Raiders Of Atlantis (1983)

Raiders Of Atlantis (1983)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Ruggero Deodato

Starring: Christopher Connelly, George Hilton, Gioia Scola, Tony King, Ivan Rassimov, Michele Soavi, Bruce Baron, and Mike Monty 










A group of scientists, led by the nerdy Saunders (Hilton) and the attractive Dr. Rollins (Scola), go on a seafaring expedition and come across an old sunken relic they believe to be an artifact from Atlantis. While they’re trying to figure out the significance of this skull-faced totem, a freak storm strands them on a Caribbean island. They then realize they’re in a whole heap of trouble, because the island is dominated by murderous punks who are descendents of the original Atlanteans. Naturally they want to take over the world, and are led by a guy who not just worships a crystal skull, but actually wears the skull on his head! Such is his devotion to crystal skulls, his name is Crystal Skull (Baron). 

Just when the scientists start to despair, a pair of tough Vietnam vets, Mike Ross (Connelly) and Washington (King) come to their rescue and put their knowledge of weaponry and survival to good use. Will they defeat the punks? Or will the baddies from Atlantis rise again? Find out today!

After getting off to a pretty slow start, The Raiders of Atlantis eventually kicks into gear and is a rollicking good time. Director Ruggero Deodato should be more well known for his action output, as action has infused much of his work in his long career, everything from Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man (1976), to Cut and Run (1985) to The Barbarians (1987) - but his reputation is such that his name is synonymous with Italian horror. Nevertheless, Deodato delivers the goods with this, a sort of cross between  the Indiana Jones movies (and he predated the crystal skull sequel by many years!), the A-Team and The Road Warrior (1981), among other “influences”. By far the best part of this movie are the punks. 

The movie truly starts when they arrive on the scene. They have awesome outfits and vehicles. Just like how people in Cuba today are driving around in 50’s Fords and Chevys, here too the Atlanteans have the classic cars, but in their case, drills and spikes are attached to them.

Deodato assembled a top-notch cast for this, an “A-Team”, if you will. Heh heh. Christopher Connelly is great as the leader with the raspy voice. The man can truly turn a phrase like no one else. He can call you a “Dirtball” with style and aplomb. Tony King is completely winning as his sidekick - it’s largely because you get behind him that you want our heroes to succeed. Baron is suitably menacing as the guy who wears the crystal skull, George Hilton plays against type as the dorky scientist with the stylish shorts, and Ivan Rassimov, Michele Soavi, and Philippine-shot movie regular Mike Monty appear as well. So you can’t ask for more in that department. The movie also scores points because the music is done by the DeAngelis brothers (using their usual pseudonym Oliver Onions), and the movie is set in the future, “1994”, which is now the past, which we always love to see. 

 Add some shooting, blow-ups, exploding helicopters,
“pew-pew” lasers, and a high body count (including what we call a “fan favorite death”), and you have a complete night of entertainment in front of your VCR.

Released on VHS by Prism in the U.S. back in the video store days, and now available as part of the “Grindhouse Experience vol.2” DVD set (which is out of print but still cheaply found on Amazon and elsewhere as of this writing), The Raiders of Atlantis provides a solid dose of Italian-made, Philippines-shot 80’s action goodness.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up from our buddies Ed's Pop Culture Shack and  The Video Vacuum! 

The Messenger (1986)

The Messenger (1986)-* * *

Directed by: Fred Williamson

Starring: Fred Williamson, Cameron Mitchell, Christopher Connelly, Sandy Cummings, Frank Pesce, Stack Pierce, Magic Wand, and Joe Spinell 










Jake Sebastian Turner (Fred) is an ex-Green Beret in ‘Nam who became a cat burglar. He was busted in Italy and served three years in an Italian prison. When he gets out, one of his old contacts offers him $500,000 or more if he can exact revenge on the drug dealers that killed his son. He takes the job, meanwhile reconnecting with his old flame Sabrina (Sandy Cummings). When drug-dealing scum kill her, Turner kicks into gear, going from Rome, to Chicago, to L.A. and finally to Las Vegas tracking and killing “drug gangsters” as they are called, but also helping people that have been harmed by them along the way, meeting different people and getting into different scenarios in every city he visits. Police Captain Carter (Mitchell) and his number two man, Leroy (Pierce) are trying to track down this “Messenger of Death”, but FBI Agent Parker (Connelly) is sympathetic to his vigilante ways. Watch Fred become a one-man war on drugs in The Messenger!

