Code Name Vengeance (1987)

This is one I watched back in May of '21 for the "Ginty Moore Beef Stew" episode of the DTVC podcast, where the guys from Comeuppance and I looked at our top Robert Ginty films. I planned on reviewing it soon after, but it was removed from streaming before I could get any screengrabs, so I had to wait. Now we're finally able to make it happen. In addition to us and the guys at Comeuppance, Mitch at the Video Vacuum has done this too.

Code Name Vengeance is about a terrorist (James Ryan) in an African nation who kidnaps the son and wife of the president there. The CIA knows one guy who can save the day: Monroe Bieler (Ginty). He's reluctant, but since he's spent the last 12 years in an African prison, he's amenable to it. Things aren't what they seem though, when his CIA contact first has Shannon Tweed hook up with him, and then has one of his men join Ginty on his mission. After Ginty picks up old friend Cameron Mitchell, they proceed to rescue the wife and son--but will they make it out alive? And who will kill them if they don't?

This is a pretty fun deal. Ginty with his beard, hair, suits, and occasional sunglasses looked like a 70s soft rocker, which alone could get you there, but then we have a solid action quotient, including a hilarious scene that involves grenades attached to a forklift. The plot meanders a bit, and there are some elements where Ginty's naivete hurts others around him instead of himself, which is a device I'm not a fan of, but with these 80s low budget actioners, sometimes you take the good and the bad, and sometimes the bad even enhances the good. In addition to Ginty, James Ryan was a great baddie, less over the top (Stallone-style) than he was in Kickboxer V, which made him more sinister, and he and Ginty have a solid end battle; Cameron Mitchell was a fun addition as an old soldier going out for one last mission, but I think his character should've gotten a better deal at the end; and then Shannon Tweed isn't in this as much as you'd like, which was too bad--she could've been combined with the CIA guy who was tagging along with Ginty and Mitchell. As a Ginty film, this will get you to the church on time though, especially as a free streamer. Oh, and we finally got a Ronald Reagan presidential portrait! More on that later.

Speaking of Ginty, he's only at 7 films on the site, which is bad enough, but also the last time we saw him was December of '22's Cop Target. Part of the reason for the delay was this film, and another I watched for the "Ginty Moore Beef Stew" episode, The Kinds of Heat, disappeared from streaming, and while I was waiting or them to come back, I kind of unofficially put the Gintinator on hold, which I shouldn't have done. He's all the Ginty you want here, between the 70s soft rocker look, to how well he does the "I'm getting beaten up in prison" routine with all the faces and sounds he makes--no one sells a punch to the gut better than him--and then at the end when he gets his revenge on James Ryan and the CIA agent who set him up, Applegate (played by Don Gordon). If anything, this film is a reminder that we need more Ginty, and I've added Three Kinds of Heat to the Letterboxd list Upcoming Review (watched), which gives you a sense of what's coming for future posts.

Our film's other Hall of Famer was the great Shannon Tweed, who unlike Ginty we last saw back in October when she was inducted into the Hall of Fame. This is now 8 films for her, which breaks a 7-way tie she had with, among others, Julie Strain and Dona Speir, for third-most tags as a woman on the site all-time, and now puts in a tie with Kathleen Kinmont for second-most tags--and in so doing, pushes Strain, Speir, et al down to a six-way tie for fourth-most all-time. (Of course, most all time is Cynthia Rothrock with 43--don't see anyone catching her anytime soon.) As I mentioned above, this could've used more Tweed, but it's possible they didn't have her for as much of the shooting. Also interesting here, almost 10 years before Skyscraper, Tweed plays a helicopter pilot. It's too bad there wasn't a sequel to this where she trained Carrie Wink, linking this with Skyscraper, and linking the world of AIP with PM Entertainment. Forget Marvel-DC crossovers, AIP and PM was the one we needed and never got.

