The Dark Angel: Psycho Kickboxer (1997)

 

The Dark Angel: Psycho Kickboxer (1997)- * * *

Directed by: David Haycox, Joseph Lennon, and Mardy South

Starring: Curtis Bush, Tom Story, Rodney Suiter, Kim Reynolds, and Rick Clark

""Just what I need, a black man in a wheelchair..." - Alex Hunter

Alex Hunter (Bush) is a kickboxer...but is he a PSYCHO kickboxer? After his fiancé and his father are murdered by the goons of local crime boss Hawthorne (Story), he could go that way. Though badly beaten, he is nursed back to health by the mysterious, wheelchair-bound Joshua (Suiter). Joshua has his own reasons for vengeance against Hawthorne and his thugs, but because of his handicap, he trains Hunter to be his, well, HUNTER of the baddies. After regaining his strength, Hunter does what any of us would do, he hits the streets of Virginia Beach, Virginia dressed in ninja togs and proceeds to clean up the trash. Now, not only has he become a media figure dubbed "The Dark Angel", but a tabloid reporter, Cassie (Reynolds) and an old-salt private investigator, Jack Cook (Clark) are out to find out who The Dark Angel is. On top of that, there's now a $10,000 bounty on his head. Will Hunter and Joshua get vengeance? Will this street hero be unmasked? And will he truly go PSYCHO on us all?



Psycho Kickboxer is not a long-lost sequel where Norman Bates learns Martial Arts. No matter how much we may want that, that's not what this is. Nor is it related to Dark Angel (AKA I Come in Peace) (1990), or any other movie or TV show named Dark Angel. What it IS is a ton of low-budget fun that you can't help but love. And apparently it was a labor of love for its three credited directors and everyone else involved, if its five-year gestation period is anything to go by. But it was worth it. It has that indefinable quality that us cult movie hounds are always looking for. Much like its spiritual cousin Geteven (1993), this should be released by Vinegar Syndrome just as soon as possible so it can be exposed to a wider audience.



Curtis Bush as The Dark Angel/Alex Hunter is a lovable lunkhead who looks like if Freddie Mercury was a meathead. His relationship with the Joshua character is reminiscent of Full Contact (1993) and the Jerry Trimble-Marcus Aurelius vibe. As with a lot of regional productions, many of the actors look like more established thespians: Story as Hawthorne in a medium budget production would be played by Richard Lynch, with a high budget it would be John Lithgow, and in a prestige production it would be Anthony Hopkins. Chief Hunter (Alex's Dad) would be Dean Stockwell. And so on.



It's never quite specified where in Virginia Beach this is supposed to be, but there is a LOT of crime. Seemingly every few seconds someone is being mugged by thugs. There's more crime here than in Cabot Cove, Maine. (As Jessica Fletcher has taught us after 12 seasons, it's the murder capital of America). The Dark Angel: Psycho Kickboxer shows us a world where every man either has a mullet, wears Zubaz pants, or both. (If you're a real man, both).


Hawthorne is a tremendous baddie. He has a boo-hiss olde-style villain "evil laugh" (if he had a mustache surely he would twirl it), he wears ruffled prom-in-the-70's shirts for no discernible reason, and his hideout is a restaurant with a giant screen that appears to play C-SPAN non-stop. I guess he's showing his age a bit there. But if you're paying attention, you'll notice a genuine commercial for Quicken on the screen. It will really make you miss the 90's.


Some other comparisons: the "street ninja" (which also could have been the title of the film) plot will remind you of the "karate man" storyline of Out For Blood (1992), and the overall qualities of the film are reminiscent of Warrior of Justice (1995), Rage of Vengeance (1993), Equal Impact (1995), or Extreme Force (2001). There are many other reasons to enjoy TDA:PK, including a Greek Chorus of sorts provided by two wacky Morning Zoo-type DJ's (who seemed like the real thing to us; more mullets and one of them vaguely resembles William H. Macy), the whole thing seems like it was written by people whose first language was not English, and did we mention on top of all this that there's GORE? Yes, Lucio Fulci eat your heart out because Psycho Kickboxer is bringin' the gore as a sort of bloody icing on the cake. You gotta respect the fact that their ambition was not limited by their budget.



