Fists Of Steel (1989)

 

Fists Of Steel (1989)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Jerry Schafer

Starring: Carlos Palomino, Marianne Marks, Robert Tessier, Rockne Tarkington, and Henry Silva

Carlos "Conquistador" Diaz (Palomino) is an ex-Marine who served in 'Nam. Due to some sort of accident with his hands, his knuckle and finger bones were replaced with metal joints. Hence, he truly has FISTS OF STEEL. The CIA tries to recruit Diaz because they want to catch an evil baddie named Shogi (Silva) and his sidekick Katrina (Marks), who is described as "The Best". Naturally, at first Carlos is unimpressed with the CIA's offer, but when they show him what appears to be news footage of Shogi killing his father, he then gets hoppin' mad and goes on his own mission to get revenge against Shogi. He ends up traveling to Hawaii, where he encounters more baddies, such as Saylor (Tessier) and Rijar (Tarkington). But will Shogi feel the wrath of Diaz's FISTS OF STEEL?


Fists of Steel - not to be confused with Hands of Steel (1986), the classic Paco Queruak vehicle - starts with a cool song and logo, so the audience immediately gets sucked in. Then we see Henry Silva's Shogi character, inexplicably dressing up as various different characters in order to kill people. Just why he does this is never explained later in the film. Maybe the idea is that he's just so evil, he enjoys playing a bit of dress-up as a hobby as he kills his prey.


You really do care about Carlos's plight, and the whole thing overall has an odd vibe that's easy to love. As of this writing, Fists of Steel is a VERY rare movie, and not deserving of its hard-to-find status. You've gotta love Carlos's gym buddies and some of the other non-actors that give FOS a lot of flavor. No one knows why Silva is named Shogi, but Tessier is a sailor named...Saylor. Makes sense.


Every supposed flaw of Fists of Steel could be turned into a positive. For example, the movie is very repetitive - it seems there wasn't a lot of plot to be developed in between the fight/action scenes, so a lot of dialogue is repeated multiple times - but that can be very funny. The idea that the Carlos Diaz character has metal hands isn't really played up to the fullest - usually that just means that an extra-loud noise is heard whenever he punches anybody. That's pretty much the extent of it. But it all works out in the end because no one ever said all of this is supposed to be on a completely even keel.


With that in mind, there are two twists towards the end of the film (don't worry, no spoilers here). Let's just say that one is completely unsurprising, and the other one is truly a surprise. As if a movie of this sort even needed a twist, here they give you two. Or, really, in our eyes, one. But Palomino facing off against at least two guys who exclusively play baddie roles - Silva and Tessier - it's all worth it right there.


Director Jerry Schafer worked with Francis Ford Coppola on one of his first projects, Tonight For Sure (1962), and then a scant 19 years later directed Female Mud Wrestling Championships (1981), a documentary about female mud wrestling championships. This project featured both Carlos Palomino (as a referee) and Marianne Marks (as an interviewer), which led into his final directorial project, Fists of Steel. What a career.


Featuring the memorable songs "Eyes of the Stranger" by Nicci Sill, and "Left With the Right" by Robert Terry, Fists of Steel is a worthwhile and fun watch, if you can find it.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Day Of The Assassin (1979)

 Day Of The Assassin (1979)- * *1\2

Directed by: Brian Treanchard-Smith

Starring: Chuck Connors, Jorge Rivero, Glenn Ford, Henry Silva, Susana Dosamantes, and Richard Roundtree

When the Shah of Iran's boat sinks to the bottom of a Mexican bay, word spreads that said sunken vessel contains treasure. And not just any treasure, mind you, but supposedly among the contents of the loot is a piece of paper with the most important information in the world. What is that information? Well, Christakis (Ford) wants to find out, and he's willing to pay big. So he hires Fleming (Connors) to get the paper. But it's not going to be easy, because treasure hunters from around the world want to get to it first, among them Fessler the Mute (Roundtree) and Dante Vallone (Rivero). Police Chief Jorge Gomez (Silva) is at a loss. Susana, AKA "The Princess" (Dosamantes) is swept up in it all. Which adventurer will walk away with the prized paper?


Day of the Assassin is a nice, harmless adventure outing that sports a handful of cool moments. It definitely has its flaws; it's a bit too "safe", if you know what we mean, and the peaks-and-valleys structure of the film has some pretty deep (i.e. slow) valleys. But, overall, it's pretty amusing and mildly entertaining, thanks to its cast, its quirks, and the direction of fan favorite Brian Trenchard-Smith.


It all kicks off with a fantastic opening sequence: a guy bombs, neck-snaps and knives people while parasailing. That's right, a man suspended by a parachute over a body of water by a boat manages to kill several people, while Jorge Rivero watches the incident through a pair of binoculars. We can't say we've ever seen that before.

Soon enough, we're introduced to Glenn Ford as Christakis. He wears gray formal suit pants and dress shoes with a cream-and-red Adidas warmup jacket, gold chain, and sunglasses. He may not be in the movie that much, but at least he has a funky wardrobe. Then we get to our hero, Fleming, played by our real-life hero, Chuck Connors. At least in Day of the Assassin, he looks like what Dolph Lundgren will look like 40 years from now. As Elderly Dolph goes on about his adventuring, he then encounters lots of his competition, the most noteworthy of which are Fessler and Gomez.


