Aftershock (1990)

Aftershock (1990)- * * *

Directed by: Frank Harris

Starring: Jay Roberts Jr., Chris DeRose, Elizabeth Kaitan, James Lew, Matthias Hues, Chuck Jeffreys, Al Leong, Chris Mitchum, Michael Berryman, Russ Tamblyn, Gerald Okamura, John Saxon, and Richard Lynch

"Chill Out, Mushroom"-Prisoner

In a post-apocalyptic world, society is broken up into fascist-type overlords and their minions who try to control the population, and the rebels who fight the baddies for their freedom. Everyone in society is required to have a barcode on their arm. However, the underground resistance is gathering steam with their "Start To Question!" campaign, which they push through flyers, spray-painted walls, and other means. 


The catalyst for the ultimate battle between the Empire and the Rebels is a beautiful extraterrestrial named Sabina (Kaitan). Baddie Oliver Quinn (Saxon) wants to experiment on her, but rebel Willie (Roberts Jr.) wants to run away with her. Will it be World War III...again?




Aftershock may be one of the many, many post-apocalyptic movies out there (we call them post-ap's for short), but it has a handful of things going for it that its competitors don't. Its Star Wars-esque plot allows for some actual ideas to come forth, which is more than some of the others can claim. Also, on the whole it's a lot better than, say, Bloodfist 2050 (2005) or Dragon Fire (1993). It's directed by Frank Harris, who is very well known to us from his action films of the 70's and 80's, and the whole thing gets funnier and more enjoyable as it goes along. By the halfway point, things really start to pick up. 

But, unquestionably, Aftershock has one of the best B-Movie casts ever. We don't say that lightly. Somehow Harris was able to corral an amazing bunch of people - and the whole thing doesn't even fall prey to Lone Tiger Effect. Sure, with such a cast, not everyone gets all the time in the spotlight they perhaps should, but the movie overall is far from a dud. Here's a breakdown:




- Jay Roberts, Jr. as Willie, the rebel with the earring, motorcycle, rattail, and Martial Arts moves is the main hero and love interest for Sabina. We hadn't seen him since White Phantom and were glad to see his triumphant return.
- Chuck Jeffreys as Danny, Willie's sidekick. His energy, athletic ability, and Eddie Murphy-esque charisma was more than welcome.
- Elizabeth Kaitan as Sabina, the alien. Her transformation from clueless creature from another world to wise woman was genuinely charming. She learned all she knows by soaking up the info from a container of floppy disks (as we all did back then...though isn't this the future? Anyway...) and it's well-noted that she wears fireproof clothes.
- John Saxon as the evil Oliver made the perfect main baddie. If he's the Darth Vader, then...
- Richard Lynch as Commander Eastern was the Emperor. He wasn't in it that much but it was nice to see him.
- James Lew was one of the enforcers, and...
- Chris DeRose was one of the others. Both were heavies but DeRose looked more like Chris Noth than ever.
- Chris Mitchum - we haven't even gotten to Chris Mitchum until now! Normally his presence alone in a movie would be enough for us. Here he's one of the rebel commanders. You can always use more Mitchum but what are ya gonna do?
- Matthias Hues is a hulking, punchfighting, almost Conan-esque brute. He doesn't say anything, but his partner in crime is none other than...
- Michael Berryman - even by his standards his character is extremely bizarre, a cross-dressing fighter of the wasteland.
- Russ Tamblyn is also on board as a bartender and good guy. What little screen time he has, he makes the most of with a sympathetic character.
- Al Leong and
- Gerald Okamura both have blink-and-you'll-miss-em cameos as fighters in some of the Punchfighting/battle scenes.




This reads more like the lineup for a convention like Chiller Theatre than a cast list for one movie. For the cast alone, Aftershock is worth seeing. The post-ap aspects (post-aspects?) aren't amazingly different from others of its ilk, but the main difference is the terrific cast. 

