Gang Boys (1994)

 

Gang Boys (1994)- * * *

AKA: Skins

Directed by: Wings Hauser

Starring: Wings Hauser, Linda Blair, Dave Buzzotta, Mitch Hara, and Cole Hauser 

Joe Joiner (Wings) was an L.A. cop, but after a certain unfortunate incident, he left the force, fled to Mexico, and now lives on a boat. As a full-time alcoholic, he's constantly drowning his sorrows. When his fifteen-year-old son Marjoe (Buzzotta) is assaulted by a gang of skinheads, his mother Maggie (Blair) reaches out to Joe. After seeing with his own eyes the menace that this gang of skinheads is causing in the Hollywood area, Joe begs Maggie and Marjoe to help him kick the booze once and for all. On his road to recovery, not only does he attempt to repair the fractured relationships in his life, he also has a simple yet ingenious plan to deal with the local skinhead population - permanently. But will leader of the GANG BOYS, Bentz (Cole Hauser) prove to be the ultimate demon - out of the many that he has - for Joe Joiner?


Sandwiched in between Romper Stomper (1992) and American History X (1998), Gang Boys proves to be an undiscovered gem in the Wings canon. At least it features way more actual skinheads than Skinheads: The Second Coming of Hate (1989), which had surprisingly few. This must have been a passion project for Wings, as he directed, co-wrote, and co-produced the film, and even sang a song on the soundtrack. His wife Cali, his son Cole, and his daughter Bright also act in the film, so it really was a family affair. It's interesting subject matter for them to cover.

You'd think, after watching the opening credits and the first few minutes of the film, that this is pretty low-rent stuff, especially with all the "S's" in the credits made to look like Nazi SS S's, with those sharp edges. When such credits as "Associate Producer" are meant to look menacing, it seems a little odd. But if you stick with the movie, you'll see that it's filled with genuinely good acting and drama. The whole cast really brings their A game - you'd expect that from Wings, Cole, and Linda Blair, but even side characters such as Bruce the Vendor (Hara) really stand out.

Gang Boys isn't, strictly speaking, an action movie. It's more of a family drama, and when Wings goes into his "recover and revenge" mode, you'll be right there with him, cheering him on. The role reversal with his son, who now is caring for his father, is both touching and funny by turns.


A movie like this, with not a lot of money behind it but with a lot of heart, rises and falls on its actors, and Wings must have known this, because they elevate Gang Boys to a level it wouldn't be otherwise.


While both Wings and Linda Blair sing songs on the soundtrack ("Walkin' On the Right Side of the Devil" and "Since You've Been Gone", respectively), unfortunately, a lot of the music and dialogue is hampered by some bad audio on the VHS transfer. It was released on a small label, so it didn't reach many video stores in America. They were obviously a low-budget operation, and that goes for the quality of their tapes, as well as their quantity. That's a shame, because Gang Boys deserves better.


I know it seems like a long shot at this moment, but hopefully someday there will be a Blu-ray release of Gang Boys. That way, the public will see a cleaned-up version of a movie that should be more well-known and more often talked about. We recommend it.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

SFX Retaliator (1987)

SFX Retaliator (1987)- * * *1\2

Directed by: Jun Gallardo

Starring: Chris Mitchum, Linda Blair, and Gordon Mitchell

Steve Baker (Mitchum) has anyone’s dream job: he’s a special effects technician on movie sets, specializing in pyro. In other words, he travels to jungles far and wide in his tricked-out van and sets up the controls that provide the explosions. When the director calls “action!”, that’s exactly what Baker provides. His life gets more complicated, however, when he has a chance meeting with a woman named Doris (Blair). It seems Doris is on the run from mobsters, the lead baddie being Morgan (Mitchell). So, Baker fights off the baddies the only way he knows how – using his bag of “SFX” tricks. You’d think the bad guys would learn not to mess with Steve Baker, but at least they get one valuable takeaway: don’t upset his cobra.

