it’s
not so surprising that it was a film that fell off of the path of mainstream
classics and into the ditch where cult cinema fans would find it.