Filmed at the Kaiser Steel Plant in Fontana, California and the Domtar Gypsum Paper Mill in Vernon, California - because obviously places where they used to make paper and steel now look like bombed-out wastelands - Aftershock does have some standout moments, mainly after the halfway point, and the cast is fantastic. That should be enough for at least a one-time watch.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

No Escape, No Return (1993)

No Escape, No Return (1993)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Charles T. Kanganis

Starring: Maxwell Caulfield, Dustin Nguyen, Denise Loveday, Joey Travolta, Real Andrews, Pamela Dixon, Robert Miano, John Saxon, and Michael Nouri










Police officers William Sloan (Caulfield), Tommy Cuff (Nguyen), and Ali Weston (Loveday) are more than just your average cops. They grew up together, trained together, and graduated the academy together, all at the top of their class, with their own individual specialties. They have a strong bond, and that bond will be tested to the limits when a corrupt DEA agent, Dante (Nouri) tries to set them on a path to their ultimate ruin. 

When another official, Mitchell (Saxon) comes in to investigate, he realizes something fishy is going on. Dante, against the warnings of their Captain, Stark (Travolta), made them a special team to investigate drug runners, setting them up for a fall. While each member of the team has their own personal demons to confront, will they be able to outsmart and out-shoot the bureaucratic forces lined up against them? Much like a busy day at the Stop & Shop bottle return room, will it be NO ESCAPE NO RETURN?

PM’s batting average remains high with this very enjoyable and entertaining outing. It’s gems like this that made going to the video store fun - trying new titles, never knowing what to expect, and sometimes finding a winner. Items like No Escape No Return kept the odds in your favor.  

We appreciate that. NENR (don’t kids tease each other by saying “neener neener neener”?) was essentially the culmination of writer/director Charles Kanganis’s time at PM. It does appear to be the end of his education and evolution there, as he seems to put all he’s learned onto the screen, with winning results. Coming hot on the heels of his Traci Lords diptych, A Time To Die (1991) and Intent to Kill (1992), here Kanganis goes full-throated action and makes no apologies for it. There’s a ton of action, the stuntwork is top-notch, the movie is shot and directed well so you can see all of what’s going on, there are shootings, high-quality blow-ups, and beat-ups constantly, and two of our favorite settings for action are, of course, here: the disco and the bar. The disco scene features some very cool slo-mo and the bar, of course, is the place for the time-honored barfight (which, in classic form, is instigated by some racial slurs that you would never hear today in our stranglingly PC world).

 As if all that wasn’t enough, we have a stellar cast of familiar faces to keep the whole ship buoyant. Dustin Nguyen’s “back’s against the wall” once again, as it was in 21 Jump Street, and it’s hard to find a cooler moment in our recent memory than him, dressed in a black leather jacket, with fingerless gloves, and shades, holding double handguns and he takes down the bad guys. 

Fan favorite John Saxon resembles Rudy Giuliani, Joey Travolta resembles...I mean, does his part (mainly delivering exposition) quite well, and Michael Nouri looks like he’s gotten a haircut. Even mainstays Robert Miano and Real Andrews get in on the fun. And we’ve gained a new respect for Maxwell Caulfield. Far from being just a cross between Jeff Fahey and C. Thomas Howell, his performance is also cool and great.

For PM fans, this movie will certainly put you in mind of Maximum Force (1992) - but NENR has a unique character all its own. Maybe that’s because Kanganis places emphasis on character development - there’s more of it in the first five minutes of this movie than a lot of other action movies combined. So you always care about these people and what happens to them. If that wasn’t the case, all the car-flipping-over-in-the-middle-of-the-street-and-blowing-up stunts wouldn’t mean a thing. So, we applaud all involved with No Escape No Return (not to be confused with No Retreat, No Surrender) - it delivers the goods.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett 

The Last Samurai (1991)

The Last Samurai (1991)- * *

Directed by: Paul Mayersberg

Starring: Lance Henriksen, John Fujioka, Arabella Holzbog, Lisa Eilbacher, and John Saxon











Yasujiro Endo (Fujioka) is a Japanese businessman who decides to go to the African nation of Imtazi. He believes an ancestor of his was a samurai warrior who somehow got lost in Africa, and he is searching for answers. But for him it becomes a sort of spiritual quest to reconnect with his past. Meanwhile, he is surrounded by other colorful characters, such as Johnny Congo (Henriksen), a Vietnam vet, and Al-Hakim (Saxon), an Arab sheik. Caro and Susan (Holzbog and Eilbacher) have their own reasons for being there as well. 

Things really start to heat up when, surprisingly enough, strife occurs in Africa. That seems to give everyone the excuse for violence they’re looking for (or maybe that’s just the audience). Will Endo truly be THE LAST SAMURAI?

Not to be confused with the Tom Cruise movie of the same name, here the Last Samurai in question seems to be John Fujioka. He was a prolific actor that appeared in American Ninja (1985), American Ninja 2 (1987), American Samurai (1992) and American Yakuza (1993). He was obviously as obsessed with “American”-based action movies as we are here at Comeuppance Reviews, and for that we salute him. Clearly Tom Cruise is jealous of this guy. 

But here’s the problem: The Last Samurai is a case of the old “bait and switch”. With a title like that, and with a picture of Fujioka on the front brandishing a giant sword, you think you know what you’re in for. But you’d be wrong: this movie is an Africa Slog. Much like a Space Slog, a Submarine Slog, an Airplane Slog, or perhaps a Sci-Fi Slog, An Africa Slog might be fun for the cast and crew of the movie, but it’s not for the audience. After sitting there restlessly throughout most of the running time, you’re GLAD he’s the Last Samurai.

Even the great Lance Henriksen cannot save this. He does his absolute best, and his bolo tie is pretty awesome, but he’s struggling against a wall of incoherent plotting and incompetent direction, which is surprising for the normally talented Paul Mayersberg. Knowing his history, he may have been going for the artier end of things, but it all seems to fall flat. It’s hard to tell what’s going on here and why. Simply putting a bunch of characters in Africa is not the same thing as a plot. But Henriksen - whose name is Johnny Congo, it feels important to reiterate - had faced very similar challenges before, namely with Savage Dawn (1985). 

Interestingly enough, his co-star here, Arabella Holzbog, would appear with him again the same year in Stone Cold (1991), which was sort of like a biker do-over to correct the mistakes of Savage Dawn. It was also interesting to see fellow fan favorite John Saxon as some sort of Arab sheik. Saxon’s accent, or Saxccent, set him apart and showed his acting range.

Yes, the beginning of the film has a classy black and white Kendo match, and the climax has some good action, but it’s too little too late, as there’s not much of any in the middle of the movie. The Last Samurai is closer in spirit to Danger Zone (1996), Sweepers (1998), and even, heaven help us, High Explosive (2001), but it’s not that bad. 

We don’t want to malign the movie too much, but we felt it did not deliver on its promises. It lacks surprises or excitement. We really wanted to like the movie, but not much happens that makes it easy to like.

We found the Front Row Entertainment VHS at the Salvation Army, and we were excited at first, but it may get put back into circulation there.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

The Final Alliance (1990)

The Final Alliance (1990)- * * *

Directed by: Mario DiLeo

Starring: David Hasselhoff, Jeanie Moore, Bo Hopkins, and John Saxon



“I’ve been shot before. I survived. You won’t.”- Will Colton







Will Colton (The Hoff) is a man who swears by his awesome hat, beard stubble, mullet, tight jeans, cowboy boots and jacket. He also has a pet puma named Felix. He returns to his old hometown of Goldcrest, and begins fixing up his old homestead. However, that does not sit well with the local biker gang, called The Vipers. Through their forceful intimidation tactics and a frightened populace (of only 3000 people), The Vipers run Goldcrest. It’s also because the leader of the gang, an albino named Ghost (Saxon) has a corrupt relationship with the Sheriff, Whistler (Hopkins). 

So it’s up to Will Colton to clean up this town, with the help of new love Carrie (Moore). As if that wasn’t enough, an event in Colton’s past drives him to get revenge on The Vipers. Will he succeed?

Hasselhoff should have been in more movies like this. It plays to all of his strengths.  He even runs in slow motion at one point. The Final Alliance is a lot of fun, though it’s nothing, plotwise, you haven’t seen before. The “stranger comes to town and cleans up said town” has been around since time immemorial and if you’ve seen Walking Tall: The Payback, Nowhere To Run, Street Corner Justice, Radical Jack, and Fire Down Below, among many other possible examples, you’ll know what we’re talking about. It’s all very David Heavener-esque (let’s not forget to add Outlaw Force to the list), but somehow, someway, The Hoff makes it work. Just as he unfailingly has done for his entire career.