The ever-reliable and ever-laconic Chris Mitchum teams up with The Firing Line (1988) director Gallardo to turn in this entertaining winner of a movie. There are some extremely cool sequences, and, speaking of cool, it’s hard to get much cooler than Chris Mitchum, especially in this movie. His nonchalant attitude is a joy to watch. He’s surrounded by a swirl of silly accents, sillier dialogue, and plenty of mindless shooting. That’s what highlights the “SFX” scenes that much more; other exploding-hut-type movies don’t have that type of innovation, so ‘Retaliator stands out from the crowd. Much like how Steve Baker’s awesome van would stand out in traffic. 

Besides sporting a canny concept, SFX Retaliator boasts some other benefits as well. Firstly the cast, with the always-welcome Mitchum supported by fan favorites Linda Blair and Gordon Mitchell. Unfortunately, Blair doesn’t get to do a heck of a lot, but Mitchell resembles an angrier Hugh Hefner as he barks orders to his underlings. Which is pretty much all he does here. On top of our three leads, another great aspect is the soundtrack. Not just the incidental music, which is quite enjoyable, but the main theme song heard during the opening credits as well. Featuring the lyrics “Retaliate, retaliate, retaliate…RETALIATE!!!” it’s hard to go wrong.

The whole outing is like something Arizal would direct, and features a low-budget exploding helicopter. Criminally, SFX Retaliator has never been released on any format in the U.S. (or even in the U.K. as far as we know). This could have been, at the very least, a cult classic if someone like Vestron or Lightning Video had put it onto video store shelves in 1987. Sadly, that was not to be, and as of this writing, SFX Retaliator sits patiently waiting for rediscovery. A company like Roninflix or Vinegar Syndrome should release it on Blu-Ray. Until that happens, there’s always YouTube. 

SFX Retaliator is a lot of fun and well worth your time.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Moving Target (1988)

Moving Target (1988)- * * *

Directed by: Marius Mattei

Starring: Linda Blair, Janine Lindemulder, Charles Pitt, Kurt Woodruff, Stuart Whitman, Gabriella Giorgelli, and Ernest Borgnine




“Someone’s shootin’ at us!” - Van Driver








When her boyfriend is shot in the head by a mysterious assailant dressed in black leather and wearing a motorcycle helmet, the beautiful Allison Spencer (Lindemulder) goes on the run. After suffering some form of amnesia after the boyfriend-shooting incident, she ends up going to live with a man who may or may not be related to her - tennis star Perry Spencer (Pitt). This is to the dismay of Perry’s girlfriend, Dr. Sally Tyler (Blair), who initially treated Allison. Meanwhile, Captain Morrison  (Borgnine) and his awesome partner (Woodruff) are trying to solve the case of the dead boyfriend, the girl with amnesia and the armed killer stalking the streets of Miami. He’s also trying to figure out how the gangster Joe Frank (what? No Reynolds?) (Whitman) plays into this whole scenario. What will happen?

This particular Moving Target (not to be confused with the Dudikoff or Don The Dragon movies of the same name) is total video store shelf-filler of the highest (or possibly lowest?) order. The 80’s were an amazing time when all you had to do was corral a few stars, such as Ernest Borgnine, Linda Blair and Stuart Whitman, guarantee them a paycheck, and then, voila, your movie is in video stores across America and the world. It was a unique time never to be repeated - a world in which Borgnine, Blair, and Janine Lindemulder could appear in a scene together and nobody bats an eyelash. 

There’s no question that the camera loves Janine, and Moving Target, if it’s nothing else, is an unabashed celebration of her beauty. While she’s credited as Janine Linde (perhaps someone thought the “Mulder” was too much for audiences to wrap their heads around...which is ironic considering the popularity of the X-Files shortly thereafter in the 90’s), fans who didn’t know she had a pre-porn acting career need to check out this movie.

So when director Marius Mattei put all his eggs in the B-star basket, he forgot to concentrate on just about everything else that directors normally concentrate on. While less forgiving viewers might condemn Moving Target for being shoddy and incoherent, we truly celebrate the priceless line readings and actor reactions Mattei captures. 

You know you’re in for something special when the movie starts with a meatheaded moron in a leopard-print speedo chasing Janine around an apartment. It then goes to a TV news reporter named Billie Cody (Giorgelli) who can barely speak English. Surely when she was hired at the TV station, her bosses figured the best way to win the trust of audiences is to get a reporter with an impenetrable Italian accent. You see it all the time. Not to mention her cameraman Chico, who wears some seriously rad necklaces. Then we go to Stuart Whitman in a tracksuit (shades of Bo Svenson in The Kill Reflex?) and that brings us to our “hero”, Perry...

