The Junkman
| The Junkman | |
|---|---|
 Official Poster | |
| Directed by | H. B. Halicki |
| Produced by | H. B. Halicki |
| Written by | H. B. Halicki |
| Starring |
H. B. Halicki Christopher Stone Susan Shaw Lang Jeffries Hoyt Axton |
| Music by |
Hoyta Axton Freddy Cannon |
| Cinematography |
Jack Vacek Dominic Sena |
| Edited by |
Warner E. Leighton P. J. Webb |
| Distributed by | H.B. Halicki Junyard and Mecantile Company |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,000,000 |
The Junkman is a 1982 independent film which spent two years in production. To make the film, H. B. Halicki used his own personal collection of over 200 cars, toys, and guns - including Eleanor, the star of his 1974 cult classic Gone in 60 Seconds.
The Junkman is the second installment of Halicki's film trilogy. It presents Gone in 60 Seconds and Deadline Auto Theft as films within a film. The opening car chase sequence, which involves a 1974 Bricklin SV-1, is part of Deadline Auto Theft's storyline.
Plotline
Harlan B. Hollis (H. B. Halicki) struggles to stay alive when a jealous public relations manager (Christopher Stone) hires a team of assassins to kill him. The manager, also Hollis' brother-in-law, resents Hollis for making the movie Gone in 60 Seconds, which is premiering at the Cinerama Dome.
The film starts with the head hitman Frank Spyros (Sotiropulos) answering a pay phone and getting instructions from a then unknown person to go ahead with a hit on Hollis as he drives to the James Dean Festival in Cholame, California. The same unknown person inserts a video tape into a VCR, a highlight video of Hollis's life. The person ejects the video and crumples up a publicity shot of Hollis.
Later, Clark shows Hollis a picture found in the burned wreckage of one of the air covers' planes. Hollis identifies it as an unreleased publicity shot, indicating someone from inside of his own company is trying to kill him.
With the aid of Goodyear Blimp, he travels to the Cinerama Dome, where the premier is held. He discovers the mystery man to be Fox, who subsequently slips off the edge of the theater roof. Clark's crew find the bomb in the limo, throw it into a parking lot, and it explodes, blowing up several cars in the process.
At the end of the film, Hollis embraces Kelly, and he begins her surprise birthday party, where he gives her a new 1982 Pontiac Trans Am for a birthday present.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| H.B. 'Toby' Halicki | Harlan B. Hollis/Maindrian Pace |
| Christopher Stone | Michael Fox |
| Susan Shaw | Susan Clark |
| Lang Jeffries | Arthur Wheeler |
| Bruce Cameron | Bruce |
| Jack Vacek | Jack |
| Richard L. Muse | Richard Hill |
| Dan Grimaldi | Larry Bergleman |
| Kelly Busia | Kelly Hollis |
| Lynda Day George | Festival News Reporter |
| Dennis Stouffer | Dennis ( The Security Man ) |
| Brian LaBonge | Brian |
| Judi Gibbs | Christine |
| Tony Ostermeier | Air Cover |
| Dave Logue | Magnum |
| Rita Rickard | Blackbird ( Murderess ) |
| Mike Brennan | Festival MC/Nursery Truck Driver |
| Kopi Sotiropulos | Frank Spyros |
| Jewel Shepard | Gloria |
| John Halicki | Man In Horse Carriage |
| Ronald Halicki | The Pig Man |
| Maureen Coddington | Female Police Dispatcher |
| Butch Stockton | Datsun Crash Policeman |
| Phil Boroff | Sgt. Gullen |
VHS and DVD release
In 2001, Denice Shakarian Halicki, along with her business partner Michael Leone under the banner Halicki Films, released the restored film in 5.1 Dolby surround sound on DVD and VHS to American viewers. It included H. B. Halicki hosting a documentary about film making. The Junkman holds the Guinness World Record for wrecking over 250 cars, trucks, motorcycles and planes in one movie. In the DVD release, all of the rock and roll, country music soundtrack from the original film including title tracks have been completely replaced by a generic synthesizer music score. A number of dialogue changes were also made. The original version was released on video in the '80s but is very hard to find today