Director: Dennis Hopper
Screenplay: Nona Tyson and Charles Williams
Based on the novel “Hell Hath No Fury” by: Charles Williams
Starring: Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Charles Martin Smith, Jerry Hardin, Barry Corbin, Leon Rippy, Jack Nance, William Sadler
Country: United States
Running Time: 130 min
Year: 1990
BBFC Certificate: 18
The late, great, Dennis Hooper was a fantastic actor who gave us many memorable roles, from early parts in classics like Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and George Stevens’ Giant (1956), both with the icon James Dean, through to the likes of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986), Tony Scott’s True Romance (1993), and Jan de Bont’s Speed (1994).
Hopper was also a very accomplished director who helmed seven feature films and three shorts. His feature films include one of my favourite movies of the 1960s – his counter-culture road trip Easy Rider (1969) – the 1970s – the starry The Last Movie (1971) – and the 1980s – the wonderful Out of the Blue (1980).
Hopper also directed one of my favourite movies of the 1990s, The Hot Spot, which is the subject of this review, thanks to a new dual-format 4K UHD and Blu-ray release from Radiance.
The Hot Spot is an adaptation of the novel Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams. It follows a drifter called Harry (Don Johnson) who arrives in a small Texas town which is baking in the summer heat. Harry talks his way into a job at a local car dealership run by George (Jerry Hardin). He soon starts romantic relationships with two of the town’s local women, naïve young accountant Gloria (Jennifer Connelly) who is being blackmailed, and his boss’s conniving wife Dolly (Virginia Madsen).
Harry discovers the local bank is staffed by volunteer firemen so plans a robbery which involves him setting fire to a building across the street to distract the firefighting bank staff and then committing his robbery. However, he shows his good side, and conscience, when he discovers a homeless man is trapped in the fire and goes to save him.
Despite his heroic act, it doesn’t take long for the local sheriff, played by Barry Corbin, to come to the conclusion that Harry committed the robbery. This paves the way for Harry to become embroiled in a plot that involves the aforementioned blackmail, lust, greed and ultimately murder, all connected to the two women he is romantically entangled with.
We are in classic noir territory here or, to be precise, neo-noir – a subgenre that revived the classic dark themes and femme fatales of the classic noirs of the 1940s and 1950s. The intricately and deliberately paced plot goes to some dark places and involves a wonderful femme fatale as well as its fair share of nefarious and shady characters.
The film oozes eroticism from the frequent pictures and paintings on walls of semi-naked women and Harry’s occasional visits to the local strip club, to the performances of Virginia Madsen and Jennifer Connelly as two richly penned and complex women who tempt Harry and both have relationships with him.
The performances of Madsen and Connelly are two of the highlights of the film. They each invoke their characters perfectly – two very different women, who each have a hold over our lead. Johnson also provides a strong performance as Harry, a deeply conflicted individual who, on one hand, gets involved in affairs and plans and executes a bank robbery, and on the other hand has some good in him.
William Sadler also gives a chilling performance as Frank, a local criminal who is blackmailing Gloria and who drives forward some of the key plot points. It’s also a delight to see Jack Nance as the bank manager, amongst other fabulous character actors.
Key sequences include all of the interactions between Harry, Gloria and Dolly, the bank robbery, and two other acts of crime that I shall not spoil, but noir fans who haven’t seen the film will likely decipher the acts I mean, which are all wonderfully filmed and acted. And then there are the shoes – a brilliant part of the costume and production design that entice in Harry.
There is some gorgeous cinematography, courtesy of director of photography Ueli Steiger – the desert filmed in a way that showcases it set against the heat haze, swirling aerial shots, dunes filmed likes mountains. There is also a lot of depth to the film, with frequent shots of people, vehicles or items in the foreground. As such, it’s a visually arresting piece of cinema, that always provides plenty for the eyes to savour.
Equally good is the soundscape, richly evoking the location but also supplemented by a phenomenal jazz-infused score by Jack Nitzche that feels very noiresque and is accompanied by standards by the likes of Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker and Taj Mahal.
The Hot Spot is masterfully directed by Dennis Hopper, who provides us with a well-paced, gripping erotic neo-noir, which is a modern classic. It is full of excellent performances – particularly Virginia Madsen and Jennifer Connelly – features beautiful cinematography, a fabulous score, some brilliant sequences and, ultimately, is an outstanding piece of cinema that rewards repeat viewings.
