I didn't realize that, in the early 80s, they had power drills that didn't require electricity or battery power to run.
That's amazing. Anyone know why they stopped making them?
Of course, that aside, everything else in the movie was completely believable....
Don't ruin it! I thought this was based on a true story.
"Only the Simian can have the divine spark!"
Being obsessed with this film as a youngster (and yes, I did turn out halfway normal) I too was curious about the drill. Black and Decker did indeed make such a piece back in the 80's. It was a primitive version of the cordless hammer drills currently available. These drills ran about $600 back then (chalk up a Grand Theft charge for Russ also.) and were hard to come across. Because battery life was an issue (these weren't equipped with the heavy duty battery packs and rechargeable cells that we so conveniently have today) they later went to gasoline powered drills to cure this. Unless Russ had an extension cord and charger handy in the van it is likely his weapon would've run out of steam way before his night of fun came to a close. Not very effective jabbing it at someone.
Was this indeed a true $600 cordless hammer drill? Well, given the budget it is highly unlikely. I would bet on an electric piece with the cord removed for "carrying" scenes and a twin with cord attatched actually used during the usage scenes. I can't recall ever seeing Russ use the piece where we can see it operating clearly without a cord. The school chase scene with Brinke would've been the closest chance we had but it was shadowed in darkness and could have easily been dubbed. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone...
That's my two cents on Russ Thorn's drill. And knowing this will never make me a dime, that's the sad part :)
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Way to come through with the power drill history Wolffish.
"This dude's into METAL!" -O.D.