We got a Reagan! If you saw my Facebook post on President's Day, I mentioned the phenomenon of the Presidential Portrait, where a character of some official US government status is shown in their office abroad, and to make that office more official looking, the filmmakers add a cheap American flag that's almost see through, and a portrait of the president serving during the time the film takes place. So far (that I know of) we have Bush 41 in another Ginty film, Cop Target, Clinton in the Wilson/Piper actioner Terminal Rush, and Bush 43 in the film with one of the greatest lines in movie history, Shark Attack 3. We need an Obama, Trump, and a Biden, plus if it's possible that 80s Vietnam War films that were shot in the Philippines have maybe a Nixon or a Ford, or if another stray film has a Carter floating around in a flashback sequence--hell, I'll take a Western with a Rutherford B. Hayes if there's one out there. Now I should point out that despite seeing these in so many films, I've only recently decided to start documenting, meaning there were some, like Shark Attack 3, that I didn't initially get a screengrab of, and had to go back and add it to the image page for that review after the fact, so I may have seen others that aren't listed here. In honor of this great find, I've added the Presidential Portrait tag, and hopefully we'll be adding more to it soon!

Finally, Ginty's look in this film inspired me to pay tribute to one of the greatest music phenomenons ever, the 70s/early 80s soft rocker. Now full disclosure, this is not going to be some kind of ironic "yacht rock rules" kind of thing--there is no concept of "yacht rock" to me, as a young child in the early 80s, soft rock was ubiquitous, it was the soundtrack to my growing understanding of the world. Dentists and doctors' offices, department stores, government buildings, etc. all had the smooth sounds of soft rock playing from the PA overhead. As I learned that life is a series of waking up early for school--which then leads to work--standing in queues, and riding in cars--or later as an adult, public transportation--soft rock was there to anesthetize my experience, and ease any possible rebellion I might have considered--how can you throw a temper tantrum about having to go to school while Toto sang (what I thought then was) "I guess it rains down in Africa," or Michael McDonald told Patti LaBelle "we were even talking divorce, when we weren't even married," which made much more sense as a 5-year-old than it does now. We live near an elementary school here in Philadelphia, and every morning I hear at least one or two kids having a temper tantrum, rebelling against the life of work, queues, and commuting that the world is cramming them into at a young age. If only they had the smooth sounds of the Fender Rhodes keyboard accompanying a bearded man singing about his feelings to make the transition more palatable like we did. Just learn to accept it kid, sit back in your car seat, and let Air Supply tell you that "even the nights are better" or Christopher Cross say "when you get caught between the moon and New York City"--it doesn't matter what it means, kid, just let the sound ease the fight out of you, you'll be better for it.

And with that, let's wrap this up. As of my writing, you can get this on Tubi. As great a Ginty this is, I think free streamer is the way to go. And then for the "Ginty Moore Beef Stew" podcast episode, it's number 85 in the archives, from May 17, 2021, so you can check that out as well to see where it placed on our lists.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097073

And my newest novel, Don's House in the Mountains, is available now on Amazon! Click the image to buy.

Action U.S.A. (1989)

Back in January we had Jon Cross from The After Movie Diner and Miscellaneous Plumbing Fixtures on the podcast to discuss this gem. It was a great conversation and well worth checking out. I had been meaning to cover this for a long time, so it was good to finally make it happen, and now we're making it happen on the site too. In addition to us, Ty and Brett at Comeuppance, Fred the Wolf at Full Moon Movies, and Chris the Brain at Bulletproof action have covered this.

Action U.S.A. follows a woman named Carmen (Barri Murphy) whose boyfriend is killed by some baddies looking for the diamonds he stole. That's when two FBI agents, Osborn and McKinnon (Gregory Scott Cummins and William Hubbard Knight), come to her rescue, as they've been tasked with finding the diamonds too. In response head baddie Cameron Mitchell hires famed assassin Ross Hagen to take the girl out and get the diamonds back. Really, none of this plot matters, it's just about how many awesome stunts we can cram into the film.

And do they ever cram the stunts in. This is 90 minutes of pure late 80s action. It starts with a car chasing a helicopter with a man hanging out of it through the city streets of Waco, TX. That chase takes us through various stunts before the helicopter gets ditched, we resume with two cars, and it ends with the boyfriend and our heroine flying over a school bus, and the guys chasing them flying through a camper. And that's just the beginning! The thing is, this film doesn't need a plot, but the fact that it has one and it makes any sense at all is amazing unto itself. On the podcast, Jon said every five years or so we should just give some stuntfolk a bunch of money and set them down in Texas with some equipment and let them have at it, and after seeing the result in this film, I couldn't agree more. 

