Rites of Passage review – Tampa Gay Film Festival

Thanks to chump for mentioning this review on the message board. From the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival:

Rites of Passage

The tone of this taut tale is established in the violent opening scene, in which two escaped convicts come upon a pair of campers with deadly results. The drama continues as attorney D.J. Farraday stumbles on his dad, Del (a stony Dean Stockwell), having an extra-marital affair in a San Francisco hotel. When father and son arrive at their isolated family cabin to “talk things out,” who should be there but D.J.’s younger brother, Campbell. It is assumed he is waiting for his boyfriend Billy.

The two brothers have established an uneasy alliance. But Cam’s relationship with his father has become increasingly estranged, especially since the Christmas that Del discovered Cam and Billy making out and beat Billy up.

In the midst of a volatile family argument comes a knock on the cabin door. It’s the two convicts, Frank and Red. Smooth-talking Frank baits Del into a bout of arm wrestling, but no one comprehends just how high the stakes actually are. Each of the men thinks he understands the situation, knows who the others are and how they will act. Everyone, it turns out, is wrong. The tension is torturous as the tight plot continually twists and turns, and allegiances shift, until the men ultimately recognize the truth about each other, and themselves.
– Jim Van Buskirk

Director: Victor Salva
Starring: Dean Stockwell
(95 min/video/USA)