Casting John Saxon, a man of Italian descent, as an albino was certainly an interesting choice. The role seemed tailor-made for Richard Lynch, but perhaps he wasn’t available. Saxon’s ghoulish appearance adds something to the overall feeling. Bo Hopkins also puts in an inspired performance (read: insane) and he yells most of his lines. It’s truly a pleasure to watch Saxon, Hopkins and Hasselhoff in this outing. It doesn’t get much better than The Hoff as a former mercenary with a proficiency in booby traps.

There are the time-honored stand-bys such as the abandoned warehouse fight and barfight, and the fact that this movie is from 1990 and shot in a foreign country is evident pretty much all the time. Prime examples include plenty of stonewashed denim, Hoff’s first nemesis is a dude in a Manowar half-shirt, the town has a combination general store/video store (complete with posters for The Untouchables, among others), graffiti on the walls says “Dead People Are Cool” (???) and the word “Tobacco” is spelled incorrectly on another sign in the small town, which feels very much like a Western set. And of course, the sax on the soundtrack.

Director DiLeo has fashioned an entertaining, if incredibly undemanding romp that’s not to be taken too seriously. While we’re not exactly sure what “the final alliance” refers to in the saga of Will Colton, you’ll be pretty much guaranteed a night of silly fun if you can find this VHS.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

The Hit Team (1971)

The Hit Team (1971)-*1\2

Directed by: Jerry Thorpe

Starring: Ray Milland and John Saxon













In Denver, Colorado, George DeSalles (Milland) is a hot shot businessman at the top of his profession. He contacts a group of men (the said “hit team”) with the intention of killing his wife. This begins to unravel the dominance of the hit team in Denver. The main triggerman is an unstable maniac named Dave Poohler (Saxon). He’s frantically going around town trying to hide from the cops, as well as his fellow partners-in-crime. Everyone seems to want to get their hands on this Poohler guy. What will be his fate - and the people searching for him?

It appears The Hit Team, or, Company of Killers as it is also known, was originally intended as a TV movie back in 1971, but then got a theatrical release. Flash forward to the 80’s, when video stores were hungry for product to fill their shelves. They would take just about anything, regardless of its quality. 

The Hit Team was probably inexpensive to acquire, and it was simply gussied up with some nifty artwork. It seems The Hit Team is a classic case of being suckered in by the box art. If you look at that yelling guy with the gun, you figure you can’t go wrong.  Unfortunately, this is a boring, staid, old-fashioned programmer where nothing happens of any excitement.

Despite the cast of quality names, this is a dry, dull procedural that doesn’t even come close to rising above the pack in any way. It’s very slow, especially by today’s standards. It’s just a bunch of dry, unengaging scenes piled on top of each other. It seems the filmmakers didn’t make much effort to really involve the viewer. 

It’s sad, really, because with this cast, the movie had potential. Even though The Hit Team is deservedly obscure, John Saxon does put in a very good performance and manages to stand out. But it’s not nearly enough to save the whole movie. People like Ray Milland only add to the sense of stodginess. Saxon can’t hope to overcome that.

Because it was 1971, there are some great mustaches and big hair on display, and the movie even starts out like Police Squad! (or The Naked Gun series) with a camera mounted on top of a police car as it drives around. 

The way we viewed the movie was the Canadian VHS, released on Ambassador Video. There are some notable errors on the box (besides the fact that they make the movie out to be something that it’s not) - they list the running time as 90 minutes, but it’s really 72. According to the description, “Their intention is to fulful numerous contracts”. I know I had a sense of fulfulment. Also, someone named “Glu” Gulager is involved. We realize “Clu” isn’t the most common name, but Glu? Come on. Maybe the box was written by a French Canadian that had never tried his hand at English before.