Perry now runs a tennis school named Perry Spencer’s Tennis Clinic, which apparently does well - well enough to keep him in Veryfine juice, anyway - but they only have one tarp sign advertising the place. He dresses in tennis whites ALL the time, and his remote control-handling skills give Marion Cobretti a run for his money. He has amazing shorts. He doesn’t really have a finished haircut, it’s more of an asymmetrical hair pile. It’s easy to see why Allison is so attracted to him.

As for the music, it helps the movie: the opening tune, “One More Try” by Dee Lewis helps set the mood and the “totally 80’s” vibe. The main keyboard theme of the film sounds suspiciously like “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” and you think at any moment you might hear an anguished Steve Perry do his trademark “Ohhhhhhhh!!!!!” Well, someday love will find you. That seems to be the message of Moving Target, after all. 

Hurting the movie is the fact that Perry is supposed to be the hero, when it should have been Borgnine’s partner, who exudes cool from every pore. The man was totally snubbed. Helping the movie is the time-honored disco scene, and the constantly naked Janine, including some pre-Baywatch slow motion beach running.

Moving Target isn’t likely to be appreciated by too many people - but they’ve got to be out there. VHS junkies should try giving this movie some love.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Nightforce (1987)

Nightforce (1987)- * * *

Directed by: Lawrence D. Foldes

Starring: Linda Blair, James Van Patten, Claudia Udy, Chad McQueen, Casey King, Bruce Fisher, Dean Miller, James Marcel, Cameron Mitchell, Richard Lynch, and Rambo The Monkey as Pin












Christy Hansen (Udy) is a beautiful equestrian rider who seemingly has the perfect life: she’s about to marry Bob Worthington (King), a member of the prestigious and wealthy Worthington family. (Don’t they even sound rich?) - the only problem is, she’s in love with Bob’s rough-and-tumble brother Steve (Van Patten). She thinks this is the worst problem in her life, until she’s kidnapped and held captive by the San Felipe Anarchist Army. They’re a south of the border terrorist organization led by the sinister Estoban (Fisher) who doesn’t at all resemble any Cuban dictators we might know, and his army of thugs. 

Getting the typical run-around and red tape from the government - which includes Christy’s own father, Senator Adam Hansen (Mitchell) - Christy’s friends decide to become a makeshift mercenary force and go and rescue her themselves. Despite having no experience in the violent arts, the aforementioned Steve, plus Henry (McQueen), Eddie (Miller), Mack (Marcel) and Carla (Blair) attempt the rescue mission nevertheless. Along their treacherous way, they meet the mysterious but extremely helpful Vietnam vet Bishop (Lynch). Will this ragtag band of amateur vigilantes rescue their friend? Dare you find out?

A very impressive B-movie cast filled with fan favorites just kind of wade around in the mush of this colorless outing. It starts off in a very disjointed manner, and steadily becomes a more coherent, but more standard exploding hut/fruit cart chase actioner that doesn’t really offer anything new for diehard action fans. 

Sure, the opening bit has plenty of slow-motion mindless shooting set to the synthesized main theme and you think “this has promise”. but then a certain blandness and repetition sets in. 80’s staples such as the disco scene and aerobics help matters, but not enough to save the movie in its entirety. The movie needed more Cam Mitchell, who basically does a “sit-down” role. Chad McQueen brandishes a rocket launcher, and, after some initial fears, he does indeed maintain his trademark: no sleeves. McQueen’s arms must always be unencumbered by any form of cloth.

Richard Lynch puts in a likable performance, and he even plays the flute and has a pet monkey. Where else but here will you see the movie credit “Rambo the monkey as Pin”? Pin, or should we say Rambo, wears camo pants like the rest of the cast. His performance really stands out. Van Patten also appeared in director Foldes’ Young Warriors (1983), and seems like a young, confused Treat Williams. Linda Blair plays the “tough chick”, playing against the more girly Christy. It could almost be said that her character here could be a continuation of Brenda from Savage Streets (1984). Carla could be like what Brenda would have turned out as later in life. Adding to the positives column is the end-credits song, “I Still Remember”, sung by Linda herself.