That's something we appreciated about the film - it features a panoply of middle-aged or older character actors that we know and love. Yes, Roundtree doesn't say anything (because he's "mute", you see), but it was nice having Ford, Connors, Silva, and Roundtree all together. Jorge Rivero is the young man of the group. Dosamantes is the only woman. Perhaps there should have been more women.


Connors, instead of wearing his usual Brooklyn Dodgers hat, has a variety of different baseball caps this time around. Maybe this was an in-joke because he always insisted on his trademark Dodgers cap, but he's seen with Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals (?) and perhaps one other baseball team's logo on his head. Or he'll put the hat on a desk in plain sight. Even in such a light and jaunty outing as Day of the Assassin, there's some Prerequisite Torture of our hero, Fleming. Guess you always have to have that, even in something pretty fluffy like this.

Other movie highlights include the standout score by Bebu Silvetti, who is perhaps best known in America for his Spring Rain disco album from 1977. He contributes some library music-esque funk and other notable cues. Put that together with the picturesque Spanish locations (although the movie is set in Mexico) and you've got two noteworthy elements right there.

When it comes to the films of Brian Trenchard-Smith (who's the original BTS), Day of the Assassin does not reach the heights of The Man From Hong Kong (1975), or the Jason Blade diptych Fists of Blood and Day of the Panther (both 1988) (he must like "Day of the..." movie titles), but it still holds a certain charm, especially when cars blow up with little or no provocation.


Day of the Assassin originally came to home video in the U.S. on the Prism label on VHS. There doesn't seem to be any DVD history of the film, then it jumped to Amazon Prime. Despite the film's shortcomings, there's still plenty to enjoy here, especially if you're a fan of anyone involved.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Three Days To A Kill (1992)

Three Days To A Kill (1992)- * *1\2

Directed by: Fred Williamson

Starring: Fred Williamson, Bo Svenson, Henry Silva, Van Johnson, Sonny Landham, Kim Dakor, Karol Brown, Tom Joyner, Kellie Rochelle, and Chuck Connors








When Ambassador Barnes (Brown) is kidnapped by a Colombian drug lord named Perez (Silva) and his sidekick Pepe (Landham), Captain Wright (Connors) calls a man named Cal (Williamson). Why did he call Cal? Because Cal is "The Best", of course. Tasked with going to Colombia to rescue the ambassador, Cal enlists the help of Rick Masters (Svenson), an explosives expert. 

It just so happens that Rick is in prison, but Cal promises him an early release, along with some bonus cash, if he can help execute the mission. The last member of the team arrives in the form of Yolanda (Dakour), a military contact masquerading as a stripper. While dealing with the troublemaking Rick Masters is going to be a handful, Cal and Yolanda forge ahead. Naturally, there are many pitfalls (i.e. shootouts) along the way, and maybe a conspiracy or two that will go all the way to...well, you know where. Will our trio save the ambassador? Or will it be THREE DAYS TO A KILL...for him?



Three Days To A Kill (which sounds a bit like a Seagal title, don't you think?) is a film of firsts and lasts. It was Van Johnson's last feature film, Chuck Connors's last feature film, the first - and last - Fred Williamson made-for-HBO film, and, perhaps most importantly, it's both the first and last production of Snizzlefritz Productions. When we first started this site, we made a vow to see every Snizzlefritz production. And now we have. 

With that triumph under our belts, we can now talk about the film itself. As we never tire of saying, Fred Williamson is one cool customer. Everything he does, says, and wears is just cool. He has a lot of charisma and it's a joy to watch him onscreen. When he's paired with Bo Svenson - who has his own unique brand of charisma - they make a great team. An original odd couple, you might say.

While 'Three Days gets off to a bang-up start - with fan-favorite Connors using a smaller weapon than most viewers are used to seeing him with; he went from being the Rifleman to being the Pistolman - it does tend to lose steam in many spots. There will be a shootout or some sort of action scene, and then it'll settle back down.

The proceedings get a huge shot in the arm when the characters of Slick (Joyner) and his associate Godzilla (Rochelle) show up. These two almost singlehandedly (if it's possible for two people to do something singlehandedly) steal the movie. Heck, they should have gotten their own movie! To think that they stole the show when classic/veteran actors like Connors, Johnson, Williamson, Silva, Landham and Svenson are all here is truly saying something.

 

The cast is clearly a strong one, but the material surrounding them is not befitting of their talents. Sure, the Van Johnson role is of the sit-down variety, but in this case it's understandable as he passed away shortly thereafter. While Johnson did indeed go to that big Priority Red One in the sky, his co-star from that outing, Fred Williamson, carried on. He inevitably faces off against Silva, forever a baddie, and Landham, who really does the evil underling role with gusto this time around.

Of course, someone says "We got company!" and it's rather obvious that the whole thing is just a made-for-cable version of 48 Hrs. (1982) but with the races reversed. It's all just entertaining enough - especially if you're a fan of any of the personalities involved - but there are definitely some dead spots (or at least slower spots) along the way.