In all, we feel The Hit Team will more than likely bore you to tears. Really the only reason to ever buy this VHS is for lovers of box art that want this cover in their collection. Otherwise, unless you want a cure for insomnia, we say avoid.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Violent Protection (1976)

Violent Protection (1976)-* * *

Directed by: Umberto Lenzi

Starring: Maurizo Merli, John Saxon, Barry Sullivan, and Massimo Deda













Betti (Merli) is a Cop On The Edge who is brought to Naples to help bust up the protection rackets plaguing the city. The top brass doesn’t necessarily approve of his unorthodox methods, but you can’t argue with his results! It seems the crime wave Betti has been called upon to stop is being promulgated by “The Generale” (Sullivan), and he’s intertwined with businessman Francesco Capuano (Saxon). 

Along the way, Betti befriends a sassy young boy, Gennarino (Deda, who reprised this role in the Violent Protection spinoff movie Weapons Of Death (1977)). Now Betti must wage a one-man war on crime and the baddies are going to wish they had some protection from this violence!

Violent Protection is an entertaining and worthwhile entry into the Poliziotteschi genre. Italy in the 70’s was having some real problems with crime and kidnappings, and these hard-hitting cop movies came along to exploit that situation. Luckily, most of them are actually good movies that are highly watchable. 

Umberto Lenzi, like many of the directors of his generation, was a journeyman-style artist, a man versatile in every genre - Spaghetti Westerns, Giallos, Crime movies, Peplums, War movies and more - but is seemingly most known for his horror output in the 80’s, like Cannibal Ferox (1981), Eaten Alive (1980) and the wonderful Nightmare City (1980). He brings his best attributes on board for Violent Protection, and the results are worth seeing.

Maurizio Merli was a mainstay of the genre, and it’s no wonder, he’s perfectly suited to the part of the determined and mustachioed cop. John Saxon also pops up a lot in these genre movies, and Barry Sullivan rounds out the cast of well-known names. 

There are plenty of memorable action setpieces, from the high-speed motorcycle chase to the scenes in the bowling alley and the train. The dubbed version has some interesting choices of dialogue, where characters call each other “You crud!” and “Ya fathead!” in that classic yell-y dubbed way we’ve all come to know and not love. But the excellent score by Franco Micalizzi pastes everything together nicely.

While the movie was released on one of our favorite VHS labels, Paragon, seeing as it’s a dubbed and pan-and-scanned release, a cleaned-up widescreen DVD would do the presentation of this fine movie a lot of good. Maybe MYA or Raro will take the case soon. There is a great end-credits song, “A Man Before Your Time”, which, confusingly, is said to have been played by The Bulldogs, but recorded by The Blue Jeans. We’re not entirely sure what that means, but check out the song at the end.

In all, Violent Protection should please both fans and newcomers to the Poliziotteschi genre.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Hands Of Steel (1986)

Hands Of Steel (1986)-* * *

AKA: Queruak

Directed by: Sergio Martino

Starring: Daniel Greene, Franco Fantasia, George Eastman, Janet Agren, and John Saxon

A big thank you to Sutekh from Explosive Action for providing us with a copy!









In a post-apocalyptic city, Rev. Arthur Mosely (Fantasia) is the man controlling things. With posters pasted all around that scream “You Have No Future”, the populace is understandably despairing. Enter a hulking brute named, inexplicably, Paco Queruak (Greene). Queruak is 80% cyborg and has been programmed to kill Mosely. After seemingly completing his mission, Paco goes on the run and ends up in rural Arizona. He stops at a road house run by Linda (Agren) and begins working there, as well as developing a relationship with her. But her joint is known for its rowdy arm-wrestling competitions. A man named Raul (Eastman) sure does love to wrist-wrassle. All the while, a mysterious businessman named Turner (Saxon), as well as his goons, are after Paco because they want to stop him, and they will stop at nothing to do so. Dodging danger at every turn, what will happen to Paco Queruak?

Paco Queruak. That name is really all you need to know. The minds that could come up with that applied their talents to an entire movie. How do you even pronounce that last name? Is it like Jack Kerouac? Because if so, Paco Queruak is the real “beat poet”, if you know what we mean. Hands of Steel is director Sergio Martino’s take on the movies of the day - it’s sort of a melange of The Terminator (1984) and Robocop (1987) if they were to walk into a Road House (1989) and go Over The Top (1987). Impressively, Hands of Steel pre-dated all those movies except The Terminator. Martino would go on to use Daniel Greene in American Tiger (1990) a few years later, but here he’s cast perfectly as the lead, because he can be as robotic as he wants to be.

