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» » Raw Nerve (1991)

Short summary

Jimmy Clayton is a race car driver who has visions of the murders that have been happening locally. The police do not believe him and he is not aware of what is happening to him. When he has a vision of his sister Gina being murdered, he needs to make an investigation of his own. With the help of local reporter Gloria Freedman, Jimmy tries to determine who the murderer is and analyse his visions.

Though he did a made-for-television movie the same year, this marks Glenn Ford's final film appearance.

Filmed in and around Mobile, Alabama.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: JOGETIME
    Raw nerve is an awesome gritty crime drama with a big name cast starting with Glenn ford(Gilda,blackboard jungle)Traci lords(not of this earth,Rosanne)Jan Micheal Vincent(air wolf,damnation ally)sandahl Bergman(all that jazz)Randall Tex Cobb(raising Arizona)and Ted prior. women are being murdered,all were wearing red high heels before they were killed,a tough detective(Vincent)and his gruff boss(ford)are on the case.while a race car driver played by Ted prior deals with his younger sister,played by sexy Traci lords.there's plot twists and red herrings,its a great b-movie and for the most part Glenn fords last film appearance.i recommend it to anyone who likes action crime melodramas.8 out of 10.
  • comment
    • Author: Aedem
    A journalist (Sandahl Bergman of 'Conan' fame) believes Jimmy (Ted Prior), suspected of several murders, is innocent. The cop in charge (Jan-Michael 'Airwolf' Vincent) doesn't believe her, but he has personal reasons, while his boss (Glenn Ford) never trusts anyone, anyway. So it is a difficult job for her, and also she needs to keep an eye on Jimmys younger sister Gina (Traci Lords) who is in danger to become the next victim of the killer, whoever that is.

    Well, despite the famous cast, this could as well be episode 99 of a good quality TV series. It is OK to watch, but not outstanding; I don't think I'll remember it next month, especially since movies about psychopathic killers are 'a dime a dozen'. It's rather mild for this kind of subject, by the way: no nudity, minimum violence which is over very quickly, could almost pass for PG instead of R in my opinion.
  • comment
    • Author: Winail
    Jan-Michael Vincent did it again, playing a superb cop, who was right the whole time! He knew that the so called "Loverboy" Guy was the killer the whole time, great movie!
  • comment
    • Author: Tygralbine
    Although given first billing for his box office name Glenn Ford is a strictly a supporting character in Raw Nerve. He plays a police captain and superior officer to Jan-Michael Vincent who is part of a triangle involving himself, former wife Sandahl Bergman who is an investigative reporter and stock car driver Ted Prior. And Prior is a chief suspect in a string of brutal murders of some pretty young women.

    In Peter Ford's recent biography of his father he says that Raw Nerve was his father's final big screen appearance. All I can say is after seeing Raw Nerve it's a good thing for posterity that Glenn Ford did the made for television film Final Verdict after this one got inflicted on the public on the big screen. And what really surprised me is that Peter Ford did not mention Final Verdict at all in his book. That was a work his father could have been proud of.

    Prior who is on the surface sunny and affable and a good guardian for sister Traci Lords down deep has a whole lot of issues, really big issues. He also gets visions of the various murders and they seem to point to his mechanic Tex Cobb.

    Raw Nerve is trashy and exploitive and certainly not a film I'd like to be remembered for.
  • comment
    • Author: Ieslyaenn
    AIP is a company that produced a treasure trove of low budget direct-to-video films that specialized in action movies, as the company name implies. Being a low-budget production company, you would think they would have been familiar with their forebear "American International Pictures" the original AIP. Why they used that name is a bit puzzling. Even though they made other types of genre movies, it was with action that they hit their stride. Although they ceased production in 1994, they left behind a legacy of VHS gems such as: "White Fury", "Alien Seed" (with Erik Estrada), and "Shredder Orpheus" (Maybe they weren't all gems) More AIP reviews will be forthcoming. "Raw Nerve" is another supremely silly entry in the AIP canon. It was trying to be a serious contender with other suspense thrillers cluttering video store shelves at the time. There are too many missteps in its execution, star power notwithstanding. At the local county fair, a woman is murdered in the Hall Of Mirrors. Meanwhile, local yahoos Jimmy (Prior) and slovenly alcoholic Blake (Cobb) are gearing up for a car race….until Jimmy sees visions of the murder from the "prior" evening. He sweats profusely and freaks out in an exaggerated manner. It jeopardizes his racing ability and he almost dies. The couple of yokels in the stands were hoping for a fiery death. Despite the fact this race is at 9am on a weekday, the stands are packed. In between breakfast beers, Blake doesn't seem too concerned about his chum's plight. Jimmy lives with his sister, Gina (Lords) she is a pre-med student and the "good girl". She goes to the prom and two strange looking preppies in their late 30's (and yet still in high school) offer Gina and her friend "wacky tabaccy". While Gina is thinking of giving in to peer pressure, another murder occurs. Now Jimmy is the prime suspect but no one believes him, especially the police. Down at the local precinct, Detective Ellis (Vincent) is assigned to the case. His is put in charge by Captain Gavin (Ford). In addition, Bergman plays Gloria, a reporter trying to get answers from Jimmy and in the process strikes up a relationship with him. Who can resist his sweaty freak-outs? Jimmy is naturally suspicious of Gloria. Also in the love triangle is Ellis who was previously married to her. If all this seems too confusing, it is not. While out one night soused out of his mind, Blake finds a mysterious red high heel. What is the secret of the shoe? Ellis and Gavin pursue Jimmy around town for most of the movie, which leads into a final confrontation on the top level of a parking garage. Blake with beer in hand (as usual) guns his truck through a concrete divider to his doom below….but is that the end?....is there one final twist? Sadly this was Ford's final film appearance. This follows the old saying: "Never have a last movie." Just look at Raul Julia (Street Fighter), Orson Welles (Transformers: The Movie (1986)) and John Candy and Peter Sellers as well. Now we can add Glenn Ford to this illustrious list. Randall "Tex" Cobb is a triumph as Blake Garrett. He is unshaven, his clothes barely fit, and he stumbles around drunkenly the entire film. He adds a lot. Ford steals the movie despite his minimal screen time: While reminiscing about his early days with Vincent and what lead him to becoming an policeman , he mentions to him that he almost became a florist. When Vincent asks him why, Ford responds with THE line of the movie: he angrily spits: "I LIKE FLOWERS!" Your nerves will be raw when you watch this classic tonight!
  • comment
    • Author: GEL
    This is an incredibly bad movie. I didn't expect anything of it and I still felt short changed. Not the worst £1 I ever spent but it's close. Ted Prior has to be the worst actor i've ever seen. I have to say the ending was a surprise but it still dumb. Traci Lords was okay for a while but her performance goes downhill. Anyone else think Jimmy and Gina were a little too 'close' for family members? It's a shame Sandahl Begman and Traci Lords had to make movies like this. They'd both been in far better movies than this (Conan and Cry-Baby, respectively). I wouldn't watch it again and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. 1/10.
  • comment
    • Author: Rainbearer
    I'm surprised this movie was released in 1991. It looks much more dated than that, except for the blonde haired sister, Gina, who looks just fitting with the decade.

