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

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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/

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Kickboxer 5 (1995)

I think everyone knew it was only a matter of time before I hit this bad boy up. I was avoiding it, and I'm sure you were hoping I wouldn't go there. In all actuality, for a film completely sauteed in wrong sauce, this could've been worse: it could've been National Treasure or the new Indiana Jones.

Kickboxer 5 is a movie with little to no coherency. Mark Dacascos is a champion kickboxer who never does any kickboxing. Anyway, his protege, who does, wins a belt, and then is told by some dudes working for a South African that the belt is void unless he joins their new federation. If you don't join, you die. Dacascos kills one of the guys after they kill his protege, and the South African gets some dude out of jail who also knows martial arts to kill Dacascos. That plan backfires when he takes the money and runs back to South Africa, and it only gets worse when Dacascos goes too, and the two crash the South African's casino night.



Thirteen or so years ago this movie seemed like utter crap, and even though it still is, the years have been good to it, at least in my estimation. Sure, it's ludicrous, predictable, and hella cheesy, but it has a certain sense of charm that we seldom see in today's bad actioners. Maybe I'm just getting nostalgic for mullets and bowl cuts, and anyone reading this should probably bear that in mind; but am I wrong for taking this over the new Indiana Jones?

I don't know who cast Dacascos as a kickboxer, or what Dacascos thought when his agent called to tell him he'd be playing a kickboxer, but he was no kickboxer. Even someone with the most rudimentary knowledge of martial arts like me could tell that. I'm assuming Sasha Mitchell was too knee deep in Step By Step to want to do this, and if I'm Dacascos a payday is a payday, so I'd take it-- and it's not like he wasn't any good either, he was great-- he was just entirely wrong for this role. And it wasn't funny like Connery playing an Egyptian Spainiard with a Scotish accent.



His partner is played by a dude named George Meed. The name may mean something to the more experienced bad movie watchers among you, but mostly he's only done bad TV shows and soap operas. As far as films covered here, he starred and co-wrote I Am Omega, which reunited him with Mark Dacascos. In that one he was a baddie, and we only saw the tip of his martial arts iceberg; but here he definitely kicks some ass. I wonder if he kicks ass on soap operas too.

This idea of killing fighters who won't join a fight league is beyond ludicrous. There's no way in hell the people writing this were serious. I refuse to believe that. I like silly just as much as the next guy, and I thought this was definitely funny, but come on, have a modicum of self-respect. Is this an action film or a parody of an action film?



You may have noticed that I mentioned the new Indiana Jones movie in here. Quite a few posts ago, when the film first came out, I vowed that I would never spend any money on it, because I saw it simply as a cash grab. I then proceeded like a dumbass to buy the Indiana Jones Whopper at Burger King. Anyway, my roommate rented the film, and I watched some of it with her. There was one scene early on where Harrison Ford throws gun powder in the air, and it flies in the direction of some thing they want to find. I did what any self respecting person seeing that would do: I laughed out loud. My roommate got mad, and I asked her, because she's a Lost fan, if she was upset that I was making fun of it because it looked like a Smoke Monster. Here's the point I'm getting at: Kickboxer 5 might be ridiculous, but it's really no more ludicrous than some of the crap we're sold in the mainstream that people eat up. Which do you think is sillier, Mark Dacascos as a kickboxer that doesn't kickbox, or a Smoke Monster?

You can get this on Netflix through their Watch Instantly service, and I think that's the best way to see this, especially if you can view them on a TV. It's plenty bad and plenty fun to watch, but if you spend more than a dollar on it, you'll feel ripped off.

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110256/

From Dusk Till Dawn II: Texas Blood Money (1999)

Bruce Campbell is one of my favorite actors. From the Evil Deads to Brisco County all the way down to Jack of All Trades and his recent stint on that USA show Burn Notice, if Campbell's in it, I wanna see it. When I saw on my program guide that this film was on Sci-Fi, and Bruce Campbell was top billed, I was stoked. I decided to forego watching the edited version for renting the DVD on Netflix. Again, Campbell was top billed there too, so I figured he would play a prominent role, right?

From Dusk Till Dawn II: Texas Blood Money is really more about Mexican blood money. The guy from Pulp Fiction who brings Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames down to Zed is a bank robber on the run from the law. Sheriff Bo Hopkins (as if he plays anything else) goes to the guy's friend, Terminator II et al's Robert Patrick, to find out where he is. Patrick runs some subterfuge, then rounds up a gang of bad dudes and meets the Pulp Fiction guy down in Mexico. There, all but Patrick are infected with the vampire virus after Danny Trejo bites the first guy while he's waiting for the rest to show up. Anyway, Patrick, Hopkins, and a bunch of Federales take care of business.



You'll notice Bruce Campbell's name doesn't show up in the plot synopsis. That's because he's only in it for like FIVE MINUTES!!!!! I was beyond pissed. Not at the movie, but at myself. I fell for the old Campbell bait-and-switch hook, line, and sinker. As a veteran bad movie watcher, I knew better than that. Just the same, it still hurt, and I was pretty disappointed. I watched some old Hercules episodes with him in them to make myself feel better.

As far as the rest of the film goes, it's your run-of-the-mill vampire movie. The problem with that is the film makers are intent on giving this to us as something more than the run-of-the-mill. They try all these cute camera angles and throw in these off-beat conversations that are more annoying than cute and more trite than off-beat. I say, if you're gonna make a vampire flick, just fuckin' do it, man. Forget mixing it with some indie-film noir kind of thing. Only the absolute best film makers could pull something like that off, and if you're making something Direct to Video, chances are you aren't that talented.



I liked Robert Patrick in this. It would've been nice if he'd been able to act opposite Bruce Campbell, but that's neither here nor there. We usually see Patrick as this overly buttoned-up baddie, so it was cool to see him as a greasy bank robber living in a trailer park. One thing I did respect that the film makers did was have Patrick steal Sheriff Bo Hopkins' sunglasses, so he could put them on and remind us of his work in Terminator II.

Danny Trejo and Bo Hopkins shined in this as characters they play in almost every other movie. Bo Hopkins is still solid as the small town sheriff, the role he seems to have been born to play. Trejo was also great as the cut-throat Latino. It seems if Trejo plays a Native American, he's the benevolent friend to the hero who usually sacrifices himself to save him. If he plays a Latino, though, he's usually a bad guy. The Pulp Fiction guy didn't understand these rules, and he made the mistake of getting a ride with Trejo, and of course was bitten after Trejo turned into a vampire. These people never learn.



I mentioned above the attempts by the film makers to give us something other than a run-of-the-mill vampire flick, and there was one filming device used by the director over and over that annoyed me more than anything else. I called it inanimate object cam. He had rotating fan cam, car radiator cam, bank safe padlock cam, telephone receiver cam... it was like he was totally fascinated with the idea of what inanimate objects see when they observe us. It was cool once, but every scene... it just got old quick. Does this director think people like Kurosawa or Bergman got to be who they were by their gimmicky camera angles?

This is really not worth renting. If you see it on Sci-Fi, and you've got nothing else going on, maybe give it a try, and that's a huge maybe. Otherwise, you're just wasting your time. I think the Blade movies were more entertaining vampire flicks, and that's not really saying much, is it?

For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120860/