One of the funnier aspects of this is how the heroes, especially Gregory Scott Cummins's character, aren't that good at what they do. Usually the hero is an expert, like a weapon who is unleashed on the baddies. Here though, Cummins and Knight are constantly getting beaten up, losing shootouts, losing the baddies. Cummins at one point gets caught by Ross Hagen and his men--which included the great Hoke Howell--and is just beaten up continuously; or there's a scene where the guys go into a good ol' boys bar, and the film makes light of the fact that Knight, being black, isn't exactly welcome there, so he gets tossed through some cedar lattice by the patrons. The thing is though, this isn't played overtly like a Frank Drebin or something, it's more something you start to realize gradually as you're watching the film, which makes it all the better.

The number of great B-movie names in this is fantastic too. Gregory Scott Cummins, who usually is a baddie or heavy, is fun as the hero. He seems to get exactly what the filmmakers are going for with his part, and he delivers. As a MSTie I'm always a fan of seeing Ross Hagen in anything, but here he cuts a particularly interesting figure. When Hoke Howell and his partner pick him up at the airport, he arrives in a personal aircraft that's so small he can literally lift up the back and tow it where he wants to park it. He's also in this ridiculous cowboy get up, which he says he's wearing to blend in with the locals. Then we have William Smith as Cummins and Knight's boss. As Jon said in the pod, if you have a B-movie actor you're a fan of, chances are he's been chewed out by William Smith from behind a desk, and that's exactly the part he's playing here, the admonitions to the guys under him sufficiently gravelly. Finally there's Cameron Mitchell, he who never met a sit-down role he didn't love, here he sits in a hot tub or a couch, mostly complaining to people on the phone. It's all the accoutrements that make an 80s movie great, you just feel like you're where you should be when you're watching it.

Then there's the stunts, which are next level. When we see the guys at a gas station, and there's a big storage tank in the background, we know it's only a matter of time before that goes up, but yet they still manage to do it in a way that isn't perfunctory or pedestrian. The plot is a vehicle to get us from one stunt scene to the next: how can we put the characters in a circumstance that allows us to blow something up, set someone on fire, or throw someone out of a building? This is how action is supposed to be. When we see "action" listed as the genre on the tin, this is what we hope for, and seldom get, at least to this level. That's okay though, they can't all be this awesome, but they could all be closer, right? It feels like the filmmakers had a clock in their head as they wrote the script, "oh, we've had too many consecutive pages of dialog, we need to insert an action sequence here." But even then, a chase scene isn't just a chase scene, it's a pace car running off the road and through a house, which causes the house to explode. Why not, right? Just set up the IV and pump this directly into my veins.

 

Finally, as a certified English as a second language teacher, it's interesting to note that when this came out in the late 80s, we still needed to put periods between the letters in an acronym. Now it's standard to write acronyms without them, but I guess because this film was made when we did, we couldn't go back and Lucas the title to make it fit the modern standard, so we still have the periods. I was trying to think of other standards in English that have changed like that, and one that comes to mind is double-spacing before a new sentence. That one's even more recent, because if you look at my older posts, they all have the double-space after the period, etc. I think I may have held onto that standard longer than it was considered standard, and with my first novel, I had to go back and delete the second space before self-publishing it. It was an arduous process, and now I just single-space all the time.

And with that, let's wrap this up. In the States this is available for free on Tubi. That's a great way to see it, but this is also one of those greats that's worth adding to your collection as well, and Vinegar Syndrome has a great version. This is the 80s action you came for. Also the podcast episode is in the archives, episode 91, so definitely check that out when you get a chance, Jon and I have a great conversation.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096757

And if you haven't yet, check out my new novel, A Girl and a Gun, at Amazon in paperback or Kindle!

Low Blow (1986)

This is one I did because I needed to get some more Leo Fong on the site. I don't know that anyone who does a site like we do couldn't need more Leo Fong on their site. In addition to us, our friend from Down Under Simon at Explosive Action has covered this, along with Karl from Fist of the B-List; and this is a Complete the Triangle post for us, as we join our friends at Comeuppance and The Video Vacuum in also reviewing this one.

Low Blow has Fong as a PI who's hired by a rich guy after the rich guy's daughter joins a cult. As is usually the case, things aren't exactly what they seem, as the cult's leader, Cameron Mitchell, is blind, and right under his nose his right-hand woman Karma is taking over power and turning the cult into a prison camp, along with the help of her henchmen, including the great Billy Blanks. Though this nefarious crew gets the drop on Fong initially, that only lasts so long before he escapes, recruits a crew of toughs of his own, Stack Pierce among them, and goes back to the compound to take care of business. These evil cultists won't know what hit them... actually they will, it'll be Leo Fong and his gang.