    'Raw Nerve' is another one of those thrillers where mild-mannered ordinary joe starts having visions of murders, tries to convince the police that he can sense where their suspect is, and then winds up becoming a suspect himself.

    In a small Texas(?) town, there is a killer on the loose. Seven murder in fourteen days and the cops haven't got a clue or a suspect. That brings us to Jimmy Clayton, a thirty-something guy who lives with his younger sister, Gina. Jimmy starts having these painful brief blackouts in which he sees brief moments of the murder which occured moments before, if not days before.

    Brainiac that he is, he goes to the cops and tries to explain the visions for him, but they don't buy it for a minute, although they probably should've investigated at least something he said (that they didn't already know) because they didn't have any leads anyway. But, they give Jimmy the boot and basically tell him to stop wasting their time. Nobody listens to Jimmy.

    Well, one person does. An eager investigator (Aka snooping reporter) who thinks Jimmy's story will make great headlines for the local paper. And Jimmy actually spills his guts about the flashbacks or whatever they are about the murder with the red shoe foot fetish, though he doesn't know he's talking to a reporter (because he's an idiot).

    The murders are still happening, and it look like Jimmy's said his peace, but nothing is being done about it (and he doesn't seem bothered by it). So the omniscient, totally credible detective supposes Jimmy is the murderer and now the cops are after him unless he can prove his innocence. Actually, the captain just calls it a "hunch," a legal term for, we got nothing, so arrest that guy. Certain things in this dumb story just don't add up, including the good-but-soon-stupid twist at the end.

    This might've been at least a half decent movie if the acting wasn't so bad, especially some late timed dialogue by reporter Gloria and do-gooder Jimmy in addition to the stonewall John Wayne School of Acting troupe, Jan Michael Vincent (as the primary detective) and Glenn Ford (as the police captain). It really stinks up the place.

    Thumbs down.
  • comment
    • Author: Zeus Wooden
    I'd read somewhere that David Prior was a bad director, but I find he falls somewhere in the middle. His films are made well enough, star people you've heard of, but it's the stories themselves that make you do a double take and think 'that doesn't make much sense'.

    This one stars Glenndon Fordham, Sandy Bermanster, Traci Lordy Lordy, Micheal Vincent Van, and Tex 'Randall' Cobb. Them are all folks caught up when a crazy killer type person starts going around shooting women in the face with a shotgun. Don't expect gore here though, because there's none. No boobs either.

    Ted Prior is Jimmy, a stock car driver who starts getting visions of the killings. His sister is Traci Lords, whom he's overly protective of (no wonder!). When Jimmy starts seeing the visions and goes to the police, they don't believe etc etc.

    As this is a David A Prior film, there ain't much action but there are plenty of twists, so I never found myself bored throughout. Loads of interpersonal drama threaten to sink the film, but Prior knows when to speed things up a bit. Not too bad.
  • Cast overview, first billed only:
    Glenn Ford Glenn Ford - Captain Gavin
    Sandahl Bergman Sandahl Bergman - Gloria Freedman
    Randall 'Tex' Cobb Randall 'Tex' Cobb - Blake Garrett
    Ted Prior Ted Prior - Jimmy Clayton
    Traci Lords Traci Lords - Gina Clayton
    Jan-Michael Vincent Jan-Michael Vincent - Lt. Bruce Ellis
    Red West Red West - Dave
    Graham Timbes Graham Timbes - Sgt. Mancina
    Jerry Douglas Simms Jerry Douglas Simms - Doc
    Yvonne Stancil Yvonne Stancil - Lori Cline
    Doris Hearn Doris Hearn - Mrs. Needlemyer
    Trevor Hale Trevor Hale - Brad
    Brian J. Scott Brian J. Scott - Ken
    Jim Aycock Jim Aycock - Kincade
    Ken Kennedy Ken Kennedy - Wino
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