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THE GIRLS FROM H.A.R.M.
Directed by Pat Bishow
Produced by Owen Cooper and Pat Bishow
Written by John Sanborne
Edited by Yoko Akashi
Director of Photography - Cameron MumfordTara Jones - Tina Lee
Ary - Ary Nunez
Viola Jones - CC Wong
Case Cassandra Stiles - Louise MillmannThe girls from H.A.R.M. are smart! The girls from H.A.R.M. are sexy! The girls from H.A.R.M. will kick your ass! There's really no way around it, the girls are just that good. The movie ain't no slouch either.
I need to apologize up front. This will be one of my most positive reviews, unabashedly so. It's not my intent to kiss director Pat Bishow's ass, but the guy has made one of the most fun b-movie experiences I've had the pleasure to take in. There wasn't a second that I didn't have an ear to ear smile threatening to .
You might ask what kind of movie could make me gush such excessively positive remarks. The answer is simple, a good one. The sole purpose of THE GIRLS FROM HARM is to deliver a great time and it does so with jubilant gusto. It's not perfect, not even close. But it's got charm, and lots of it.
The feel is that of the old spy films from the 1960's. Not the Bond films, it's more like Flint. All style and coolness straight from the era of paisley and psychedelia. THE GIRLS FROM HARM has a love affair with all things "mod", unlike the venomous Austin Powers which was more concerned with ridiculing the times. With H.A.R.M. the conventions are paid homage to, not parodied.
At the center are the gorgeous girls themselves. There is Tara the leader, her sister Viola, Ary the muscles, and Case the newbie. All are strong willed and beautiful. They do their duty and fight for freedom with chin and courage. No task to tough, no heavy to large. Everything is just a day's work.
What gets the girls through each job is their obvious care for one another. The core of the film is friendship. Like the hippies from back in the day, love is all they need. Some of the girls just don't realize it yet. I'm not talking about "that" kind of love. The action might be silly but the film is innocently pure.
Like all spy films of sixties, there has to be a villain at the head of a corporation trying to take over the world. We've got something about a megalomaniac trying to launch a satellite. I'm not sure what that was about. It was more plot motivation then was necessary. When talk of it came up, I tuned in elsewhere. There were usually enough details in the background to keep me occupied (any movie with an I Go Pogo poster prominently displayed gets a thumbs up from me just for sheer class). These weren't distractions, just color painstakingly added to give the film a sense of place.
At the micro-budget level you usually don't see much attention paid to art direction. For H.A.R.M. it was essential. The events don't happen in the 1960s, but things are supposed to feel like they should. The elements try to invoke a feeling of nostalgia for an era when times were fun. It does so effortlessly. The movie does a lot more things effortlessly. The biggest was charming the socks off me.