This is another one of those fun low-budget action bangers you came for. In looking at the other four reviews from colleagues I mentioned above, I think the one thing we were all in agreement on was this was just a fun time. The movie starts with him taking down robbers in a diner, saying "hey, is my ham sandwich ready?" when he enters, and then just shooting the bad guys, knocking one into a classic menu board with moveable letters that we don't see as much anymore. A lot of it after that is Fong in a Member's Only jacket, beating the crap out of people. How much more do you really want in a movie? Okay, then Cameron Mitchell as a cult leader, Billy Blanks as a cult tough, and Stack Pierce as an aging boxer/buddy of Fong's. Yes, by any objective measure, this has some obvious flaws, but in a way the flaws in and of themselves make the film that much more endearing. This is pure Fong trying to make the movie he wants to make on a shoestring budget, and I think for the most part he does what you need him to.

It's crazy to think that not only is this only the third Fong film on our site, but we also didn't even have a tag for him. I think the issue with Fong is a lot of his stuff isn't as available as some of the others, so I've left him, and now we're over 1100 reviews in and he's barely been covered. The good thing is, with the advent of YouTube, more of his stuff is available than it was--including this gem--so I have more of an opportunity to get more of his stuff reviewed. (The bad thing is, we just upgraded our Hulu to include Disney+ and ESPN+, and the volume of out-of-market NHL on ESPN+ is fantastic. It's like, I want to watch Blood Street on YouTube, but there's a Devils-Sabres game streaming followed by a Kings-Canucks game, what am I supposed to do?)

We last did a Billy Blanks movie on December 28th, 2011, so just over ten years ago. I think part of the reason for that is we had done just about every DTV film he'd done to that point, and since then he hasn't really done too much else. Here he doesn't really have a big role, and while he had a good fight with Fong, this is not a "Billy Blanks film" per se, it's more a Leo Fong movie that has Blanks in it; but when it comes to Blanks, we'll take 'em where we can get 'em--which is now 10 films on the site. In terms of a DTV Hall of Famer, it's hard to say, because the quantity isn't there; but could he be in the running for quality? Some of his leading parts in the 90s were some of the best of that era, which says a lot.

There's always this idea when it comes to cults that I'd never be susceptible to something like that, but yet, here I am obsessively cuing up multiple NHL games on ESPN+. I mean, what if former Bruins great Cam Neely DM'd me and started telling me about his new religion he's started? I'd definitely listen. Hell, if PJ Stock, or even Blaine Lacher reached out to me, I'd definitely listen. No, I'd be putty in their hands, it would only be a matter of time before I'm subjected to hard labor in a camp far from home and my wife is calling in Leo Fong to get me out. We don't really have the money for that kind of thing, so it's probably better I keep my mind sharp and aware and not think I'm so above this whole cult thing.

With this last paragraph I wanted was go over the great scene--or series of scenes--where three guys attack Fong, and not only does he dispatch them, but when they try to escape in their car, he disables it, smashes the windows, then dons some eye protection and uses a high-powered saw to cut off the roof of it and turn it into a convertible. This is why we come to movies like this, moments like these are what make it for us. I also think this is why modern DTV doesn't work when the quality is lower the way 80s ones did. There's an earnestness, even when it comes off silly, that just hits in a way that's entertaining. What's nice now is a lot of these are available on YouTube, so you don't need to scramble on the secondary VHS market to find them.

And with that, let's wrap this up. As of this writing, this is now available on Tubi. Before that, and probably after that when Tubi eventually takes it down, it's also available on YouTube. However you see it, it's a fun time.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091442

And if you haven't yet, check out my new novel, A Girl and a Gun, at Amazon in paperback or Kindle!

 

 

 

The Messenger (1986)

With the Kansas City Chiefs playing in their first Super Bowl since they won Super Bowl IV, I thought I'd do a post featuring our favorite NFL DTVC Hall of Famer, Fred Williamson, who played in the first Super Bowl for the Chiefs. The story went that he had his infamous move, "The Hammer," which would knock out opposing players.  Unfortunately though it was he who was knocked out in the first half after he was hit by a member of the Green Bay Packers. Fortunately though for us, he had the last laugh, which is a fantastic second career in DTV movies like this. Also, our friends Ty and Brett at Comeuppance Reviews has looked at this as well, so you can go over there to see what they thought.

