The pristine beauty of Washington's Mount Rainier National Park, nicely photographed by John S. Harris, is the highlight of this direct-to-video release, a convoluted woman in jeopardy adventure.
Kate (Sandra Hess) and Neil (Kent MacLachlan) set out on a hiking trip deep into the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. While skinny-dipping in a mountain lake, they are surprised by four drug runners (Tim Quill, Craig Alan, Bret Davidson, and Peter Waldman). The men kill Neil and attempt to
rape Kate, but she manages to escape. She encounters Richard (Richard Hench), a man she noticed earlier in town. Richard promises to get her back to civilization, but instead brings her back to the drug runners, and is revealed to be their leader.
Richard sets Kate loose only to send his men back after her, offering her as a prize to the victor. She sets a trap which kills one of the men, then steals his gun. Meanwhile, Sheriff Shirley (Rick Aiello) tracks the forest, searching for the killers of a deputy. He is shadowed by the
sinister-looking DeVoe (Martin Kove). Kate encounters DeVoe, but doubts his claim that he is a drug enforcement agent. They meet up with Richard's men and the sheriff, who is also revealed to be one of the gang. Richard's men shoot DeVoe and abduct Kate once again. Jealousy and greed get the
better of the men and their infighting leaves all but Richard and Kate dead. As Kate struggles to escape, DeVoe reappears and Richard is apprehended.
ENDANGERED is a tepid entry in the low-budget rape-revenge subgenre best exemplified by the cult classic I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (1978). It's full of preposterous plot twists and its revelations are only mildly surprising (the presumed good guys are bad, the presumed bad guy is good). The plot line
is interminably implausible: Richard repeatedly catches Kate but lets her go to continue the cat-and-mouse game, saying he'd rather rape her mind than her body. Hess handles her action scenes well, but her sudden transformation from frightened victim to vengeful killer is unconvincing. She never
mourns her boyfriend's death, and blindly trusts a man who says he followed her into the woods because he became obsessed with her on first sight. With the exception of the subdued Alan, the villains come off as stooges, incapable of running a major drug operation. (Graphic violence, extensive
nudity, sexual situations, adult situations, substance abuse, profanity.) leave a comment