Fred Williamson once again proves he’s at the top of his game when it comes to the action stars of the 70’s and 80’s. He starred, co-wrote, co-produced and directed this film, and, thanks to his Fred-Fu, was probably Martial Arts coordinator as well. The film might have an odd pace, but it’s Fred’s unique vision that makes it good. Thanks to some of the politically incorrect elements, as well as the ultra-funky score and musical stings (by William Stuckey), you couldn’t make this today. And because, at the time of this writing, it has not been released on DVD, this VHS-only Fred is a true artifact of the time. He also passes a movie marquee showing Raw Deal (1986), and we always like to see these kinds of preservations on film.

As if the strong presence of Fred doing his “Death Wish thing” as has been said, wasn’t enough, he assembled a killer cast: Cam Mitchell plays the angry Police Captain (basically the exact role he plays in Hollywood Cop, 1987), who always has the nub of a cigar in his mouth. And he’s teamed up for what seems like the hundredth time with Stack Pierce, and we always like seeing them, especially when they’re together. In the “awesome glasses” sweepstakes, Christopher Connelly gives Cam a run for his money here, and Connelly also has some great lingo, at one point calling fan favorite Joe Spinell, and we quote, a “Suckfish”. Oddly enough, that word (?) seems familiar and we think we’ve actually heard it uttered before on film. But we can’t remember which movie.

But besides all the names we know and love, we should also point out some of the lesser-known supporting cast: Benny, Fred’s Chicago contact and hot dog chef, is great, and FBI Chief Connors is truly a national treasure. But the drug dealer/pimp known in the movie as Sweet Louie, played by Magic Wand (did they really have to change his name to Sweet Louie?) has an amazing suit with dollar signs on it, making him the Black Matthew Lesko (or “Blesko” as it’s called by people in the know).

Because it was the 80’s, it has a title song (in this case by Jacob Wheeler),  which we always love, and other characters get their own song as well, such as “Sabrina”. It’s a tradition Fred would follow for years to come - just see Night Vision (1997) and its song “Dakota Smith”. So check out some prime, if overlooked, Fred today with this enjoyable outing.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Foxtrap (1986)

Foxtrap (1986)-* * *

Directed by: Fred Williamson

Starring: Fred Williamsom, Cleo Sebastian, Christopher Connelly, Lela Rochon, and Beatrice Palme














Thomas Fox (Williamson) is hired by the wealthy John “J.T.” Thomas (Connelly - yes, there are two characters named Thomas in this movie) to find his missing daughter. Fox, who normally doesn’t do this kind of thing, accepts the job. He gets a lead that she’s in France, so he heads to Cannes just as the film festival is going on. After a bunch of twists and turns, he ends up in Italy, where he gets help from Marianna (Palme) and Josie (Sebastian). After yet more twists and turns, he ends up back in L.A. and must face the reality of the situation he was put into. Will Fox escape this particular trap?

Foxtrap is Fred doing what he does best - being cool and busting heads. If you’re familiar with his 80’s output such as The Messenger, this is very much in the same vein, style-wise. If you’re not familiar, it’s a very basic plot where Fred can get into fights, woo the ladies and smoke a cigar amongst a lot of very picturesque locations. The Cannes scenes are especially interesting, as posters for Invasion USA (1985), Death Wish 3 (1985), Power (1986), Witness (1985), Cocoon (1985), Mishima (1985) and The Toxic Avenger (1986), among others, are seen.

As the movie states, Thomas Fox is “The Best”, and Fred has never looked better, what with his dapper white suit and all. His license plate even reads “DA FOX”. He gets plenty of great lines, and while there is a certain dumbness in the air (especially during the fight/chase scenes), there’s a lot to enjoy about Foxtrap. It has some of our favorite recurring themes, such as middle-aged punks and fruit carts. Not to mention the time-honored final warehouse fight and the classic sax on the soundtrack. And Foxtrap is noteworthy for being one of the few movies we’ve seen (following American Kickboxer 2, 1993 and Last Flight To Hell, 1990) with a misspelling in the opening credits. “Produced An Story By Fred Williamson”, so it says.