The Messenger has Williamson as Jake Sebastian, a man who has just gotten out of prison in Italy and is excited to see his girlfriend. Turns out said girlfriend is involved in the Italian coke trade, and she's upset some really powerful people. After leaving a party, those powerful people meet them outside and hose down his girlfriend with an uzi. Now he wants his revenge, and he's going to take down everyone in Italy and America whose involved in the coke ring.

This was a pretty fantastic 80s Italian action production. Williamson was as great as you'd want, plus the supporting cast included Cameron Mitchell, Christopher Connelly, and Stack Pierce, guys you watch something like this for and are stoked to see when they're there. The action wasn't bad, there weren't many dull moments, and when we didn't have action, we had guys like Williamson, Mitchell, Connelly, and Pierce who could carry the scenes and keep them fun. Not only that, the film had this early 80s R&B soundtrack that made me want to dig up Peabo Bryson and James Ingram playlists on YouTube. If you're looking for a low-budget 80s Italian actioner, this is a great choice, especially if you're binging on a few at once.

As always, we lead off with our Hall of Famer, and Williamson not only stars in this one, he wrote the story, and directs and produces as well. With this being the weekend of the Super Bowl, one thing that's great to look at with Williamson is how, for most people, his football career would have been the thing to hang his hat on, and anyone who lived that alone would have felt lucky to have done that; but Williamson has gone on to have a 50+ year acting career after that, and he's still going! This is my first Williamson flick since I came back from hiatus, so we'll try to keep the ball rolling from here and get more up, but this was a great one to bring him back with. Between his martial arts, his leather outfits, and his too sweet mustache, this is 100% Pure Hammer. Here's to you Mr. Williamson, you're one of the great ones, and a true Hall of Famer.

Knowing I was going to do one paragraph to cover both Cameron Mitchell and Christopher Connelly, I tried to find an image that had both of them in it, and this was the best I could do. Mitchell played an LAPD detective investigating drug crimes, and Connelly the FBI agent leaning on him for information so they could bring Williamson to justice while he was taking out all the "drug gangsters," and most of their scenes were one alone on screen yelling at the other, and then the other alone on screen responding. It doesn't matter, as I mentioned above, these are guys we come to movies like this for, and they didn't disappoint, but the fact that they were interacting with each other in almost every scene they were in made it even better. Like Pacino and De Niro in Heat, only in a family pack amount. Also, Stack Pierce (not shown), was Mitchell's partner on the LAPD, and he and Mitchell were great together, as always.

One of the things I've talked about in my Steve James posts is how James didn't get the leading roles he should have, often losing out to white actors, like when Dudikoff was cast as the lead in American Ninja despite having no martial arts skills and James was an expert martial artist. Unfortunately James passed away as he was starting to get more of those leading roles; but we see in a film like this how Williamson also had to go outside the usual avenues to get the roles he wanted and tell the stories he wanted to tell. Williams not only starred, he directed, produced, and wrote the story for The Messenger. It was like, if the industry won't give me the parts I want, I'll have to make them. To underscore again how sad it is that we lost James so young, Williamson turned 41 in 1979, and look at how much he's put out since that we love, and which we've been really lucky to have.

This movie, and this blog post, have been brought to you by King Cobra malt liquor. How amazing is that? In another scene, Williamson and his buddy (the guy above) were sitting at a table, and there was a case of it with them. I haven't had it in a long time, so I googled it, and found that they've changed the logo and bottle! What a shame? I also discovered old magazine ads with Williamson while I was searching, which are amazing. I used to drink a lot of 40s when I was younger, whether King Cobra, Colt 45, or Bull Ice. Two of those and a joint, and the next thing I'd know I was waking up in a bathtub full of ice in an Eastern European dive motel minus my kidneys. Man what great times those were! And Anheuser-Busch, if you're listening, I would love to have King Cobra as our official sponsor, and would do all I can to pitch your fine product. If you want to reach out, you can use the email at the top of the site. I look forward to hearing from you!

Okay, better to wrap this up now, as we're really going off the rails here. This is available on Prime, and also can be found on YouTube. If you in the mood for either Fred Williamson, an 80s Italian actioner, or both, this is the flick for you. As an aside, I'm posting the link to this on IMDb, but it's almost impossible to find on there by searching. You need to look up Fred Williamson first, then find it in his filmography.