At the very least, it's a one-time watch. It's not bad, it's not great, but Three Days To A Kill has one thing that literally no other movie in existence has. In a word: Snizzlefritz.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Above The Law (1988)

Above The Law (1988)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Andrew Davis

Starring: Steven Seagal, Sharon Stone, Henry Silva, and Pam Grier

Nico Toscani (Seagal) is a Martial Arts expert who travels to Japan from his native Chicago to further hone his skills. While there, he’s recruited by the CIA and sent to Vietnam to work Special Ops. While in ‘Nam, he crosses paths with a sadistic torturer named Kurt Zagon (Silva). Nico becomes disillusioned with CIA life and returns to Chicago and becomes a cop.  

Back on his home turf, he has some very important women in his life – his wife Sara (Stone), his partner Delores “Jacks” Jackson (Grier), and also his mother and young daughter. Nico and Jacks get embroiled in a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top when a simple drug investigation becomes a high-level FBI and CIA cover-up…and that necessitates the sinister return of Zagon. When Nico is forced to turn in his badge and gun in order to get to the truth, he’s forced to go ABOVE THE LAW.

Above the Law is the one and only 80’s Seagal, so we might as well bask in the glory of that moment. The sax on the soundtrack, classic computers, giant cars, and general lack of political correctness all help to add 80’s flair to this fine cop drama. Seagal made an impressive debut as Nico – he had serious fighting moves, he was in great shape, and he even was an actor back then. 

Having co-written the story and co-produced the film with director Andrew Davis, with whom he’d later re-team for Under Siege (1992), the whole outing is serious-minded, professional, and delivers the Martial Arts/action goods. It was the 80’s, after all, and things were just better. This includes Seagal movies.

Another Andrew Davis regular also appeared here and is worth noting – Joseph Kosala as Lt. Fred Strozah. He was a Chicago cop in real life, and you can absolutely tell. His authenticity stands out, as does his thick Chicago accent (you think at any moment George Wendt is going to show up and they’re going to have an in-depth discussion about “Da Bears”). He worked as a technical advisor as well, and we wanted to shine a spotlight on him. Sadly, he passed away in 2015, but his work on screen preserves his legacy. 

In other cast news, we have fan favorite Pam Grier as Nico’s parter, which was an inspired casting choice. Thalmus Rasulala – Blacula himself - plays a small role as well, bringing back memories of 70’s Blaxploitation actioners such as Truck Turner (1974). Sharon Stone’s role is small, and fan favorite Michael Rooker has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him role as “Man in Bar”, but it all adds to the fun.

Of course, the great Henry Silva is the main baddie, just as he was in previous Davis film Code of Silence (1985) – both Above the Law and Code of Silence have other things in common as well, plotwise – though it must be said his final exit in the film The Hard Way (1989) might be impossible to top. In all, Above the Law takes us back to a time when Seagal had a bright future ahead of him, action movies were beloved by all and went to the movie theater, cop dramas were tough, and movies weren’t wussy and/or tinted blue or green like they are today. You’ll surely be entertained by this classic of Seagal Cinema.  

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

The Hard Way (1989)

The Hard Way (1989)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Michele Massimo Tarantini

Starring: Miles O'Keefe,  Philip Wagner, Chuck Bishop, Milton Rodriguez, and Henry Silva






“You shouldn’t have killed that Corn On the Cob” - Pinero





When a bunch of white guys in suits in a U.S. government office (including a man - according to what we heard - named Senator Towel...Senator TOWEL. Gotta love stuff that’s lost in translation) decide that a Bolivian drug lord named Pinero (Wagner) must be eliminated, they send in the best: A three-man commando squad consisting of Karl (Rodriguez), who looks like a young and vigorous Don Rickles, Ibanez (Chuck Bishop in his only role to date), and, of course, the leader, True American Hero Bull (O’Keeffe). 

The suits even pass out headshots so their fellow pencil-pushers can see what the guys look like. The problem is, a sadistic and ruthless overlord named Wesson (Silva) is willing to protect the drug empire with all the resources at his disposal, and there are plenty. Countless goons that are armed to the teeth are willing to sacrifice everything to keep Pinero alive. Three of America’s finest versus unending waves of bad guys? Seems like the odds are in OUR favor. But will our heroes penetrate the enemy stronghold? Find out today!

Not to be confused with the 1991 James Woods/Michael J. Fox outing, this, the original The Hard Way, is essentially a 90-minute chase through the jungle - but it manages to rise above its lowly station. In fact, we won’t even dub this a “jungle slog” like we normally might, because there’s nothing really sloggy about it. 

Without doubt, the movie is lacking in the originality department; baddies shoot and chase, good guys shoot and chase, etc., for essentially the entirety of the running time, but it’s all so wonderfully excessive, you just have to love this particular romp. As we always say, the Italian jungle epics are the best, and journeyman director Michele Massimo Tarantini turns in an against-all-odds winner this time around.

There’s a lot to love about The Hard Way: it’s uncompromising yet fun, there’s no annoying reporter character or irritating child character, it delivers mindless shooting and explosions with style and aplomb, it came out in the golden year of 1989, it has an awesome score by Luigi Ceccarelli, there are cool helicopter shots (and a few of them explode - seemingly a well-placed rope is all it takes to set them ablaze), dudes scream while they fire off an endless supply of rounds on their machine guns, and Henry Silva has an evil ascot. He also gives commands on the world’s biggest walkie talkie. 

Bull - not to be confused with the wacky bailiff on Night Court - lets his grenades do the talking, though when Miles O’Keeffe does speak in this movie it sounds like he’s doing a rather lame Humphrey Bogart impression. At any moment you think he’s going to end a sentence with “...shweeethaaart”. There are even BAZOOKAS! And they get put to good use, too. Trust us.

Listen, if you want something intellectual, watch Mindwalk (1990). If you want to watch cannon fodder be mowed down by machine gun fire and watch crap get blown up, The Hard Way is the movie for you. It’s G.I. Joe and the A-Team writ large....sure, there are lots like this, but this one is done well. It should have been on the Mercs box set. They didn’t waste time with simply exploding huts, they blew up brick homes! The bullet budget must have been enormous, as the kill count rivals anything we’ve seen, and we’ve seen ‘em all, just about. 

Lest we forget the Prerequisite Torture (this time of Rickles) (as we called him), and it’s all in a scenario where the baddies can’t hit our heroes, but our heroes have no trouble hitting the baddies. It’s all very NES-esque. From the music, to the setting, to the shooting, to the 1989 timeframe - it could have been a Nintendo game.

Shot in Brazil and released in Germany and Japan on VHS (and later on DVD in the U.K., we believe), The Hard Way will, to paraphrase the great Henry Silva, ‘bring you great satisfaction’, should you get a chance to see it. And we recommend that you do.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett 

The Last Match (1991)

The Last Match (1991)- * *1\2

Directed by: Fabrizio De Angelis

Starring: Oliver Tobias, Ernest Borgnine, Melissa Palmisano, Henry Silva, Charles Napier, Jeff Moldovan, and Martin Balsam











Cliff Gaylor (Tobias) is a football player with an attitude. When his daughter Susan (Melissa Palmisano in her only screen credit) gets framed for having illegal drugs while on vacation in either a Caribbean or South American country (not really sure), and is imprisoned, Gaylor at first tries all the traditional channels to free her. He first goes to see his American Consul (Napier, here credited as “American Consul”) but he’s useless. He then goes to see a local lawyer (Balsam, credited as “Lawyer”), who also is incapable of helping him. So Gaylor then does the next natural thing: he calls his football coach (Borgnine, here credited as “Coach”. Sensing a pattern here?) - and gets his entire football team to stage a commando raid on the prison, but not before arming and training them in the usage of machine guns. 

Of course, the whole team agrees and Coach “coaches” the mission. But they’re going to have to get past sadistic prison warden Yashin (Silva) and his underling Prison Guard (Moldovan). Will the team be able to punt, spike, blitz, sack, snap, and tackle their way towards reaching their (field) goal? Find out today!

The Last Match had a lot going for it: a strong cast, an amazing concept, and the football players in full regalia brandishing machine guns and grenade launchers visually just looks awesome. Unfortunately, the movie only really kicks into high gear in the final third. 

Most of the movie is a staid and bland “My Daughter’s In Prison” drama with echoes of Midnight Express (1978). One thing Midnight Express did not have is a bunch of crazed footballers on the rampage shooting machine guns at Henry Silva while Ernest Borgnine happily gives instructions through a headset as to what to do next. Unless we blinked and missed that part. But because of the rarity of this movie, most people haven’t gotten to see the cast of Borgnine, Balsam, Silva, Napier, Moldovan, and the footballers do their thing so audiences can decide for themselves. Had this been released on VHS in America during the golden age of video stores, it might have had a shot at being a well-known cult movie. Now it’s just a not-so-well-known cult movie, which is only really justified by the last third.

Also of note are the “whosh-whosh” sounds on the soundtrack that sound like someone is waving a piece of cardboard in the air, Borgnine being especially jovial about his wartime experiences, the evil drug dealer who has a shirt that says “NEWS”, and the subplot about saving an Elian-like kid from the third-world hellhole that is the unnamed country they’re trying to escape from. 

Also there’s a guy in the cast named Jim Kelly who’s a White guy and not the Jim Kelly we all know and love. So to recap, the country is unidentified, half the characters don’t have proper names, and the football team also has no name. We realize they didn’t have the budget to use an NFL team name, but it would have been funny if they had come up with an attempt, like the “New York Sharks” or something to that effect. But then again, the way it is is pretty funny.

Another good thing about the movie is that the whole “Football Commandos” idea is played completely straight. It doesn’t appear that the filmmakers thought this was a wacky or ironic idea - they seemingly thought it was a perfectly sane concept for an action movie. And thank goodness for that. We get more than enough irony these days as it is. 