Despite its mediocrity, items like Night Force actually did their own little part to make the video stores of the 80’s great. They added their own brick in the wall of mind-boggling choices the best video stores had. Not every movie ever made is going to be an awesome life-changer. Sometimes corraling some familiar names together and having them engage in some mindless shooting and blow-ups is enough. Clearly the filmmakers knew this, as indicated by its 79 minute running time. It was all good enough for Lightning Video to release it (it was produced by Vestron Pictures) - and as long as you don’t expect too much, you might be able to wring some enjoyment out of the rag that is Night Force.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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

Savage Streets (1984)

Savage Streets (1984)- * * * *

Directed by: Danny Steinmann

Starring: Linda Blair, Robert Dryer, Linnea Quigley, Sal Landi, Rebecca Perle, Brian Frishman, and John Vernon













Brenda (Blair) is a tough, streetwise chick who loves nothing more than hanging out on the streets of Hollywood with her group of friends named The Satins (remember when friends used to do that?) - but her one soft spot is for her deaf/mute sister, Heather (Quigley). 

Trouble arises when a group of no-good street toughs called The Scars, who do nothing but annoy and harass everyone, cross paths with The Satins. Led by the sinister Jake (Dryer), he and his boys continually up the ante, until they go WAY too far, and Brenda, who was already on the edge and getting into catfights at school with the cheerleader Cindy (Perle), snaps and begins wearing black fingerless gloves. Suspended from school by Principal Underwood (Vernon), she is free to use her time to get her revenge against The Scars. Will she complete her mission? Find out today!

This movie is so, so great. Imagine if Foxes (1980) was an exploitative revenge movie. The awesomeness of the 80’s is cranked to 11, and the film seemingly makes no apologies for its unabashed, for lack of a better word, raunch. To the delight of viewers, political correctness is light years away, and everything from the dialogue on down has a wickedly entertaining power that is impossible to resist.  

Linda Blair has absolutely never been better - her level of sassiness is off the charts, and her exchanges with just about everybody give her some great lines - but her best on-screen partner is John Vernon, and their scenes together are priceless.

The fashions not just the Satins, but everyone wears are mind-boggling, and the music is perfect, especially the songs by John Farnham. You thought the songs he did for Rad (1986) were great, just check these out. Someone needs to do a CD reissue stat.  Whoever created the signs in the movie truly outdid themselves - “Doctors Hospital” and at the club MX there is a sign on the wall that simply reads “Rock and Roll”. You truly cannot beat that. 

Outside of a record store there are posters for Kiss, Def Leppard and Motley Crue, and it wouldn’t be a high school-set movie without a 42-year old student, this time it’s Cindy’s boyfriend Wes (Frishman). Or at least that’s how it seems.

We really have nothing negative to say about Savage Streets. If you love awesome things and fun times, you will love it. Not to mention 80’s nostalgia. The movie truly shows why revenge movies are among our favorites. It delivers exactly what you want, and then some. If there are any haters out there, don’t listen to them. Savage Streets is an out-and-out winner!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a write-up from our buddy, The Video Vacuum! 

Silent Assassins (1988)

Silent Assassins (1988)-* * *

Directed by: Doo-Yong Lee

Starring: Sam Jones, Linda Blair, Bill Erwin, Phillip Rhee, Jun Chong, Gustav Vintas, Rebecca Ferratti, and Mako












Sam Kettle (Jones) is tired of being an L.A. cop on the edge, so he and his wife Sara (Blair) decide to move to Colorado. But before he can escape, he’s called back in for “one last mission”. It seems a criminal mastermind named Kendrick (Vintas of Zero Tolerance fame), who is an “Ex-C.I.A. turned psychotic”, and his apprentice, Amy (Ferratti),  have kidnapped elderly biochemist Dr. Terence London (Erwin), and a six-year-old girl as well. Seeing as Kendrick was responsible for the death of Kettle’s old partner, now he wants to settle the score. Coming along for the ride is Jun Kim (Chong), uncle of the kidnapped girl, and Bernard (Rhee), owner of a Kendo studio. But to achieve their goal won’t be easy, as they have to face off against not just regular ninjas, but ninjas with axes (or, “Ninjaxes”). Will the trio be able to fight to the finish?  And what does a stuffed Heathcliff doll have to do with all this?