Film: 
The Hot Spot is released on dual-format 4K UHD and Blu-ray by Radiance on 17th August 2026. Previously released by Radiance in 2023, this new edition adds a new 4K restoration from the original negative for both the 4K and Blu-ray discs, overseen and approved by cinematographer Ueli Steiger. The UHD disc just contains the film, but provides a breathtaking audio-visual presentation. All of the extras are on the Blu-ray, and are the same as the previous Blu-ray edition, with the upgrade courtesy of that excellent new transfer. But before the extras, a note on that transfer.
The film looks phenomenal with an outstanding level of fine detail, you can see every seam and detail in the material of the character’s clothes, and the colour scheme is natural. For such a visually arresting film, it’s a treat. In short, the film looks amazing thanks to an incredible restoration. It also sounds really good too – dialogue, effects and music all coming through clearly.
Dual-format limited edition special features:
- 4K restoration from the original negative, presented in HDR / Dolby Vision, overseen and approved by cinematographer Ueli Steiger
- 4K UHD and Blu-ray presentation of the feature both using new 4K restoration
- Uncompressed stereo PCM audio
- Archival interview with Dennis Hopper, who discusses The Hot Spot and features footage of John Lee Hooker and images from the set (1991, 4 mins)
Interviews with stars Virginia Madsen (2021, 7 mins) and William Sadler (2021, 6 mins) - Nick Dawson on Dennis Hopper and The Hot Spot, an interview with the editor of Dennis Hopper: Interviews (2023, 20 mins)
- Duane Swierczynski on Charles Williams’ source novel, the crime writer and expert looks at the adaptation and provides a background of the author (2023, 25 mins)
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and new artwork by Time Tomorrow
- Limited edition booklet featuring writing by critics Elena Lazic on the film, Leslie Byron Pitt on the erotic thriller genre and the film’s place within it, and an archival piece on the film featuring an interview with Hopper by RJ Smith
- Limited edition of 5000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
The extras kick-off with an archival five-minute piece with director Dennis Hopper, which was filmed for a French television programme during the making of the film. Hopper covers, at a high level, plenty of ground in the short run-time.
Next is a seven-minute interview with actor Virginia Madsen, which was filmed for Kino Lorber in 2021. She shares the challenges of the shoot, due to the 110 degree heat, provides neat memories about Hopper, and explains how she got the role, amongst other topics in a good, but brief, interview.
Also for Kino Lorber and from 2021, is a six-minute interview with actor William Sadler, who also shares some wonderful recollections about Hopper and filming the movie.
Up next are two extras that were new and exclusively filmed for the initial Radiance Blu-ray edition in 2023.
First, a 25-minute interview with Nick Dawson, editor of the book Dennis Hopper: Interviews, who provides a wealth of background on the making of the film, which had an interesting production history leading up to Hopper’s involvement. Dawson knows his stuff and delivers it in an easy to listen to way, as well as sharing some of the interviews he did with Hopper. It is a highlight of the disc.
The final main on-disc extra is a 22-minute piece with writer and crime fiction expect Duane Swierczynski, who provides background on Charles Williams’ source novel, as well as giving an overview of the author. Swierczynski is a big fan of Williams and this shines through in an infectious interview that made we want to check out the books of an author who the interviewee describes as being “one of the most unfairly neglected writers of the 20th century”. There is plenty to learn about Williams through this piece, which is my favourite on the disc.
I wasn’t provided with the booklet to review, but have reviewed the booklet from the original Blu-ray release from Radiance. I can’t comment on whether the new booklet is presented differently, but it contains the same three articles as the previous one. Freelance film writer Elena Lazic gives a great overview of the film, its themes and plot; writer, podcaster and photographer Leslie Byron Pitt looks at the film as an erotic thriller, with a comparison to others of that sub-genre; and RJ Smith’s on-set piece with interviews closes us out. The latter was published in Film Comment in 1990. It’s a great booklet with lots of detail and insight.
So, Radiance may not have provided any new extras, but their new dual-format 4K UHD and Blu-ray is well worth the upgrade for the new 4K restoration, which is simply breathtaking. The extras are all ported over from Radiance’s previous Blu-ray edition, but are fantastic, with over an hour of new(ish) and archival interviews that provide plenty of background and analysis on the film, its director and the author of the source material. The film itself is a modern classic. Highly recommended.
Disc/package: 