Retroactive (film)

Plot

Karen hitches a ride in Frank's car after hers breaks down. Frank is travelling with his abused wife, Rayanne, on his way to sell stolen computer chips. He discovers Rayanne has been unfaithful to him, leading him to kill her. Karen gets into a shooting match with Frank but escapes, ending up at a laboratory where a scientist, Brian, has invented a time machine. Using the machine, Karen returns to a point in time just a few minutes before the violent events. She succeeds in altering the course of events, but not for the better. Going back in time again, things become worse still, with the deaths not only of Rayanne, but also Rayanne's lover, a police officer and a vacationing family. Eventually Karen uses the machine to go back in time far enough that she can avoid getting involved with Frank in the first place. This causes events to unfold without her interference. In this final outcome, Frank kills his accomplice and Rayanne's lover, but is killed by Rayanne.

Cast

Reception

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 57% with an average rating of 5/10 based on 7 reviews.

Geoff Andrew from the website Time Out states: "With its explosive action, black comedy and far-fetched sci-fi imposed on an otherwise vaguely plausible crime thriller, this modest indie film is reminiscent of such low budget '80s exploiters as Tremors and the work of Charles Band. Like the most memorable of these, it's lifted out of the rut by a quirky, imaginative script. True, Belushi's performance is overbearing and M. Emmet Walsh turns in yet another sweaty cameo; true, too, that the frequent visual emphasis on Travis' cleavage flags the movie's compromised ambitions. Nevertheless, there's more than enough energy, bravado and invention to engage the attention throughout."