For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185495

Looking for more action? Check out my short action novel, Bainbridge, and all my other novels, over at my author's page! Click on the image below, go to https://www.matthewpoirierauthor.com/

Space Mutiny (1988)

I first saw this in college, when my uncle made me a bunch of VHS tapes of MST3K episodes he'd taped off the Sci-Fi (now SyFy) Channel. It was an instant hit among my friends, and it propelled Reb Brown into star status for us, along with greats like Miles O'Keeffe and Wings Hauser. At the time I had no idea what blogging was, let alone that I'd have a blog about DTV movies where I'd come across this again in this capacity, but here we are.

Space Mutiny takes place on board a vast space ship with an enormous basement and boiler room called The Southern Sun. A group of people, led by police chief John Phillip Law, want to mutiny and steer the ship into pirate territory so they can live on an actual planet, and they would've gotten away with it too, if space pilot David Ryder hadn't escaped death when his ship crashed into the Southern Sun's docking bay. But he did survive, and now it's curtains for the mutineers.

It's funny how, after doing this blog for four years, and the larger knowledge base I have now as opposed to when I was in college in 2002, I'm not exactly more forgiving, but I see things now that I didn't see then that change my opinion. For instance, that this is an Action International Picture, meaning I know better the context that it was coming from. I know who Reb Brown is, and John Phillip Law and Cameron Mitchell. That being said, we're still talking about a bad movie that hits all the so bad it's good notes, from the floor buffing devices that pass for high-speed vehicles, to the dead girl who shows up two scenes later, to Red Brown's screaming and Cameron Mitchell looking like Santa Claus, all the way down to the major factory basement that passes for the inside of a space ship. It's no Deadly Prey in the A.I.P. context, but it's no slouch either.

As far as the MST3K episode goes, for the actual riffing on the film aspect, this is one of the best ever. The sketches, especially the stuff with Pearl Forrester in a Roman dungeon, left quite a bit to be desired, so if you have this on DVD or VHS, you might want to fast forward past those. Another thing to note, there are a few scenes that are cut that you'll see if you watch this sans Mike and the 'Bots, including an action sequence and a few parts that might make the story work better, but it's not really anything that diminished from the high quality of their complete dismantling. It's like a gold standard for you and your buddies to follow when you tackle it yourselves.

This is the second John Phillip Law film we've done, the first being Alienator. I would say, after the absolute silliness of Reb Brown, Law was what made this film great. You could tell he was totally having fun with it, and I think he relished the opportunity to play a diabolical baddie in such a low-budget sci-fi flick. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 70, but his last film was something he did with Lorenzo Lamas, among many others, called Chinaman's Chance, which was supposed to come out in 2008, but as of right now is still in limbo. Law's most known film is probably Barbarella.

Slab Bulkhead. Tank Concrete. Thick McRunfast. Lump Beefbroth. Reb Brown. Yes, we know him affectionately as Reb Brown, and when, in the opening credits the word "starring" pops up and Crow remarks "I doubt this film is 'starring' anyone," we know better. He's a star to us, right? While I freely admit that it was watching Space Mutiny on their episode that introduced me to the awesomeness that is Reb Brown, based on gems like Robowar and Strike Commando (which as of this writing I have yet to review), I would've come across him sooner or later. Here's to you Reb Brown, you're one of the good ones.

Action International Pictures is that tier or two below Cannon and PM Entertainment, instead of B or C, it's like F or something. They both made their own in-house no-budget productions, like this bad boy, and they distributed similar films from abroad, like low-budget Italian flicks. So far this is only the third AIP flick we've done, the others being the aforementioned Deadly Prey, and the Wings Hauser great Mind, Body, and Soul. It's material we've only begun to mine, but rife with so much potential, I can't wait to do more.

