A Dangerous Place

"High school can be a Dangerous Place ... and a deadly experience."

1994 1h 37m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 13

ActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When Ethan's older brother Greg is found dead, the police rule the case a suicide, but Ethan suspects foul play stemming from Greg's recent involvement with a martial arts team called the Scorpions. Ethan is also accomplished at martial arts, and he determines to join the Scorpions as a means of learning what really happened to Greg. - Written by Michelle Sturges

“High school can be a Dangerous Place ... and a deadly experience.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Ted Jan Roberts
Ethan
Corey Feldman
Taylor
Mako
Sensei
Erin Gray
Audrey
Marshall R. Teague
Gavin
Dick Van Patten
Principal
Tricia Vessey
Kim
Jeannie Epper
Old Woman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jerry P. Jacobs
Writers: Sean Dash
Languages: English, French
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

32 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Magic Kid Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jerry P. Jacobs, shot by Ken Blakey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ted Jan Roberts and Corey Feldman and Mako carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "High school can be a Dangerous Place ... and a deadly experience.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0107696 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jerry P. Jacobs directs. Ken Blakey behind the camera. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

132 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
3Part of the "Magic Kid Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Jerry P. Jacobs, shot by Ken Blakey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Ted Jan Roberts and Corey Feldman and Mako carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "High school can be a Dangerous Place ... and a deadly experience.".
8IMDB entry: tt0107696 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 13 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ken Blakey
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: A Dangerous Place (1994)

Part of

Magic Kid Collection

Also by

Jerry P. Jacobs

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tenderlions20112013-10-22
Why has this film been so completely neglected? A Dangerous Place is without a doubt one of the most competent and entertaining B-grade teen action films to be released in the 1990s. This film plays like a more violent version of "The Karate Kid", only with cool car chases and without the endless training montages. A Dangerous Place reinterprets a classic martial arts storyline. One brother is killed in a fight (usually during a tournament), forcing the other brother to brush up his fighting skills before facing his brother's murderer in the ring. A Dangerous Place loosely uses this framework but makes a number of interesting adjustments. In this case, Greg is killed in a fight with Taylor (Corey Feldman), the leader of the Scorpions Karate club. Greg's younger brother, Ethan (T.J. Roberts), suspects foul play and joins the club to learn the truth. This leads to the classic match showdown between the Scorpions and Ethan's club, the Lions. This film manages to breathe new life into the well worn formula by transferring the action to a high school and by making the Scorpions a criminal outfit, which carries out robberies orchestrated by their teacher and sensei. The great Pat Morita would most definitely not approve! A Dangerous Place is directed by Jerry P. Jacobs, who made a string of great low budget action films in the 1990s. This man knows how to entertain viewers with a steady stream of robberies, car chases and karate battles. This film never lets up, from the opening scene, (in which the gang carry out a robbery after being dropped off by one of the boys' mothers!) to the dazzling finale. The fight sequences are particularly well done, with clever editing and interesting camera work. There is not much blood but the action is relatively realistic for a film aimed at a teen audience. Oh, and keep an eye out for Greg's ghost, which I thought was a highly amusing creative touch. In addition to great action sequences, the film offers a fine cast of cult actors. The always impressive Mako plays the good sensei, while Marshall R. Teague has a great time playing yet another evil character, the crime lord sensei/English teacher. Corey Feldman has possibly his best role of the 90s as Taylor. As unlikely as it sounds, he is actually quite believable as an evil karate villain and does not look completely ridiculous in the fight scenes. The same can be said for T.J. Roberts, who does well in the fight scenes despite looking half the size of his opponents. A Dangerous Place is worth hunting down. Contrary to a couple of reviews here, I don't think it is as good as "The Karate Kid" but I do think it is considerably better than most of the crap passing for mindless entertainment these days.

Production companies