Joshua makes explicit mention of the fact that they're in "an old abandoned warehouse!" and a movie highlight occurs with the parking lot fight with an assailant who looks disturbingly like Yakov Smirnov. From the style of the opening credits and their accompanying music, to the varying styles of acting (?) and different film stocks, to the local color, strange dialogue, 90's fashions, the fight scenes, and of course the gore, there's always something entertaining going on with Psycho Kickboxer. As far as we're concerned, it's a diamond in the rough just waiting to be rediscovered. This is the sort of find we love discovering. Check it out!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, DTVC!

Wanted Man (2024)

 

Wanted Man (2024)- * * *

Directed by: Dolph Lundgren 

Starring: Dolph Lundgen, Michael Pare, Christina Villa, Aaron McPherson, and Kelsey Grammer

There was a drug deal gone wrong. Unfortunately, it didn't go right this time. Or any other time. During said DDGW, some undercover DEA agents got shot and killed by some mysterious masked assailants. It turns out that two hookers, but especially one named Rosa (Villa) witnessed the murders. It falls to a grizzled old salt cop named Travis Johansen (Dolph) to go to Mexico and safely retrieve Rosa, so she can come to the U.S. and testify. It seems he was chosen for this job because Johansen said some politically-incorrect things and the media is roasting him. So, to take the heat off, and to not seem as much like a supposed "racist", Johansen goes south of the border for his task.


However, as you might expect, things go sideways, shootouts and danger ensues, and Johansen and Rosa - who start out like the original odd couple - must learn to work together and get along. Johansen has some other officers or former officers as associates, Brynner (Grammer), Tinelli (Pare), and Hilts (McPherson). He also has to hide out with Rosa's family for a while. But who can he trust? What will Johansen learn? And why is he a WANTED MAN?


The talent and legacy of Dolph seemingly knows no limits, and Wanted Man is his eighth directorial effort, which he co-wrote with Michael Worth of Fists of Iron (1995) fame. Dolph and company were smart in the execution here. As he was about 70 years old at the time of filming, naturally he leans into the older, "dinosaur cop" idea. There's even a line of dialogue where someone tells him, "87% of your colleagues have retired!" But the Johansen character is old school, a workhorse, a real man in an age of memes. That's where a lot of the pleasure of Wanted Man can be found.

There's a scene with three legends sitting around at a strip club - Dolph, Kelsey, and Michael Pare. This should be enough right there to check out this film which is 82 minutes before the end credits. Tinelli, Pare's character, says something like, "Why are you guys always hanging around in strip clubs? They're so 80's", to which Johansen replies, "I like the 80's!" From this, and perhaps certain other things that are said in this scene (heh heh), we felt we were on home turf and the rest of the film glided forward as easily as a child's sled on ice.


There are certain parallels to The Last Marshal and Gran Torino. If you enjoyed those, you could perhaps see this as Dolph's version. Like many films that are made these days, the scale is smaller but the professionalism is there. It may not have a gigantic Hollywood budget, but it doesn't need one. The plot is simple but effective. Not every movie that comes out needs to be a Christopher Nolan-style Rubik's Cube. There are some shooting scenes which satisfies the action quotient, but all in all it's pretty low-key. It's an alternative to the slam-bang John Wick style of action.


There are some of the classic cliches on display that we all know and love. I don't want to give most of them away, but here's some advice: never talk about the future. If you're a character in a movie who is moonbeaming on about the wonderful life you're going to have soon, uh oh. Don't do that unless you plan to wear a bulletproof helmet.


Other Dolph connections: he is usually some type of "man". Wanted Man, Missionary Man (which he also directed), The Best Man, he was in Men of War, and this may be a stretch, but he was also in Aquaman and its sequel. He also continues his tradition of shooting people in the face: It happens here, in Missionary Man, The Russian Specialist, and probably others. So, clearly, Dolph's still got it - he always had "It" - and Wanted Man is merely a humble reminder of that fact.


Wanted Man is recommended for Dolph fans (who isn't one?) and many people have said it's one of his best for a while. It's noticeably better than a lot of the DTV slop that's out there these days. And Kelsey Grammer with a gun, capering around in a series of loud Hawaiian shirts only sweetens the deal.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, DTVC!