From the opening credit informing us that this is an “Action Brother Production, Inc.”, you know you are in for something good. Silent Assassins is a fast-paced and entertaining romp with some familiar faces, and the movie is easy to enjoy. Sam Jones is the ultimate 80’s coolguy, with his sunglasses, jeep, bomber jacket, spiky brushcut hairdo and unshaven face. He’s truly as cool as the metal his last name in the movie is obviously made of. In the big-budget remake they’ll surely get Bruce Willis to replace him. But Mako is onboard as well. We love seeing him, but he’s still unintelligible. Yet another fan favorite, Phillip Rhee rounds out the cast of heroes and right there you know you have something worth seeing. Unfortunately, Linda Blair plays a cliched “wife” role and doesn’t live up to the image on the box cover. That could have added a new dimension to this movie, but sadly it wasn’t to be.

But that’s one of the few negatives here - there’s plenty of high-kicking action, not to mention the damage incurred by the Ninjaxes, which include dismemberments and fan-favorite death, decapitation. There’s even a possible exploding helicopter for fans of that, as well. Bill Erwin, who fans of Seinfeld may remember as the old guy with the large record collection that Kramer and Newman try to resell, shows us all that if you want to blow up a computer, just turn the keyboard over so the keys are facing down. The kidnapped senior citizen plotline is very reminiscent of the previous year’s Survival Game (1987), where the older man in question was played by Seymour Cassel. Kidnapping the elderly to find out their secrets must have been a popular idea in ‘87-88.

Silent Assassins delivers the Golden-Age-of-the-video-store-style action goods and achieves a lot of entertainment for its modest budget. We liked it.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Double Blast (1994)

Double Blast (1994)-* * *

Directed by: Tim Spring

Starring: Dale "Apollo" Cook, Linda Blair, Joe Estevez, Ron Hall, Ned Hourani, John Barrett, Crystal Summer, Stephen Brouse, Lorne Berfield, and Robert Z'Dar











Greg (Cook) is a professional kickboxer who has a son, Jimmy (Berfield), and a daughter, Lisa (Summer), who take after their father and also are proficient in Martial Arts. When a gang of no-goodniks led by Nadir (Estevez) and his number one goon Mongoose (Z’Dar) kidnap archaeologist Claudia (Blair) because she can translate an ancient stone tablet said to lead to the whereabouts of great riches, the kidnapping is witnessed by Lisa and Jimmy. They follow the baddies into the jungle, and are soon followed by their dad. So now everyone, good guys and bad guys alike, are trekking through jungles and caves to try and find the treasure. Who will end up with it?

Ah, to be a kid in the 90’s. You could go to your local video store, rent Double Blast and maybe a Genesis game, then go home and watch Wild and Crazy Kids while eating your Fruit By The Foot. It’s a nice scenario, and surely one that the filmmakers at Davian International (the people behind most of Dale “Apollo” Cook’s movies) were aiming for. Double Blast is nothing if not an attempt to crack the market of younger kids seeking action thrills, and in the attempt making a sort of cross between Home Alone (1990), The Goonies (1985) and Three Ninjas (1992) (one of Berfield’s only credits is a “thank you” on Three Ninjas - was he a young consultant, a stunt-kid, or was he in the running to be one of the Ninjas? We may never know...) Seeing as how the Martial Arts fights aren’t all that different from Cook’s other movies, if such a designation exists, this movie would surely be a hard PG.

Cook carries over his time-honored sweatpants-and-fannypack look into this movie. Why an acknowledged action star of the time insisted on dressing like a tourist in every one of his films remains a mystery. Lorne Berfield, the kid who played Jimmy, was very good and seemed to have a promising career ahead of him. Sadly it never materialized. Linda Blair is along for the silly ride, and Joe Estevez chews scenery as the main baddie. Robert Z’Dar holds up his end of the wackiness on show, and this is the only credited performance of Crystal Summer, who’s not a porn star as far as we know. There are some other names in the cast fans will know, such as Ron Hall, who flips around and fights in a full suit, John Barrett, who’s Cook’s fight trainer, and Ned Hourani, who plays one of the baddies who is constantly getting beat up by children.

