My old Dad, now passed, used to say that Sly Stallone was a chameleon. He would say that underneath that ripped exterior was a man who had a heart and at least a bit of brains. I mean, he said, what about ROCKY, he wrote that and made it something few others could. A filure a success. We spoke about his other films, from the brilliant COBRA, fun DEMOLITION MAN by way of the hilarious STOP OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT, to his RAMBO films. I remembered mentioning a film I had seen in the early 00s about Stallone as a cop, that wasnt Mangolds COPLAND. This film saw Sly trapped in a snow bound bunker and was at the mercy of a cop killing serial chopper. Well it was D-TOX. I knew that then and again now. I also remembered that the films had a thing about eyes, seemed a little disjointed and, should I say, Studio directed. No problem as I had really liked it.

Stallone is Jake Malloy. An FBI man who is tracking a serial killer. Not just any serial killer. A cop Killer. When the chase leads to his girlfriend being murdered, Malloy sinks hard into a bottle or 20. This gets him sent to a former missile silo, now detox clinic in snowy Wyoming. Everyone else there is a cop of some colour and all are stripped of their defences, badges, sticks and weapons. They have to talk and eat, no drink and no excitement. This is fine until a major snowstorm cuts off the clinic from any communication to the outside world. Then suddenly the calm is broken and as patients begin to turn up dead, often amidst suspicious circumstances, well its time for a little Sly style arse kicking.

So rumours of a tough release were abound even when I saw this on cable and then at the video shop I was just leaving as I had returned from university. Sly films always drew a crowd and the next one was  a kind of event. The name EYE SEE YOU was floated around as his next. A serial killer film (in vogue then). Then it blew out like a damp squib. The studio did that awful thing of not going with there gut but instead preview screened the film. It bombed. Mainly it seems (as the interview with Gillespie suggests) because the audience couldnt work out things and were disturbed by a down trodden Sly at the start. Guess they didnt see RAMBO or even ROCKY. 88 Films have let us see that previewed version (kind of we have a 2022 directors cut from Jim Gillespie to chew down on). This is a much better version or an already good film. It might look like a snide VHS, transferred multiple times but I would love to see this film in the same quality that we get with the main, studio verison. There are a bunch of great extras here but this definitive version is worth heading to after listening to and watching the film with DAVID WAIN AND MATT BUDREWICZ COMMENTARY that mentions the book, the film used as source material. They also mention the production and post issues.

The other really good extra is that of Sean Hogan, who is climbing quickly up my favourite film writers list. He gives us a fast, factful and very dynamic history of the cop, buddy cop, cop horror movies. His books are masterful but maybe a series of film histories is on the cards as he shows here and illustrates the point that a good film writer packs dates and times and stuff, but a great writer makes it relevent. So noting IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT and 48 HRS in the same process is inspired and accurate, but so to is unpacking the broader range of cop films from the genre staples. Which might be ignored. Its no small thing to say that 88 Films have given a great film, a new lease of life…

EXTRAS

AUDIO COMMENTARY FROM DAVID WAIN AND MATT BUDREWICZ

EYE SEE YOU! JIM GILLESPIE ON D TOX

OUTFIT FOR REHAB – CATHERINE ADAIR ON D TOX

COPS AND HORRORS – SEAN HOGAN ON D TOX AND THE ORIGINS OF THE COP HORROR HYBRID

DETOX DIRECTORS CUT 2022 VERSION

8 DELTED SCENES (SD)

TRAILERS