Plot: An innocent man (Gary Daniels) seeks escape from a prison where tortures include cryogenics to suspend inmates’ aging while their families grow old.
What an odd little tale this is; Spoiler stars Gary Daniels, as Roger Mason, a wrongfully convicted man who ends up being essentially cryogenically frozen for 26 years only to find out that he hasn’t aged but his daughter has.
I find this a bit of a frustrating watch as I hate seeing Gary losing every fight; I keep wanting him to take out the trash and escape but sadly, he never does. It’s a real downer of an ending too but Daniels gives one of his best and most moving performances especially when he reunites with his daughter on her deathbed.
Spoiler has a great supporting cast that includes Brian Genesse (briefly), Meg Foster, and Jeffrey Combs playing a really nasty cop who never gets his comeuppance.
The visual effects are very much of the time, but I’ve seen worse, and I like the cyberpunk dystopia the film creates.
Spoiler isn’t a film I watch often as it isn’t exactly a fun time but in terms of acting this is one of Daniel’s best roles.
The film was helmed by Jeff Burr who also directed Stepfather II, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Puppet Master 4 and 5, and Pumpkinhead II. He sadly passed away in 2023 aged 60.
According to IMDb it sounds like the making of the film wasn’t exactly smooth as Burr took his name off the finished film due to not being given final cut privileges after filming wrapped up. He ended up using the alias of Cameron Van Daacke; Jeff Burr’s middle name was Cameron and the film’s Canadian VHS credits writer Michael Kalesniko as the director.
Overall, Spoiler is a very strange film, but I found it stuck with me, and Gary Daniels gives one of his best performances. I wish it had more action and a more upbeat ending, but that’s the story they were trying to tell and for the most part it works.