Director Tim Spring was certainly on a tear in the mid-90’s, having directed Reason to Die (1990), Double Blast, and Raw Target (1995) all in a row. The golden age of the video store brought out the best in people, and gave us more choices than ever before. What’s good about Double Blast is that it’s at least upbeat, and there’s no annoying kid, which there easily could have been. There are zany “BOING!” sound effects while the children are beating up the grown-ups, and characters read newspapers with grammatical errors in them. Lisa has a boyfriend (Lisa has a boyfriend!) named Charlie (Stephen Brause, in his only role) who looks exactly like TV’s Zack Morris. Maybe that’s why Brause never went on to anything else. The world already had a Zack.

But perhaps the most interesting thing, from today’s standpoint, about Double Blast is how characters call each other “retard” as an insult. You CANNOT do that today. Or maybe you could, but your movie would be rated R, and you’d be accused of bullying and defamation and sued within an inch of your life. It’s all done without malice, it truly was a more innocent time back then, people didn’t know what they were saying. In the end, we watched Double Blast because of the very impressive cast, but the movie is certainly geared for younger viewers. Not unlike Little Ninjas (1990). It’s pretty dumb, but the cast basically keeps it afloat. If you have occasion to watch something of this kind, you could probably do worse than Double Blast.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Bail Out (1989)

Bail Out (1989)-* *
AKA: W.B., Blue and the Bean

Directed by: Max Kleven

Starring: David Hasselhoff, Linda Blair, John Vernon, Gregory Scott Cummins, George "Buck" Flower, and Danny Trejo




Bail Out is a silly action/adventure/comedy which isn't very funny, at least not intentionally. The original title "W.B., Blue and the Bean" (which appears after the end credits, while "Bail Out" is the title in the opening credits. Did they forget to change it?) should give some indication of the movie's intentions.

Roger "White Bread" Donaldson (or W.B. for short) (The Hoff) is a part-time tennis instructor and part-time bounty hunter. He has two associates - you guessed it - Mason "Blue" Walcott (Tony Brubaker) and, of course, The Bean (Tom Rosales). When heiress Nettie Ridgeway (Blair) is abducted by drug lords (led by Cummins of Action U.S.A. (1989) fame as Zaldizar) and spirited away to Mexico, it's up to our three heroes to save the day. They have to get her to court on time in order to collect a million dollars. The three buddies want to open their own bail bondsmanship so they can stop working for the haranguing Aram Haronian, their boss. Will they succeed?

While it is funny to see the mighty Hasselhoff with his mullet and giant cell phone hamming it up for all the world to see, and an attempt is made at politically-incorrect humor ("these guys drive worse than the Orientals!", "Roasted Colombians, nothin' finer!", etc.) sadly it all seems a bit forced and unfunny. Once they get to Mexico, there is a stereotype Mexican character that is very, very annoying. The movie was already on pretty thin ice by then, and the addition of this character did not help at all.



There are some car chases, shootouts and horseback riding, and the cast is full of familiar faces such as Trejo, Flower, the Hoff, Blair, and a surprising appearance by Gregory Scott Cummins as the drug lord. We were so used to seeing him as the all-American good guy from Action U.S.A. He truly has a lot of versatility. John Vernon is also on hand as Linda Blair's father. What is he truly up to?

Nothing really weird or truly noteworthy happens in Bail Out. It's all pretty standard fare, so stupid at times it almost insults the audience's intelligence. We know it's a direct to video movie starring The Hoff, but come on. Give us some credit here. But then again it was directed by Max Kleven, the "mastermind" behind Fugitive Champion (1997). At least Chip Mayer was nowhere in sight. So if you can survive all the groaners for jokes and some middling action, you MAY be entertained by Bail Out if you are in the right mood (i.e., a really goofy mood).

Bail Out was released on VHS in the U.S. on the great Vestron label. We couldn't find any commercially-released version of the film under the "W.B. Blue and the Bean" moniker. If you have a picture of that, please send it in.

NOTE: Because there are so many boxcovers for this title, we have decided to change things up and are pleased to present...the BAIL OUT GALLERY! Enjoy!


















Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty