Bad Blood (1994)

Bad Blood (1994)-* * *1\2

Directed by: Tibor Takacs

Starring: Lorenzo Lamas, Joe Son, Hank Cheyne, Kimberly Kates, Frankie Thorn, Chuck Zito, Sigal Diamant, Cole S. McKay and Simon Rhee



"It's Killing Time."







Travis Blackstone (Lamas) is a man whose name tells you he means business.  He works in a salvage yard working on trucks and being as manly as humanly possible. Because he has a sweet side, he coaches little league in his spare time. The problem is, he used to be a cop, but when he destroyed evidence to protect his annoying brother Franklin (Cheyne), he went to prison and was kicked off the force. 

Now that pesky Franklin is at it again, owing five million dollars to an underground criminal syndicate populated by baddies Jimmy Chang (Son), Baggy (McKay), Lee (Rhee), and the sadistic enforcer Toots (Zito). As if all this wasn’t enough, Travis’ girlfriend Lindee (Kates) believes he is cheating on her with former love Rhonda (Thorn) so Lindee, in an unjustified act of female revenge, works with the baddies and helps them find Blackstone. Now the stage is set for the ultimate confrontation. Will Travis Blackstone clear up all the BAD BLOOD?

Lorenzo Lamas is truly the man we love to love. As far as we’re concerned, based on what we’ve been viewing lately (his 90’s action output), his star is in the ascendant. We believe he is underrated and underappreciated. He always has a cool quip, some cool Martial Arts moves, is handy with guns, and lest we forget his luxurious hair. What more can the man do to win you over? Here, every time he executes a cool move, there is a corresponding musical sting. Sure, his southern drawl may go in and out, but he pioneers the art of “Brickfighting” - and whether by accident or design, Travis Blackstone can defy gravity. Like how if you were on another planet, you would weigh much less, Travis seems to have less gravity in his body. Maybe he’s from another planet. Just check out the infamous “super jump” (Thank you to DTVC for the hotlink to the pic below) around 64 minutes into the movie. Plus, he’s equally adept at playing jazzy piano as he is beating up baddies at the drop of a hat.

Another nice thing about Bad Blood is its cast of B-movie names. A standout is Joe Son, who also appeared in Shootfighter (1993), Shootfighter 2 (1996), Bloodfist V (1994) and Army Of One (1993), among not too much else. Even though he’d been in a bunch of things we’d seen, it took until us viewing this to really notice him, but to be fair his part is more substantial here. 

Cole McKay finally gets a decently sized part after all his great stunt work, while Simon Rhee’s part is not too big. Cheyne was good casting as Lamas’ brother, that does certainly look possible. And we didn’t even mention John P. Ryan (of Avenging Force (1986) and Delta Force 2 (1990) fame as their father) and Sigal Diamant (who also appeared in Shootfighter and Army of One, as well as other Lamas vehicle Blood for Blood (1995). The list goes on and on! Also we noticed Gordon Hessler was second unit director, who is a great director in his own right, having done the Sho Kosugi movies Pray For Death (1985) and Rage of Honor (1987), as well as the underrated Out on Bail (1989).

The final warehouse shootout certainly gives Hard Target (1993) a run for its money, and the many goons allow Bad Blood to deliver the action goods. The heroic music booms as Lamas proceeds to kill everybody. Just like he did in Blood for Blood. It’s a toss-up as to whether Bad Blood or Blood for Blood is the better Blood Lamas movie - but let’s not forget there is an alternate edit for this movie under the title of Viper. From what we’ve been able to tell, they’re the same except for a sequence of a baddie killing a kid was removed from the Bad Blood edit. So there are no other major differences that we know about. But seeing as how only one character calls Travis “Viper” only once in the movie, perhaps all references to that being his name were taken out, but we don’t know that for sure.

Bad Blood is classic 90’s video-store action all the way and is a lot of fun to watch. We recommend it.

Comeuppance Review by Ty and Brett

Also check out reviews by our buddies DTVC and Cool Target!

Bloodfist V: Human Target (1994)

Bloodfist V: Human Target (1994)-* *

Directed by: Jeff Yonis

Starring: Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Steve James, Don Stark, Denice Duff, and Joe Son












Jim Stanton (The Dragon) is a thug working for a crime syndicate...or is he? After a gunshot wound to the head, Stanton loses his memory. While trying to put back the pieces of his life, he runs into Candy (Duff), a streetwise young woman who seems to share Stanton’s concerns about what his past life may have been. Soon they go on the run, trying to figure out why people like Marcus (James) and Agent Blake (Stark) are inserting themselves in, and disrupting, their lives. After many twists and turns, Stanton gets to the truth...but will it be too late?

We love Don “The Dragon” Wilson and Steve James, so naturally we were excited to see this movie. Unfortunately, in our opinion, it’s one of the weakest in the Bloodfist series. The plot is so disjointed, it’s impossible to have any investment in the characters and their plight. It just adds layer upon layer of dumb, unwarranted plot twists, like some nonsense about plutonium once we’re already deep into the movie. It falls into the same traps many movies fall into, with an annoying kid/woman, this time the Denice Duff character. From a visual perspective, it’s way too dark and pseudo-stylish. We’re glad you were trying to dazzle us with your style, but we can’t SEE anything, so what’s the point? The low budget is plainly obvious in threadbare set design of just blank walls with no decoration.

We’re truly sorry to be so harsh, that’s not normally “us”, but we’re disappointed. There are some positives, however: Joe Son yelling and shooting a machine gun, the Steve James/Don The Dragon fight which was nice to see, the musical theme which sounds exactly like the MASH theme song “Suicide is Painless”, and the fact that this is an ideal role for Don - because of his amnesiac status, he can look as confused, stunned and out-of-it as he wants, and it actually works towards the plot. But sadly, there’s no escaping the fact that this movie is a waste of Steve James’ talent (and heartbreakingly, his last movie role before his untimely death) - and even Don’s awesome long hair doesn’t last and he gets a haircut.

Although Don forgets everything, thankfully he doesn’t forget how to do Martial Arts. That part of his brain remained intact. And while Joe Son is credited as “Beefy”, no one ever calls him that on screen. So many wasted opportunities. Well, except for the time-honored opportunity Don takes to get unnecessarily shirtless, an opportunity he seems to take as often as he can. But either because this movie has a conscience, or because it was Corman policy, the movie doesn’t go on too long, it’s around 80 minutes. So there’s some mercy there.

Bloodfist V: Human Target sadly goes in the “disappointment” column. We recommend spending your time elsewhere.

Also check reviews from our buddies The Video Vacuum and DTVC! 

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty