Gangland (2001)

Gangland (2001)- * *

Directed by: Art Camacho

Starring:  Sasha Mitchell, Vincent Klyn, Tim Thomerson, Costas Mandylor, Sam Jones, Kathleen Kinmont, Kristanna Loken, Ice-T, and Coolio



"It's survival of the baddest."






Set in the far distant future of 2010, Gangland is the tale of a post-apocalyptic wasteland where a plague runs wild. Yes, another one. Evil bad guy Lucifer (Klyn) kidnaps scientist Dr. Adams (Thomerson) because he’s close to figuring out a cure for the plague and he wants it all to himself. Meanwhile, Derek (Mitchell), Jared (Mandylor), and Alexis (Kinmont) go on the run from all the rampaging post-apocalyptic punks (what is it about the future that always breeds so many punks?). 

While on the run, they take time out to engage in fight scenes with them occasionally. Will our three heroes survive long enough to be able to get the plague antidote from Lucifer - who has also bothered to make an unkillable, Frankenstein-like superbaddie to fend off his attackers? Find out today?

Gangland pretty much defines the term “low budget”. And yes, technically speaking, this movie is “bad”, but not for anyone with a sense of humor. Corral your buddies together, watch and enjoy. Presumably all the resources the filmmakers had went to the cast. You might think, if you just saw the cast list, you couldn’t go wrong, though Ice-T, Coolio, Kristanna Loken and Sam Jones simply make cameos. But our main heroes Mitchell, Mandylor and Kinmont kicking, punching and shooting goons might be enough, but your tolerance for stupidity, dumbness, idiocy, imbecility and ineptitude (truly, a movie like this does define the subtle differences in these words for you better than a dictionary ever could) has to be pretty high.

Fan-favorite Sasha Mitchell beats up more future-punks here in much the same way he did in Class of 1999 II: The Substitute (1994). Heck, it was only eleven years later in the worlds of that and Gangland. A plus goes to the fact that this is one of those “set in the future that is now the past” movies. We love those. We actively seek them out. 

Helping out Mitchell on his quest (before we move on, watch out for his scene in the jail. His performance is truly a powerhouse) is Costas Mandylor, who walks away from fire in slow motion, and Lamas Wife Kinmont who looks disturbingly like Chelsea Handler in this movie, but no others that we’ve seen her in. Vincent Klyn, Mario Van Obama himself, is especially Peebles-like (well, Peebles from Exterminator 2 (1984), complete with throne, sunglasses and army of goons).

We’ve learned that great hair and clothing still exist in the future, which is a relief. One of Lucifer’s Lieutenants wears a spaghetti-strap tanktop almost all the time, except when he puts a leather vest with gold rings stitched up the sides and the word “wiseguys” painted on the back of it, over said tanktop. 

Add to this mix the fact that it looks obviously shot on backlot-style sets (that you can visit anytime you want if you visit Universal Studios), and maybe a “fan-favorite death” or two, among all the absurd beat-em-up and shooting scenes, and you have...a movie.

Featuring two songs (the title song and “Freak”) by rapper C-Tab (Ice-T and Coolio must not have been available), Gangland is pretty lame by most standards, but provides humor value if you watch it with other people.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

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

The Killing Man (1994)

The Killing Man (1994)- * *

Directed by: David Mitchell

Starring: Jeff Wincott, Terri Hawkes, and Michael Ironside








Harlin Garrett (Wincott) has been coasting on his enviable name for too long. Formerly a hit man, a mysterious man named Green (Ironside) kidnaps him and forces him to do assassination jobs for his organization. While unsure of his future, he obeys Green until a romance develops with one of his potential targets, Dr. Ann Kendall (Hawkes). When a conspiracy involving the U.S. government starts to spiral out of control, Garrett must hold on to what he knows and survive the onslaught. Can he do it?

While we’re not entirely sure what a “killing man” is exactly (is it anything like a Japanese Karate Man?) - what we do know is that this movie is certainly below the talents of the normally-capable Jeff Wincott. 

Of course, low budgets never bothered us, but the rock-bottom financial situation is painfully evident here. The budget must have been so low, they couldn’t afford backgrounds. BACKGROUNDS! Many scenes take place with a totally black backdrop. Either this is the weirdest episode of The Charlie Rose show yet filmed, or Wincott and the gang are floating in some sort of existential nowhere-land. Even when scenes take place in an actual room, there is no set design whatsoever. Is this a kind of avant-garde theatre production that no one ever goes to see? 

Regardless, the dark, dingy, bleak, depressing, Canadian vibe permeates the movie. It would all be tolerable if there were many competently-shot action scenes to mitigate the grime. Unfortunately, this does not happen either.

A handful of dumb, stupidly-filmed beat-em-ups, again, below Wincott’s standards, don’t help matters. But we do get more than one scene of him walking in slow motion. And his hair, sunglasses and jacket combo make him look oddly like Andrew Dice Clay. You feel that at any moment he’s going to break into a rousing rendition of “hickory dickory dock...” 

Aggravatingly, the movie as a whole does not play to Wincott’s strengths, like Mission of Justice (1993) did, for example. He’s an able and powerful Martial Artist, with a big likable streak. NONE of those attributes are effectively communicated in The Killing Man. Yes, there is an amateurish alleyway fight, and some type of romance, but the movie’s limitations prevent it from really taking flight.

But one thing we did learn is that if you ever send someone a severed head in the mail, make sure you use styrofoam packing peanuts. You wouldn’t want it to get damaged in transit and look bad. 

Also it made us re-discover the fact that standing on the edge of a building roof is so ‘90s. It seems like every star, from Richard Gere to John Travolta to Jeff Wincott took the elevator all the way up there and stood up and looked out into the distance. For extra dramatic effect, you could also extend your arms in a Jesus-like pose. Just ask Mr. Jones (1993), Michael (1996), or Phenomenon (1996). If you have any other examples, feel free to leave a comment.

One thing we as audiences should demand is that our movies have actual backgrounds. Is this too much to ask? Lighting issues be damned, we want to see where you are. Of course, The Killing Man has nil production values, but director Mitchell should really know better. We’ve seen a surprising amount of his work: Thunderground (1989), Mask of Death (1996), Last to Surrender (1999) and UKM (2006) - but we have yet to see him do anything exceptional or noteworthy.

Featuring the typically-90’s rock song “Drying Well” by Gangland, don’t be fooled by the cool box art. This particular Killing Man needs more testosterone.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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