Just look at the training sequence where fully suited up football players shoot machine guns at targets. That’s why we keep going back to these Italian productions. They always seem to deliver in some way, shape or form. But the fact that a quality idea like this didn’t really take off to its full potential shows that by 1991 things were starting to run out of gas. Much like Martin Balsam, who gives a bizarre, stuttering performance in a complete sit-down role. He seems really confused as he reads his lines off a piece of paper. Compare that to Borgnine, who injects the movie with some much-needed energy during the interminable first and second portions.

In the end, The Last Match has a killer concept, but ultimately doesn’t hit the mark. Or score a touchdown, if you will.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out a write-up from our buddies Outpost Zeta and Good Efficient Butchery!

Trained To Kill (1989)

Trained To Kill (1989)- * * *

Directed by: H. Kaye Dyal

Starring: Frank Zagarino, Chuck Connors, Ron O'Neal, Harold Diamond, Lisa Aliff, Marshall Teague, Glen Eaton, Arlene Golonka, Henry Silva, and Robert Z'Dar











Ed Cooper (Connors) is a former Vietnam vet who had a son many years ago with a Cambodian woman. Now, Sam (Eaton) has come home to the Cooper family in Los Angeles. He’s welcomed to the U.S.A. by the Coopers’ biological son Matt (Zagarino), family friend Cotton (O’Neal) and Matt’s girlfriend Jessie (Aliff of Damned River fame). However, spoiling all this newfound family bliss is a gang of baddies, the head of which is the slick Ace Duran (Silva). 

Dispatching his best heavies, Felix (Teague), Loc Syn (Diamond), and Majyk (Z’Dar) to the Cooper household after breaking out of prison, they aim to get revenge on Ed for putting them behind bars. They were running heroin back from Vietnam, and Cooper simply reported them. After attacking Ed and Martha (Golonka) Cooper, Sam, Matt, Cotton and Jessie decide to forgo the police and get revenge themselves. Will they do it?

Mindless, nonsensical and brain-numbing, Trained To Kill gives new meaning to the word “stupid” - and we mean that in a good way! Fan favorite and personal hero Chuck Connors is back once again with his Brooklyn Dodgers jacket, and thankfully this is Frank Zags’ least annoying major role that we’ve seen to date. There’s a triumphant training sequence, Eaton puts in a lot of much-needed energy, and it features Robert Z’Dar with a flamethrower. His name in the movie, Majyk (pronounced as “Magic”) isn’t the most intimidating name for a bad guy, however. There’s the prerequisite torture, and Harold Diamond is a top-notch meathead.

The fact that the movie starts in Cambodia with some guy with the most obvious piece of cotton glued to his chin as some sort of facial hair, then moves to the U.S. with Chuck Connors as a guy who takes in foster children and decorates his home solely with travel posters should give you a hint of the ridiculous nature of this movie. 

Ron O’Neal gets into a swordfight, there’s at least one exploding helicopter, and Frank Zagarino sets a new standard in ripped shirt technology by the end of the film. This is a movie that, by all rights, SHOULD have been simply shelf-filler, but, by its sheer silliness, rises above its station to become an entertaining movie.

Released on VHS by Malofilm, a company we’re not familiar with, on EP mode, the quality is not the best. But if you ever see Trained To Kill anywhere, pick it up. For the star-power alone, it’s worth having.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, Fist Of B-List!

The Boss (1973)

The Boss (1973)- * * *

Directed by: Fernando Di Leo

Starring: Henry Silva, Claudio Nicastro, Pier Capponi, Antonia Santilli, Gianni Garko, and Richard Conte











Set in Palermo, Sicily, Il Boss is the third of Fernando Di Leo’s trilogy (known as the “Milieu Trilogy”) which includes Milano Calibro 9 and The Italian Connection. Here, Henry Silva plays Lanzetta, a cold blooded and, some might say, expressionless hit man working for mob boss D’Aniello (Nicastro). 

Lanzetta manages a “wipeout” of an entire mafia family...except one, a guy named Cocchi (Capponi). Cocchi is bewildered and wants revenge. Hence, they kidnap D’Aniello’s daughter Rina (Santilli). Police Commissario Torri (Garko) is trying to get to the bottom of things but he just may have his own agenda - and yet another mob boss, Don Corrasco (Conte) seems to be running things, but is he? As all these various characters intertwine, what will become of them, and how will Lanzetta navigate these confusing and treacherous waters? Find out today!

Il Boss is another winner from the amazingly talented Fernando Di Leo. Not wanting to ever repeat himself, this part of his trilogy is actually very different from the others. Not just that, it’s very different from just about any Mafia movie out there. Because not only does it have the classic high-quality Di Leo shooting and editing, but it is also extremely well-written (if perhaps a tad over-written at times). It tackles social issues such as corruption, as well as another Di Leo trademark, the youth culture of the day. Starting with another absolutely killer opening sequence, you are immediately sucked into this world and it’s very effective.

Henry Silva (or, more accurately, Lanzetta) isn’t your average hitman. Usually they use pistols with silencers so no one knows they were there. Lanzetta clearly doesn’t care, as he uses a grenade launcher! Silva with a grenade launcher should be enough to recommend this movie right there. But while the violence intermixes with the serious-minded issues at work, we felt the movie was most effective during the scenes of mob violence set to Bacalov’s amazing score. Bacalov’s score absolutely rules here. He’s a musical genius that’s made a career out of excellent scores, but he outdoes himself this time. Taking his cues from the Italian prog movement that was huge at the time, Bacalov knocks this score out of the park. It gives you that intense feeling that the movie is working on all cylinders.

Di Leo’s movies are so impactful because of a combination of technical mastery, music choices and social and psychological insights. This manifests itself especially interestingly in Il Boss with Santilli’s Rina character. So Di Leo’s movies have withstood the test of time far better than a lot of his contemporaries. That being said, this movie is kind of talky at times and is arguably the weakest of the trilogy, but it’s still a good movie that’s well worth seeing.

Plus you have to see the Raro DVD. I (Brett) originally saw this movie on the VHS release by 3 Star Home Video. The Raro DVD not only is widescreen with subtitles, I believe it’s significantly longer, at 112 minutes. The 3 Star tape obviously does not compare. There was another VHS release back in the day (also under the name Wipeout) but I’m not sure of the label. But it’s a moot point, as this DVD is the clear choice for collectors and viewers.

Il Boss is the Mafia movie done right, and it should be seen.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

The Italian Connection (1972)

The Italian Connection (1972)- * * *

Directed by: Fernando Di Leo

Starring: Henry Silva, Woody Strode, Mario Adorf, Luciana Paluzzi, and Adolfo Celi 












Two goons, Dave Catania (Silva) and Frank Webster (Strode) are sent from New York to Italy to kill a small-time pimp named Luca Canali (Adorf). Helping out the two men is Eva (Paluzzi). Luca seems to be outsmarting his killers at every turn so the whole situation escalates and Don Vito Tressoldi (Celi) is not happy. Claiming Luca is starting a war, and he “doesn’t want to be beaten by a loser”, Tressoldi cruelly ups the stakes by attacking Luca’s family. Now Luca is out for revenge, as opposed to just deflecting all the attempts on his life. Will he succeed?

Fernando Di Leo cranks out another winner here. Milano Calibro 9 (1972) is better (though it’s always open for debate) but La Mala Ordina, as it was known originally, is a very strong movie as well, with its masterfully shot and edited climax (like the rest of the movie), a similar sense of toughness, the decor, the style, and of course, the movie highlight, the car chase. The chase, along with a fairly tenuous connection to a heroin shipment (it’s not mentioned very much in the movie), were obviously the catalysts to retitle this movie in the wake of the success of The French Connection (1971).

Adorf, who also put in a great performance in Milano Calibro 9, excels in the lead role of Luca Canali. It was wise to put Adorf out front, even if it seems now like an obvious choice. Henry Silva is kind of a fan favorite even though he doesn’t have any facial expressions. But his hair is better here than we can remember anyplace else. 

His partner, played by Woody Strode, seems a bit out of sorts, but Di Leo thought enough of him to put him in The Violent Breed (1984) later on in their careers. Three well-known beauties of the day, Luciana Paluzzi, Femi Benussi and Sylva Koscina are on hand to make things more interesting, as is Cyril Cusack as a mob boss. The whole thing is topped off with one of Armando Trovajoli’s funkiest and best scores.

There’s also a certain counter-cultural element at work here which would be fleshed out more completely in later Fernando Di Leo films, most notably Avere Vent’anni (1978). The underground culture of the day is a recurrent theme in Di Leo’s movies and found its way into whatever he was working on, regardless of the genre. This sets his movies apart to a certain extent and it’s fascinating to see, simply as a document of the era.

If you have seen and liked other Di Leo movies, you will certainly also like The Italian Connection (if you see the Raro DVD that is, not one of the innumerable cheapo VHS releases). If not, this is as good a place as any to start, mainly because there’s nothing really NOT to like about this fine film.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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

Code Of Silence (1985)

Code Of Silence (1985)-* * *

Directed by: Andrew Davis

Starring: Chuck Norris, Dennis Farina, Ralph Foody, Joe Guzaldo, and Henry Silva












 Eddie Cusack (Chuck) is a Chicago cop under attack on all fronts. The Italian mob hates him because he and his partner Det. Dorato (Farina) got involved in a drug deal they were doing with the Colombian cartel, led by the evil Comacho (Silva). Now the Colombians are after his blood as well. And even members of his own department are after him because his honesty and integrity forces him to break the “code of silence” when a fellow cop Cragie (Foody) shoots an unarmed teenager and plants a gun on him. And his young, new partner that he didn’t initially want, Kopalas (Guzaldo) is cracking under the strain. But Cusack does have a dependable ally in all this mess: a prototype police robot named Prowler. Will Cusack and Prowler win the day? Find out today!

Code Of Silence is a classic 80’s adult cop drama. It’s also one of Chuck’s best. The makers of this movie were smart: they crafted a vehicle for Chuck that plays to all of his strengths. (Though this seems to be somewhat accidental, as Chuck wasn’t the first choice for the role of Cusack). Here, Chuck is the strong, silent type: a rock of relative calm in the sea of chaos around him. He’s not “wooden”, he’s quiet, reserved, even contemplative. Someone finally decided that Chuck could be in a serious-minded, non-goofy movie, and not only does it completely work, but it’s a highlight in his career. 

Stallone perhaps could have played the Eddie Cusack role, and truly this is Chuck’s Nighthawks (1981). They both grew beards and wore sweaters to prove they could make gritty, realistic fare for grown-ups. Smartly, the makers of Code Of Silence saved all the action for the final third, which makes total sense. 

Now, in today’s ADD-afflicted culture, someone somewhere decided movies have to have Vin Diesel or The Rock doing some sort of cartoonish, silly CGI car stunt in front of a green screen in the first seconds of a movie (or trailer) in order to satisfy an audience of dummies. By contrast, Code Of Silence’s pace is slow and deliberate, and thank goodness for that. It hearkens back to a time when action movies were MOVIES, not glorified video games. With the passing of time, Code Of Silence looks better than ever.

Some of our most-loved cliches are on board as well, such as the WYC (White Yelling Chief), the copious sax on the soundtrack, and, in a 2-for-1, the abandoned warehouse in an abandoned shipyard. And, proving definitively it was the glorious 80’s, Chuck has a Rubik’s cube. The great Henry Silva makes a worthy enemy for The Chuckster, and Dennis Farina is a great buddy for him to have. And Ralph Foody is the original foodie. Director Davis went on to work with Seagal on his vehicles Above The Law (1988) and Under Siege (1992), but don’t hold that against him. Code Of Silence is a winner all around.

Sadly, they don’t make ‘em like this anymore, but at least we have gems like Code Of Silence to remember that quality used to come to the movie theater. 

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett
 

South Beach (1993)

South Beach (1993)-* *1\2

Directed by: Fred Williamson

Starring: Fred Williamson, Gary Busey, Vanity, Peter Fonda, Isabel Sanford, Henry Silva, Frank Pesce, Sam Jones, and Robert Forster





 “I can breathe underwater, turnip head.” - Gary Busey






Mack Derringer (Fred) has an awesome name and used to play football. His partner Lenny is also an ex-pro player and now they’re private eyes in South Beach, Florida. And that, if the movie’s tagline is to be believed, is “the world’s deadliest strip of sand”. Mack’s latest adventure involves his ex-wife, Maxine (Vanity), who now runs “Maxine’s Services”, which seems to be some sort of phone sex operation. When a mysterious voice on the phone who calls himself “Billy” starts making threats, Mack snaps into action. As if his partner Lenny wasn’t enough, Mack calls on the services of Jake (Fonda) to help him find his way through the South Beach underworld. But Det. Coleman (Forster) doesn’t trust Mack and seems to be following his every move. But at least Mack’s mother, Mama (Sanford) is proud of him and doesn’t hesitate to tell anyone who will listen. After getting a tip from a rapper named Too Kool (Ross), Mack gets to the real heavies such as Santiago (Silva) and a man named Billy (Jones) - but is it the same Billy that’s been harassing Maxine? Mack Derringer will have to use all the power of his name to get to the truth behind this web of crime and deception. Can he do it?

If the above plot description sounds like a confusing mishmash, that’s because that’s pretty much what South Beach is. Fred is able to get amazing casts for his movies, and in finding a place for everyone, sometimes forgets about coherency. South Beach also has somewhat of a sillier tone than a lot of other Freds we’ve seen, and the end result, while not bad, is likely to not really satisfy anyone except die-hard fans of anyone involved with the production, and only viewers familiar with Fred’s style of filmmaking will be able to glean anything from this movie.

Fred’s array of great jackets is noteworthy, as is he and Busey’s round of what can only be described as “Zany Golf” at the beginning of the film. As in the later Night Vision (1997), Robert Forster plays a cop who yells at Fred. It’s basically the same thing here. There was very minimal Henry Silva - by the time his part in the movie rolled around, he was squeezed out by all the other actors in this broth. And after we were finished pondering why Peter Fonda, as well as his ponytail/mustache combination, were involved in the first place, we got to the rapper Too Kool, not to be confused with Too Short, and another brief Sam Jones appearance. But at least with Jones, there’s a fight, instead of him standing around awkwardly as he does in fellow Fred film Down ‘n Dirty (2001). But all the names in the cast distract from the amazing goons in this movie. We don’t know their names, but we all should. They outshine most of the cast, and they do it in their own lovable way: simply by being humble men, overweight men squeezed into tweed jackets, with mullets and Vuarnet sunglasses. God bless the goons, the unsung heroes of the crime movie world.

As for the DVD we viewed, it’s one of those cheapo gas station jobs and is of very low quality. It’s actually blurry, and we were told in the late 90’s DVD’s would never be blurry. The VHS is of far better quality. However, this particular disc is a double feature with the Mario Van Peebles film South Bronx Heroes (1985), and clearly this DVD company was catering to movie fans just clamoring to complete their “South” movie collections. But, in direct contradiction to that, according to the menu screen, the movie is called “Sonth Bronx Heroes”. You read that right. SONTH. How you screw up the title of the movie on the menu screen of your own DVD, we’ll never know, especially such an easy word like “South”. Either that, or the movie is referring to the heroes of an area of New York City that we’ve never heard of before.

South Beach is kind of a weird outing for Fred, yet also oddly typical of some of his other work. As Survivor once sang when they were surely referring to this movie, “It’s the paradox that drives us all”.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty


Thank you to DTVC for the hotlink to the cover! Here is his review too.

The Violent Breed (1984)

The Violent Breed (1984)-* *1\2

Directed by: Fernando Di Leo

Starring: Harrison Muller Jr., Carole Andre, Danika La Loggia, Woody Strode, and Henry Silva










Back when they were all in ‘Nam together, Mike Martin (Muller Jr.), Kirk Cooper (Silva) and Polo (Strode) were the best of buddies and they always looked out for each other: saving children, rescuing hostages and even pulling bullets out of each others’ bodies.  This team of soldiers worked together well, with their expertise being in surprise attacks. To the shock of Mike and Kirk, Polo willingly stays behind in ‘Nam.

Years later, both Mike and Kirk are CIA agents. It turns out that Polo is one of southeast Asia’s worst offenders when it comes to drugs and arms smuggling. He’s working with the Russians, the Mafia, everybody. So Kirk sends Mike to Bangkok to find his old compatriot Polo and stop his evil doings. While there, he meets a hooker with a heart of gold, thanks to the “comic relief” French madam (La Loggia), and they take on Polo’s army (yes, he commands his own army) of goons. And what is Mike’s girlfriend Sharon (Andre) up to? Dare you try to find out?

The Violent Breed is your classic jungle/exploding huts shoot ‘em up with constant gunfire and explosions. After a while, it all gets pretty numbing. Muller is the glib, wisecracking hero who always seems to land on his feet. While he fights the baddies, his Harrison-fu is on full display. Silva and Strode, both great actors, could have done much more with their meager roles.

 Director Fernando Di Leo has done considerably better work than this in his career, and everything in this film seems to drag on and on. Perhaps he was just trying to fit in to the then-current Italian action boom, but this one falls pretty flat. You’d have to be a pretty big Harrison Muller Jr. fan to try to track this one down. Seeing as we’ve reviewed FOUR of his movies to date, Comeuppance Reviews seems to be your one-stop Harrison Muller Jr. shop. Who else can claim that?

Seemingly a continuation of The Final Executioner (1984) formula (both have Muller and Strode), and again released by Cannon/MGM in those cool big boxes on VHS (as was its predecessor), The Violent Breed, despite its promising name, is middle-of-the-road action at best.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Bulletproof (1988)

 Bulletproof (1988)-* * *

Directed by: Steve Carver

Starring: Gary Busey, Henry Silva, Darlanne Fluegel, Thalmus Rasulala, Danny Trejo and L.Q. Jones







"Improbable Odds. Unstoppable Force."



I know it might seem hard to believe, but there once was a time when Gary Busey had a boyish charm and could have been an action star and wasn't known as a crazy guy and late-night comedian punchline. To witness this prime Busey, simply check out "Bulletproof" (not to be confused with the 1996 film where Adam Sandler shoots people).

Busey plays Frank "Bulletproof" McBain, a rogue, but lovable Cop On The Edge, or COTE for short. He's teamed up with the original Blacula himself, Thalmus Rasulala. One of McBain's talents is he is able to withstand being shot, and he saves all the bullets he's been shot with in a jar in his bathroom. Meanwhile, somewhere in Mexico, a terrorist network of "Mexicans, Nicaraguans and A-rabs" are all working in collusion to take over the world using a supertank called the NBT-90 Thunderblast.

The evil Colonel Kartiff (Silva) and General Brogado (Rene Enriquez) are heading up the operation, so Special Ops Military Adviser Sgt. O'Rourke (Jones) and army officer Devon Shepard (Fluegel) go south of the border to investigate. They, along with some of their army buddies and a group of priests and nuns are kidnapped and held hostage by the evildoers. Only one man can save his compatriots (and Devon, his long-lost love)...MCBAIN of course! And did we mention there are also evil Russians McBain has to stop?


In the 80's, you couldn't be the hero in an action movie and not be wisecracking. Most of Busey's lines are snappy one-liners, such as "what's this Tonka toy?", "I'm a one-man suicide squad!", and he even pioneered his own insult - the immortal "Butthorn". He inexplicably says this word THREE times during the movie. I guess it didn't catch on.

There are some sensitive flashbacks, and Devon even says to him "you may be bulletproof but you're not love proof". The movie on the whole is fun, upbeat and there is plenty of humor. Henry Silva plays an Islamic extremist, and the enemies are "communist-inspired terrorists". I guess it was pretty ahead of its time.

Surely this was one of the only times Fred Olen Ray (who wrote the story) got a movie released by a major studio. What would the world be like today if all his movies were?




A movie highlight is when Busey is tied to a big circular thing that looks like a huge cheese wheel. Watch out for this scene. So if you want to see a movie where Gary Busey is a lovable supercop and ladies man, and before he was crazy (well, really crazy) in a movie with plenty of heart, sax solos and blow-ups, and a mixed bag of world villains, this is the movie for you.



Comeuppance Review by: Brett & Ty