User Reviews

This Canadian TV movie attempts to do a TOWERING INFERNO-type story on a very low budget and the results are unsurprisingly disastrous. The tale is about a bunch of characters trapped inside an office building which is burning down around them. Drama is added by the team of firefighters sent in to rescue them who must face their own perils while there's plenty of sentimentality from an outside character who just so happens to be giving birth while her husband is on the inside.

It's as pitiful as it sounds and a complete waste of time. If the producers really thought a low budget and CGI fire was going to cut it then they were sorely mistaken. The writing is generally poor with an overload of melodrama and sickly-sweet romantic stuff that always seems to be included just so middle-aged women can watch and weep. Needless to say there are no famous faces here. As for the peril, it's non-existent. DEADLY INFERNO? DEADLY DULL, more like.

'Deadly Inferno' is essentially "The Towering Inferno" on a smaller scale. In this filmed-in-Canada TV movie, a bumbling janitor (Ephraim Ellis) inadvertently puts into motion circumstances that will cause an office building to later explode into flames. (Unfortunately, he was also told by the big boss (Stephen Bogaert) to turn off the water when the sprinkler system developed a leak.) A hard-working executive (David Sutcliffe) tries to look out for his fellow employees, while a brave fireman, Ray (Michael Xavier), leads his colleagues in an attempt to rescue the people trapped inside.

The script by Christian A. V. Petrozza is largely routine, and includes cliched types of characters such as the unreliable dad, the expectant father in a high-risk profession, the boss who is a Jerk with a capital J, etc. The effects can be pretty cheesy at times, but the director (Brent Cote) and crew manage to create a moderate sense of danger and excitement, and keep things more or less watchable. One good thing is that the acting is actually mostly tolerable: Bogaert really makes you hate his character, and Sutcliffe and Xavier are likeable enough heroes. One suspect bit of casting: Charlotte Arnold is less than four years older than Zoe Belkin, the actress playing her daughter, and they practically look the same age anyway. Arnold is unfortunately required to make a nuisance of herself at the scene of the disaster while the fire chief (Michael Hanrahan) fumbles about outside.

All of this is handled with a reasonable amount of competence, even if the presentation is hardly inspired. Some unpredictability, including a bittersweet ending, helped this viewer raise his rating by a point.

Six out of 10.

Firefighter Ray Vargas (likeable Michael Xavier) and his team have to rescue several office workers trapped on the 8th floor of a burning building after a gas leak causes a major explosion and subsequent raging fire in said building.

Director Brent Cole relates the familiar, but still enjoyable and engrossing story at a brisk pace, maintains an engaging earnest tone throughout, and generates a reasonable amount of tension. Moreover, the solid and sincere acting keeps this movie humming, with especially commendable contributions from David Sutcliffe as nice guy Colin, Jodie Dowdell as the perky Claire, Charlotte Arnold as the gutsy Alex, Stephen Bogeart as mean and ruthless jerk boss Michael (who surprisingly doesn't get killed), Greg Hovanessian as eager intern Jack Barton, and Jack Richter as the noble Reese. However, the dodgy CGI effects alas leave a good deal to be desired. No classic, but a perfectly acceptable diversion just the same.