Based on its popularity through MST3K, you can actually rent this from Netflix. I believe it is for that reason as well that the MST3K version is no longer available from them. I don't know if that's a smart move, if that was the move that was made, because in my mind, MST3K only helps sell these schlockfests. Unless you're a die hard bad movie honk who loves him or herself some Reb Brown, I'd stick with the MST3K version, even if it becomes harder to find. Also of note, on the image page I uploaded a couple videos, the "ooh!" scene when Reb Brown runs down some stairs, and the end credits, which is my personal fave.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096149/

Looking for more action? Check out my short action novel, Bainbridge, and all my other novels, over at my author's page! Click on the image below, go to https://www.matthewpoirierauthor.com/

Deadly Prey (1987)

I'd been meaning to get my hands on this for some time, when our favorite reader from down under, one Simon from Explosive Action, sent me a copy of his. I couldn't wait to put it up here. I think this is one of those "this is why we do this" kind of films.

Deadly Prey is about a man named Logan who runs a romance novel publishing house. No one at his company can find the perfect model for the cover of their new series, so Logan sends some of them out to the streets to just grab someone. As luck would have it, they find themselves a gem in our hero, the hunky Mike Danton. Only catch is, Logan and Danton were once lovers. They had both moved on, Danton finding a beard and assimilating himself to straight society, while Logan found another beefcake to try and replace his lost love. Now that fate has brought them back together, can they heal these wounds and rekindle the old flame?

Before I get into the subtext of the two main male characters having a metaphorical romantic relationship, let me first say that it is one of the most awesome action films of all time. The biggest problem with the current DTV action genre is they try so God damned hard to not be Deadly Prey, because they think it's too cheap and silly. But Deadly Prey works, and it's exactly what we as the DTV action buying audience are looking for. In trying so hard to distance themselves from it, they alienate us, their core audience, which is just asinine. Listen guys, I know you've studied all the greats, you consider yourself real professionals, and you want to make "real movies." Guess what: you're making DTV action films. Acting professional is making something more like Deadly Prey and less like The Bourne Identity.

Now to the movie. Are we sure Tennessee Williams didn't write this? It's more than just sweaty, beefy guys wrestling in the dirt. It's in the subtext in the way guys talk to one another. Look at the scene where Danton is tied to a chair in Logan's tent. The tone of the conversation is like two former lovers figuring out why the other changed for the worse. And it doesn't help when the man tied to the chair is shirtless, sweaty, and full of pecs. Then the end of the movie, wow. "Take off your shirt! Take off your shoes! Now run!" I wish I could quit you. (I want to make clear that any gay metaphors I point out do not mean that I think they're a bad thing, just that they're there.)

Recognize this guy? It's Santa from Space Mutiny. Who'd'a thunk he gets actual work beyond that? He plays Danton's beard's father, and he goes to try and rescue Danton. I don't know that his character was any kind of gay metaphor. Maybe he was Karl Malden's character in A Street Car Named Desire. It fits with what I'm about to get into in the next paragraph.

A rape, and then later cold blooded murder, of the hero's wife in a film would usually anger me, and I'm sure anyone could go into my archives and find myriad instances of me killing a movie for doing just such a thing. But this is a totally different circumstance, and I'll tell you why. First, the rape scene was very much like Blanche DuBois's (Vivian Leigh) rape at the hands of Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando) in A Streetcar Named Desire, and in that context it represents Tennessee Williams' metaphor of wanting to be ravaged by brute in a similar manner. You can even take that metaphor further to earlier in the film, when Logan, who is the one that rapes Danton's wife, calls out "Danton!" in exactly the same manner Kowalski yells out "Stella!" in that famous scene. Then the death of the wife at the hands of Logan's lieutenant (or his new lover, metaphorically), and Danton's subsequent killing of the lieutenant, represents both Logan and Danton freeing themselves of the new lovers that have entered each life since the pair split up. Notice Danton never kills Logan, rather sends him off running after making him take off his shirt, and then yells into the sky for the film's final shot. The whole hunt itself represents the search for the right partner, and Danton finally admitted to himself that he couldn't quit Logan.

All right, let's get into something that's real, not a metaphor. Do you remember New York Seltzer? I had forgotten the stuff existed. Can you still get it, and if so, where? I almost died when I saw it in the movie. And Root Beer flavor to boot--though maybe that was the only flavor, I don't remember. And in the credits, they get a shout out. How awesome is that?

This is one of the best action films ever. If you see it anywhere, get it. I was lucky enough to have Simon send me one transferred to DVD. I guess it's one of the perks of the job, right? Anyway, get this however you can, you won't be disappointed.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092848/

Looking for more action? Check out my short action novel, Bainbridge, and all my other novels, over at my author's page! Click on the image below, go to https://www.matthewpoirierauthor.com/