Foxtrap has what you want in a movie like this, so it’s a must for Fred fans, and everyone else should check it out too.

Comeuppance Review by Brett and Ty

1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982)

1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982)-* * *1\2

Directed by: Enzo G. Castellari

Starring: Mark Gregory, Christopher Connelly, Vic Morrow, Stefania Goodwin, and Fred Williamson













In 1990, the future, street gangs have taken over the Bronx, and it is officially designated “No Man’s Land”. A lone hero, Trash (Gregory) is a member of the Riders gang . He wants to protect his girlfriend Ann (Goodwin) from the onslaught of violence and lawlessness, but she’s the daughter of the President of The Manhattan Corporation, the suits who are really running things from behind the scenes. Part of Trash’s quest is to get to Ogre (Williamson), a powerful man in the underground community. In order to do this, Trash and his compatriots must fight through a dizzying array of enemies. Meanwhile, Hammer (Morrow) and Hot Dog (Connelly) are monitoring the situation. If that all sounds confusing, don’t worry, as 1990 is a year that can’t come too soon!

Ah, 1990: The Bronx Warriors. A video store classic if there ever was one! Just starting from the opening credits, you know what you’re about to see is going to be an absolute treat. The Walter Rizzati music is pitch-perfect, the outfits are amazing, the vehicles are a joy to watch , and the weaponry is filled with eye-catching innovation. It’s yet more proof, as if any was needed, that the 80’s rule!

We’ve always been fans of Enzo G. Castellari, and here he puts his stylish directorial touches (as well as a role in the movie) towards the time-honored post-apocalyptic movie. In more recent years, this has come to be synonymous with “slog”, but here, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Pretty much using The Warriors (1979) and Escape From New York (1981) as its template, the filmmakers behind 1990 somehow managed to come up with their own unique beast. The Italians really have their own style, and here they put their energies to an extremely entertaining use.

Trash is truly a hero for the 80’s. First off, his name is Trash. Are you really going to argue with him? Well, there’s really no second part to that. Adding to the nostalgia factor, there are plenty of scenes that feature the World Trade Center towers. But 1990 offers something new even there: how often do you see a dude playing the drums right out in the open in front of the towers? And later on, there’s even a New York cake with the towers on it! The “icing on the cake” (sorry) is that this falls into another category we love: movies that take place in the future but are now the past.

We really enjoyed 1990 and we’re pretty confident you will too. The Media Blasters DVD looks great, and needless to say, blows away the old Media tape, quality wise. It’s hard not to love 1990.

Also check out a review by our friend, the DTVC!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Strike Commando (1987)

Strike Commando (1987)-* * * *

Directed by: Bruno Mattei

Starring: Reb Brown, Edison Navarro, Luciano Pigozzi, Alex Vitale, and Christopher Connelly





"He's A War Machine on the Warpath!"








Sgt. Michael Ransom (Brown) is THE BEST. He’s the finest example of an American soldier...maybe ever. He goes behind enemy lines to rescue some Vietnamese civilians, and even becomes friends with a young boy, Lao (Edison Navarro). His guide in this rough terrain is Frenchman Le Due (Pigozzi) - but maniacally evil Russian Jakoda (Vitale) will stop at nothing until he tortures and kills his nemesis, the “Americanski”. And even though Col. Radek (Connelly) may have suspicious motives, nothing, and we mean NOTHING - will stop this true American hero from getting revenge on the baddies. One way or another, you WILL pay Ransom.

Now THIS is what Comeuppance Reviews, as a website and as an overall entity in the universe, is all about. Ignore anything negative you may have read about this great movie. For pure, uncut, unadulterated entertainment, this level of awesomeness is possibly only rivaled by Deadly Prey (1987). This movie gives jungle action movies a GOOD name. It has countless, high-quality explosions, guard tower blow-ups/falls, non-stop action, stunts, and shooting, waterfalls, and of course the prerequisite torture scene. But it has a ton of weird/funny/off-kilter moments that truly make it rise above the pack. We won’t spoil them for you here, but trust us, you will love this movie and you have to find it if you don’t already own it.

