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!