In the future there are plenty of abandoned warehouses, signs warning against acid rain, and, perhaps most dangerously, John Saxon with a laser cannon. It seemed like Saxon was going to have a sit-down role for most of the movie until this scene occurred. It’s worth watching this movie for this part alone. Plus there’s an evil cyborg named Susie that is uncredited in the movie but looks a lot like Daria Nicolodi. But as for the lead, Daniel Greene as - one more time - Paco Queruak - for a guy with “Hands Of Steel” he sure ends up in the right place. That being a place where arm wrestling is king. And during a computer run-down of his attributes as part man and part machine, this is seen on the screen: “Negative Characteristics: None”. So he really is the perfect man. But the strange coda at the end of the movie just may confuse things. You’ll just have to see it to know what we mean.

Highlighted by some great music by Claudio Simonetti, Hands Of Steel is a lot of fun and definitely worth checking out.

Also check out our buddy, RobotGEEK's review!

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Maximum Force (1992)

Maximum Force (1992)-* * *

Directed By: Joseph Merhi

Starring: Asbjorn "Bear" Riis, Sam J. Jones, John Saxon, Richard Lynch, and Mickey Rooney




"Trouble and me are old friends..."








Maximum Force is an enjoyable 90s direct to video blow 'em up from PM entertainment.

Max Tanabe (as portrayed by the non-Japanese Lynch) is an unscrupulous crime lord who operates out of a high rise office building in downtown L.A. He claims it is like a fortress and he never leaves the boardroom. This is unfortunate for his multiracial gang of baddies who have to suffer through all night meetings.

Captain Fuller (Saxon) has been trying to catch Tanabe for years but he is too evil to get caught. Fuller is close to retirement and wants to end his career with a bang by nabbing Tanabe. Towards this end he assembles a crack team of three cops who each dispense their own brand of justice.

Crews (Sam J. Jones) is the unshaven, unwashed, cigarette smoking, leather jacket wearing badass who spends his days trying to break up an underground (is there any other kind...) kick\punch\shootfighting ring.

Randal (Sherrie Rose) is a tough-talkin' dame who goes undercover as a prostitute and has no problem kicking, shooting and punching with the best of them.

Carver (Jason Lively) is the techie nerd and is a sassy jokester that provides the comic relief, such as it is.

Separately they all have their own cases....but once they are assembled by Fuller, they become a Maximum Force to be reckoned with!

They are holed up in an underlit studio apartment/hideout where they work on becoming "One mind body and soul". They are many scenes developing their camaraderie, including many training sequences. The standout being the one with Crews smoking a cigarette while jumping rope. Naturally, there is a romantic triangle between the cops. Crews wins out because the other guy's pickup line involves shooting him in the chest while he tries out an experimental bulletproof vest. Also he is a nerd. The final phase of their training involves a surprise ninja attack. They pass with flying colors. Tanabe better watch his back...

Mickey Rooney is in this crud as the corrupt chief of police who is on the take from Tanabe. He wants Fuller to stop pursuing him. Rooney never leaves his limo.

The final confrontation between Tanabe's minions and the Maxiumum Forcers involves many of the minions (who you know are bad because they all have rat tails and mullets.) being blown to kingdom come on Carver's explosive remote control cars. In the last minutes of the movie they introduce a great new character: BEAR (Asbjorn "Bear" Riis)! A hulking superdude who picks people up and throws them. Crews randomly states "this is my friend....BEAR!" and he briefly becomes part of the team. Somehow BEAR ends up in a science lab. Because brawn not brains are BEAR's specialty he looks confused and says "HUH?" in true Charles Barkley fashion. Sadly, mere seconds after meeting him, he passes away. This was a sad moment for us all.

A moment of silence please...


This is an entertaining actioner but it needed more BEAR!



Comeuppance Review by: Ty & Brett