While we also strongly support the later collaboration between the great Reb Brown and director Bruno Mattei, Robowar (1989), we believe this is the superior team-up of the two men. If you can’t get enough of that trademark Reb scream, you won’t be disappointed, as he really yells it up here. That includes a specific line reading of his enemy’s name, “Jakoda”, that you won’t soon forget. Probably because your ears will be ringing for days afterwards. But yet, Reb displays his sensitive side here too. For all his ultra-macho shirtless carnage, his relationship with Lao is tender and even tear-jerking. Lao wants to go to Disneyland where the popcorn grows on trees. For some reason, this really appeals to him. But, you see, Ransom is not an inhuman monster like Jakoda. He may have killed a few thousand people, but he’s a real human being who you grow to love. You definitely want Ransom on your side. God help you if you get on his bad side.

Like Jungle Assault (1989), the soundtrack is inappropriately 80’s  (it being the Vietnam war and all) - but here the music cues are just so great it doesn’t even matter. The soundtrack by Lou Ceccarelli is pure genius. It features a killer opening song and it doesn’t stop there. Nintendo was huge at the time, and the music plus the action is almost like a live-action Contra movie. It truly is violent 80’s heaven that you can really sink your teeth into. Is there a CD of this? 

The worst thing you could say about this masterpiece is that the editing can be a bit choppy at times, but even that adds to the overall charm. Strike Commando delivers the goods in spades. Rock on!

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Operation Nam (1986)

Operation Nam (1986) -* *

AKA: Cobra Mission 

Directed by: Fabrizio De Angelis

Starring: Ethan Wayne, Christopher Connelly, Manfred Lehmann, John Steiner, Oliver Tobias, and Donald Pleasence



"In the John Wayne Action Packed Tradition Comes His Son Ethan Wayne..."






A group of disgruntled Vietnam vets, led by Mike (Wayne), Roger (Connelly) and James (Steiner) decide to go back to ‘Nam and find, then free, missing POW’s. Once “in country”, they get their guns and ammo from Father Lenoir (Pleasence), a priest willing to help the “five men against all”, to quote the Italian title of the film. Once loaded up with their supplies, it’s like the war never ended, as Viet Cong soldiers battle them every step of the way to protect their camps, seemingly unaware that there had been a ten-year break in the action. Naturally, the discovery of the POW’s leads to a government conspiracy that goes all the way to the top - and is the gruff Colonel Mortimer (Mitchell) involved?  Will the men free the hostages and make it back home? And if they do, what then?

Operation Nam (or Cobra Mission) is a standard jungle action/drama you’ve seen before, but it does have its moments, as well as a cast familiar to anyone who loves Italian exploitation films. Besides familiar faces Steiner, Connelly, and Luciano Pigozzi (AKA Alan Collins), we also have cameos by Enzo G. Castellari and Ennio Girolami, and the whole affair was directed by Fabrizio De Angelis (the infamous “Larry Ludman”) without much panache. He’s a better producer than director, most people would agree.

While the idea of moody, misfit Vietnam vets adjusting to a changed society is a fascinating idea for a film, these ideas are only touched upon in the first half. The second half is the mindless shooting, guard tower-falling, hut-exploding, grenade-throwing, bar-fighting action expected of this type of film. It would have been nice if the psychology and emotion of the men was explored more, but perhaps I’m asking too much of a churn-’em-out genre film such as this.

In the plus column we have the fact that the film was made pre-political correctness, a character plays Pole Position on his Atari 2600, and one character insults another by calling him, and I quote, a “Suckfish”. Speaking of awesome dialogue, we also get an interesting glimpse into the future: right before one of the protagonists throws a grenade at a baddie, he says “You’ve got mail”. This comment, which precedes AOL by many years, must have served as an inspiration to that company. Not to mention inspiring the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan crudfest, as that was a “bomb” as well! Ha!

In the minus column we have the silly, Southern yokel-y dubbing for John Steiner's character, and some overall malaise. But John Wayne’s son is in it! Anybody? Anybody?

If you liked American Commandos (1985), you’ll also probably like this film, as it has a similar concept and execution, but this is not a prime example of Italian action.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett