Double Target (1987)

When I said we were going to get more Miles O'Keeffe on this blog, I wasn't kidding (I also knew because I got this one at the same time I got Phantom Raiders, so that helped). The Miles O'Keeffe Philippine 'Namploitation flick isn't something we've hit that much to this point, so it's been good to check a couple out. We're working toward finally being able to say our blog has Miles O'Keeffe, but at this point, I'd say we're still at Feet O'Keeffe, maybe Yards O'Keeffe.

Double Target has Miles as Robert Ross (no, not Bob Ross the TV painter), a Vietnam vet who goes back to the country to get the son he sired with a woman there. He's met by Bo Svenson and his Soviet terrorist cell working out of Vietnam, and they try to kill him. That's when old war buddy Mike Monty calls him in to help out in weasel senator Donald Pleasence's mission to attack the terrorist cell. If Miles succeeds, he gets his son. If he doesn't, Pleasence leaves him to rot in Vietnam. Miles can't let that happen, he needs to get his son, and return to base to make Donald eat his inhaler and shove his briefcase up his ass.



This is pretty fantastic. Take everything you think of with a Bruno Mattei directed 'Namploitation flick starring Reb Brown, only replace Reb Brown with Miles O'Keeffe, and that's how awesome this is. Huts exploding everywhere. Plot devices that make no sense but we love them anyway. Great one-liners from Miles, and great lines that aren't one-liners but sound great with his Tennessee accent. This is a little long at 102 minutes, but I think the fun factor allows it to transcend that. Easily one of my favorite Miles flicks.

Oh Miles, let me count the ways. To quote Ben Stiller impersonating Bruce Springsteen while interviewing Diddy (then Puff Daddy) for MTV, "why are you so awesome?" He has this one scene early on where one of Svenson's cronies punches him in the face, and he's like "you son of a bitch" and starts doing all kinds of karate on the guy. We cut to some other people talking, then back to him running the halls of this building, taking out dudes coming out of every doorway. And it just gets better, with him then running through an open air market in a foot chase. With each film we review on here, I feel like a bigger heel for not having Miles O'Keeffe on here more earlier. It'll be fun to make up for lost time though.



Do you like you some exploding huts? Well this one has them. In one scene, Miles and his buddy notice that the local village has been taken hostage by Svenson and his men. So what is Miles's brilliant plan to save them? Blow up every hut, that's what. In the interests of verisimilitude, aren't people technically supposed to be living in those huts, i.e. the villagers? I mean, is it really a rescue if Miles levels their village with a bazooka? I guess it doesn't really matter, does it? Good guys, bad guys, if they're blowing up huts, we're good with it. The extras are just Filipinos that'll collect their fee and go back to their shantytown outside of Manilla, they don't really live in the huts.

Vincent Dawn directs this. I was thinking maybe I should go with an Italian name for the times I review Mattei flicks where he uses an alias. My name in Italian would be Matteo Pero. Maybe I should just go Mattei Pero. I love that he calls himself Vincent Dawn though. If I didn't think my comment box would be filled with "you know Vincent Dawn is really Bruno Mattei, right?", I'd refer to him exclusively as Vincent Dawn in all the films he goes by that alias. I think if I ever have a son, I'll name him Vincent Dawn, or maybe a daughter named Dawn Vincent.



I know in the Phantom Raiders post we gave some shine to Italian B movie mainstay Mike Monty, but I thought we might as well do it again here. Maybe I'm romanticizing what it must've been like to have a career in Italian B movies, travelling to exotic locations (the Philippines is exotic, right? Italy's nice at least), donning a beret and mean-mugging it for the camera, only to have to go in after to redub your scenes in English. Maybe it really sucked. Maybe their accommodations in the Philippines sucked, no A/C, gross spiders, cheap hookers, warm beer, constant attacks of Montezuma's Revenge. Well, if it did suck, all I can say is, thank you for your sacrifices, everyone involved in making Philippine exploitation flicks, because they've given me tons of enjoyment.

And on that great note, let's wrap this up. Japanese VHS might be the best way to go. That's what I was watching, a rip off a Japanese VHS, complete with hard subs. This would definitely be a collector's piece, and a worthy addition on your shelf. This is what you came for, a Vincent Dawn directed Miles O'Keeffe hut explosionfest with some great co-stars too.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092921/

Warrior of the Lost World (1983)

I first saw this when it aired on MST3K, and absolutely loved it, especially the Mega-Weapon interview sketch at the end. Recently, the original un-MST3K'd version popped up on Netflix Watch Instantly, and with the MST3K version already up there as well, it gave me the idea to review both versions in one post, which I've done all this week with Space Mutiny, Cave Dwellers, and Soultaker.

Warrior of the Lost World stars Robert Ginty (or The Paper Chase Guy as he's referred to by Joel and The 'Bots) as a post-apocalyptic warrior traveling outside the Omega Zone, which is a dystopian dictatorship run by Donald Pleasence. After a run-in with their guards, and then some dangerous misfits on the outskirts, he crashes through a mountain wall and finds a mystical enclave which is seeking to overthrow Pleasence. They fix Ginty up and send him in with Persis Khambatta to get her dad out before he's executed. In the attempt, Khambatta is captured, and now dad, Ginty Moore Beef Stew, the misfits, and DTVC Hall of Famer Fred Williamson need to rescue her, take down the Omega, and bring The New Way and freedom back to the world.

I don't want to come off as a contrarian or troller or some other such person looking to pick an argument or just be different for the sake of being different by saying this is good on its own without the MST3K riffs, because that's not what I mean when I say that. What I'm saying is, on its own, it has some great so-good-it's-bad qualities, plus some great early 80s exploitation qualities, that when paired with the cast, make it right up the alleys of myself and many who peruse the DTVC. It's very Cirio H. Santiago or Bruno Mattei, though it's David Worth, which is a name we've come across before too, so it makes sense that it's a lot of fun. The vehicles, the characters, the action--especially the exploding cars--it's all a lot of fun, and worth checking out--no pun intended.

Now, all that being said, I don't want to take anything away from the great job Joel and The 'Bots do on this bad boy, because it's really hilarious. I think that's the key to making a statement like the one I just made above, understanding that the movie isn't better without their riffing, it's just good and different on it's own merits, if that makes sense. Joel and The 'Bots provide a great template for your own riffing adventure as you tackle a gem like this. As far as cuts to the original go, they removed an execution that comes before the one the father is about to have before he's rescued, plus some language issues, and a speech by the father after Ginty takes out the misfits in the battle royale. Nothing too crazy, though they add to the overall enjoyment if you're going at this sans the guys on the SOL. Oh, and in the stand-alone version, the opening backstory is given in still text, as opposed to the Star Wars rolling style, making it much easier to read.

I just checked, and it's been over a year since the last Fred Williamson flick. I know, I suck as a human being. How the hell did that happen? This is only his tenth movie overall as well. Not a good number for a Hall of Famer. It's definitely something I'll need to fix in the future. As far as this movie goes, he's more of a supporting part, but he has some funny scenes. I think if they ever made a sequel, he would've had a bigger role in that. Anyway, you can trust that it won't be over a year until our next Williamson post, I won't let that happen again.

The late Robert Ginty Moore Beef Stew is the main star in this. He sounds like a Kennedy with his accent, which, when combined with his somewhat dopey look and slow delivery, is hilarious. Joel and The 'Bots drive home just how funny in a sketch where they depict his character going for his license. I believe this is only Ginty's second film at the DTVC, the other Lady Dragon--another David Worth original. That brings up the classic The Exterminator conversation, that it's one I absolutely have to do with a blog like this, and I know, I'll get to it eventually. Right now it's in a weird limbo state where Netflix doesn't offer it, but it's available new on DVD at Amazon, so I'll have to buy it if I want it, which is never a good thing. For right now we'll just have to settle for his too-sweet goodness here in Warrior of the Lost World.

Persis Khambatta, she of the bald alien in Star Trek: The Motion Picture fame, has a full head of hair here. She passed away in 1998, at only age 49, of a heart attack. Other than a part in Nighthawks, her career really fizzled after Star Trek, perhaps because no one really knew what to do with a woman of Indian descent in the film business in the early 80s. That's too bad, because the market has really turned around, especially post-Slumdog Millionaire, and she probably would've found more work in bigger films today.

As of this posting, both the MST3K and stand-alone versions are available on Netflix Watch Instantly. I'd take advantage of both, watching the non-MST3K version first, then enjoying Joel and The 'Bots after. I think both work really well and are both worth your time--again, no pun intended. Also, I posted the Mega-Weapon interview from the show on the image page, which you can go to by clicking on any pictures in this post.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088380/

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River of Death (1989)

I came across this really cheap on VHS, like a few bucks or so, and decided to just pull the trigger. I hadn't seen it in years, but I figured, even if it sucked, it would be cool to own a movie with Michael Dudikoff, Donald Pleasence, and Robert Vaughn. Wouldn't it?

River of Death is based on a book I haven't read, but it takes place in 1965, 20 years after a Nazi doctor, played by Robert Vaughn, who performed horrible experiments on people has escaped to the Amazon. Michael Dudikoff is a guide/adventurer down there, who takes another doctor and his daughter into the jungle for the source of a disease that is ravaging the tribes. The doctor is shot, and the daughter captured, and Dudikoff barely escapes with his life. Back at a nearby town, he's itching to recover and get back in the jungle to find her, and he discovers that other people, including millionaire/former Nazi that was kneecapped by Vaughn played by Donald Pleasence, want to go in with him. Who can Dudikoff trust? And will he escape the jungle alive?



This was a take off the Indiana Jones movies, but as Lucas himself discovered with the lackluster parts 2 and 4 of his own series, this isn't a paradigm that always works. It can go from fun and awesome to dull and drawn out in a heartbeat, and despite the great Cannon infused action quotient, and our man Dudikoff chewing up tons of scenery, its 107-minute runtime was its own downfall. It had plenty of great moments, where, as you'd expect from a quality Cannon picture, almost out of nowhere our characters are in a gunfight and using all the explosive ordinance at their disposal; but as we hit the 75-minute mark, it became excitement by repetition, and I was feeling like the wrap-it-up guy at the Oscar's, wanting to start the bumper music to cut to commercial. In the end, a fun time that stretched its luck just a little too long.

When we think DTV leading man, I'm not sure any have the range Dudikoff does. He goes effortlessly from highly trained ninja warrior, to Indian Jones style adventurer, to greenhorn Army Lieutenant in Vietnam. The movies around him don't always work, but it's not because of him if they don't. With this post, he becomes only the second actor, after Dolph Lundgren, with 30 tags here at the DTVC, which is no small feat. I loved him in River of Death as the adventurer. He was a little bit darker and angrier than Harrison Ford's iconic character, but you could tell he was still having fun with it. How can you not, though, when you have all that explosive ordinance at your disposal?



Two great villains, Donald Pleasence and Robert Vaughn. Pleasence did a better job affecting the bad German accent, i.e. Vaughn didn't really try, but they both worked as baddies. They were pitted against each other, because Vaughn kneecapped Pleasence earlier in the movie, which Donald wasn't too pleased about. In Maine, we have ads for a lawyer named Joe Bournstein, and Vaughn is his pitchman. I don't know if that guy does law in other states too, but it never gets old to see Vaughn in the ads, so hopefully people who live outside of Maine have seen them too.

You gotta love Cannon. One minute you're watching a group of people riding in a helicopter, the next they're in an enormous firefight on the ground, and the next after that someone's got a grenade launcher. The thing is, like every film that uses the Indiana Jones paradigm, it's just a series of mishaps, one after the other, and if it's not done well, it becomes excitement by repetition. That's why these kinds of things worked much better as serials, and to try and cram a bunch of episodes into one can be trickier than you'd think. This one would've had it, but they pushed their luck and went about 20-30 minutes too long.



I know there's a lot of nostalgia for VHS, a certain charm in finding one of these bad boys cheap, and popping it in the VCR and firing it up. Then there's this added nostalgia if it's a big box VHS, right? Damn, this one was just the cardboard box. As I was watching River of Death, and I was capturing images and fast forwarding around, I thought, nostalgia is great, but give me some DVDs. This isn't like vinyl records over CDs, where the vinyl actually sounds better; unless you get a bad transfer, these movies look worse on VHS, they don't have the special features, like interviews and commentary, and it's harder to skip through them to find certain moments. Hey, I'm all for nostalgia too, but let's not get carried away with nostalgia just for nostalgia's sake. What's next, people start using dial-up and AOL again because they're nostalgic for the sound of their modem?

This movie, oddly enough, can be bought new at Amazon on VHS. I'm not talking about from one of their sellers, I mean from them. It is on DVD, but not on Netflix, and to get it on DVD at Amazon will set you back in the neighborhood of $30, so VHS is the best you can hope for. If you're feeling nostalgic, you can always go to the local flea market, hope it's there, then try to haggle the price down with the guy behind the stand rocking the ponytail and wolf T-shirt. That'll be the next big thing-- it has to be a big box VHS bought, at a flea market off an old dude with a ponytail and wolf T-shirt, and you have to haggle him below $3.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098205/