Blood Chase (1991)

 

Blood Chase (1991)- * * *

Directed by: Teddy Page 

Starring: Andrew Stevens, Karen Sheperd, John Light, Tony Chang, and Mike Monty

Eddie Nichols (Light) is the lead goon in a tight-knit group of baddies. Five years after committing a payroll heist, they're still looking for a man named Ross Anderson (Monty), because they believe he has stashed away the money. Unfortunately for Ross's daughter Cheryl (Sheperd), the goons have trained their sights on her, believing she knows the whereabouts of the cash. As a police officer highly trained in Martial Arts, she has no trouble fending off the baddies. But, for extra security, she involves her husband John (Stevens), and the two of them join forces to fight the thugs and get to the truth, step by step, about her father's whereabouts. Whether it's dealing with family lineage, or beating up bad guys, will this be the ultimate BLOOD CHASE?



You know you're in for a treat when during the opening heist sequence, the baddies are stealing bags of money with the words "U.S. Government Property" painted on them. Said bags wouldn't be out of place in a McDonald's commercial as they're stolen by the Hamburglar.



You've gotta love Teddy Page. He knows how to open a movie with a bang. Blood Chase is remarkably consistent throughout, and is a lot of fun to watch. To have Karen Sheperd and Andrew Stevens fighting alongside one another was a great choice, and the pairing works very well. Thankfully, Page doesn't skimp on the punching, kicking, shooting, and blow-ups.



Blood Chase has all the faces we know and love from these Philippines-set actioners, such as Jim Moss, David Light, Jerry Beyer, Mike Monty, Nick Nicholson, Eric Hahn, Henry Strzalkowski, and others. During this period of time, these men must have been consistently working in the Philippines film industry, and it's like a stock company of familiar faces that fans of the genre have grown to know and love. The addition of Shepard and Stevens only sweetens the deal.



You know the main baddie is evil because he yells at a waiter about his navy bean soup at the Pink Patio restaurant. He also has a classic evil laugh. There is a lot of funny/silly dialogue that is amusingly dubbed. The fight scenes are energetically done, which is amped up even more when the film is sped up slightly, giving it a Hong Kong-type feel. That's further reinforced with the character of David Hung (Chang), a very mysterious individual who helps out Cheryl and John in their quest.



Also, when something dramatic happens, there is a dun-dun-dun! musical sting on the soundtrack. You know it's not a revelation, just a dramatic moment, because the third note goes down instead of up. In yet another movie highlight, when John and Cheryl seek help from a police captain named Brad Murdoch, he has quite possibly the biggest nameplate on his desk that we've ever seen. He really wants visitors to his office to know that he is Brad Murdoch.


Blood Chase is recommended overall, but especially to fans of Philippines-set action outings, Karen Sheperd, Andrew Stevens, and anyone who enjoys navy bean soup.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Trigon Fire (1989)

Trigon Fire (1989)- * *1\2

Directed by: Teddy Page

Starring: Sam Jones, Eddie Jadali, David Light, Anthony East, Jerry Beyer, Mike Monty, and Blueberry as Sandra










The Trigon is a superweapon developed by several world powers and it has the capability of massive destruction. It's in three (hence the "tri") parts, and all three parts are needed for it to work, so everyone is after those parts, which are collectively called The Trigon Factor. After Abdul Hassik (Eddie Jadali) of the Palestinian Liberation Front steals part of the Trigon, he then sells it to international terrorist Cyrian McCoy (East).

CIA operative William Shield (Light) is tasked with taking down McCoy and his goons. Unfortunately, an American doctor, James Ford (Jones), is swept up in all this intrigue thanks to a classic case of mistaken identity. As are his wife and daughter. Teaming up with a man named Manuel (Beyer), the two men fight the baddies the best they can, but it's not going to be easy with something as big as the Trigon at stake. What will happen to Dr. James Ford?

You know that any movie featuring the credit "And Introducing Blueberry as Sandra Powers" is going to be one that's sure to pique the public's curiosity. However, Trigon Fire is more in the mid-range of Teddy Page's directorial output. It's certainly not bad, but it doesn't reach the heights of a Phantom Soldiers (1989). To be fair, what can? There seems to be more of an emphasis on intrigue this time around. The exploding huts take a secondary role to that. Maybe this is Mr. Page's more "mature" work. 

If you watch a lot of these Philippines-set actioners, you'll recognize plenty of the hallmarks of the genre: machine-gun shooting, green backdrops, loud, screaming dialogue, and the presence of such people as Mike Monty. While Monty is your classic evil general, giving the outing an "El Presidente"-type vibe, we see that Manuel is more than just your average cabbie.

David Light has an impressive resume that consists of almost exclusively appearing in Philippine action. He looks like the guy from Sparks, so of course he was cast in the action hero role. A movie highlight appears when he comes to face off against the baddies on his motorcycle. He's wearing a leather outfit with huge aviator sunglasses and the shot is from below, so he looks extra-heroic.


While we've seen plenty of guard-tower falls in our time, we have yet to see someone tumble slowly down the steps of said guard tower. Well, until now, of course. It's less of a violent spectacle, more of a slow-motion "oops!"

Fan favorite Sam Jones seems to be hilariously miscast as a confused doctor. That's one of the things that makes the film so fun overall. Sure, he gets in on the action, but it appears a decision was made to make David Light the main action hero. Maybe Jones was put here just so they could market the film as Under the Gun 2. Of course it has nothing to do with the original...was the first Under the Gun such a huge hit in The Philippines that that title was warranted? It appears the answer was yes.

If you watch the end credits, you might be surprised to find that these people were involved: Kurt Russell, Spike Lee, Wallace Shawn, John Hurt, Christopher Hitchens, Harvey Fierstein, and Don King, as well as theater luminaries Neil Simon, Sam Shepard, Joe Orton, Peter Shaffer, Arthur Miller, and, most hilariously of all, Stephen Sondheim!

It was very generous of these people to lend their time to Teddy Page. Clearly they recognized the artistic merit of Trigon Fire. I've heard of "off Broadway" but this is ridiculous! I heard yet another alternate title for the film was going to be "Trigon Fierstein".

There's always something wacky going on in the exploding-hut genre and this just proves why they're continually worth seeking out.

While it wasn't released in the U.S. or U.K., Trigon Fire may be worth seeking out for completists of this sort of thing. It doesn't rank towards the top of the heap, but certainly a viewing on YouTube will provide 85 minutes of entertainment.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Sudden Thunder (1990)

 

Sudden Thunder (1990)- * * *

Directed by: David Hunt

Starring: Andrea Lamatsch, Corwin Sperry, Curtis Carter, and Mike Monty

Patricia Merrill (Lamatsch) is a Miami-based policewoman. When she gets the news that her father has died in a car crash, she travels to the small town of Wilbury, which is presumably in Florida, to settle his affairs. While there, she uncovers a small town conspiracy that involves new sheriff Mike Gray (Monty) (Patricia's father was the old sheriff). 

Apparently, most of the Wilbury police force is involved in drug running and Patricia stumbles on to that fact. Sensing that she needs help and that she can't face this threat alone, her buddies from Miami P.D. follow her to Wilbury. They also team up with friend of the Merrill family Jake Stokes (Carter) and they all band together to fight the corruption and baddies. Will they be hearing the SUDDEN THUNDER?


Sudden Thunder gets off to a great start with Andrea Lamatsch doing a full nightclub performance on stage with a band, then getting involved in a shootout with some baddies. After she shoots people wearing an evening dress, the musicians onstage continue playing the song, which is far louder than the dialogue people are then saying. They're almost drowned out completely. We knew then that we were going to like Sudden Thunder.


It was an inspired choice by the filmmakers to make Lamatsch the main star and heroine of the film. That's certainly what we would have done if we were in charge. To cast someone with an almost-impenetrable German accent who looks like a model as a Miami cop was an inspired casting choice. All the dialogue scenes with Lamatsch are gold. In the second half of the movie, when it's mainly her and her buddies running around dodging explosions, perhaps counterintuitively, things slow down for the viewer. Lamatsch carries the movie, so when she's not front and center, things suffer.

If other action stars with accents could make it big - everyone from Schwarzenegger to Van Damme - why not Lamatsch? That's what we always say. She's certainly easier to look at than they are. But it appears that's not the path she chose. Besides her, other people are in the cast as well, believe it or not. Mike Monty is here as the evil sheriff, and Curtis Carter stands out as Jake Stokes. He's the guy with the cabin in the woods where Patricia goes to recuperate. He's a charismatic guy that the audience really likes.

Of course, there's the time-honored barfight, and our heroes walk/run away from a grounded exploding airplane. The "corruption and drug running in a small town" plot has been seen many times before, notably in The Devastator (1986), among others. The second half of Sudden Thunder is notably blander than the first half. Director David Hunt (AKA David Hung) later went on to make Triple Impact (1992), and Lamatsch did Blood Ring (1991). But here they joined their forces and the results are generally good, especially in the earlier sections of the film.


Sudden Thunder was released by AIP on VHS and is typical of their releases in two ways: the people on the front of the box are not in the movie, and the tape is now rare. If you can find a copy for not a lot of money, which is not an easy thing to do these days, it's worth picking up. But it's not really worth high online prices. That being said, there is plenty to enjoy with Sudden Thunder. It's probably Andrea Lamatsch's finest hour, and for that alone, it's worth seeing.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Slash (1984)

Slash (1984)- * * *

Directed by: Jun Gallardo

Starring: Rom Kristoff, Gwendolyn Hung, Nick Nicolson, and Mike Monty




“KONG SEN!!!!!!” – Slash








Starting during the Vietnam War, Peter “Slash” Harris (Rom) and Major Andrew Scott (Mike Monty, not to be confused with Dolph in Universal Soldier) are buddies during the thick of the fighting. Later on in life, Scott becomes a CIA agent. He works with a woman named Barbara (Hung), and they go between Cambodia and Thailand fighting the commies. After Barbara steals some secret KGB files from a hidden safe, she’s kidnapped by baddies. Scott’s reaction is only natural: he calls Slash to go and rescue her and/or the files. As a one-man fighting force, Slash proceeds to mow down countless faceless nameless bad guys along the way. Will Slash be saying “welcome to the jungle”? Find out today…

Like the other Jun Gallardo films we’ve seen, Slash has a lot of what you might call “third-world charm”. We’ve mentioned this in other reviews, especially for the films by Arizal (who’s a heck of a lot more talented than Gallardo in our opinion), but the main gist is this: making an action movie under near-impoverished conditions didn’t stop them from giving it their all. Gallardo probably figured that he couldn’t deliver deep dialogue exchanges and well-thought-out plot developments to audiences, so he’d make up for it with non-stop machine gun-shooting and explosions. 

From the second the movie appears on the screen, there are shooting and blow-ups, and it basically doesn’t relent from there on in. Of course, this is yet another jungle-set exploding hut movie, where lush, verdant settings are torched into oblivion and an inexhaustible supply of uniformed assailants are continually mowed down.

There’s so much smoke on screen at the outset, the white titles are not legible to the audience. Did the filmmakers not notice this during the editing process? Anyway, all our Philippines-set regulars are here: Mike Monty, Nick Nicholson, and the rest of the gang. As our stand in for Rambo, we have Rombo – Rom Kristoff. It’s enjoyable to watch him scream, shoot machine guns, and scream while he shoots machine guns. 

His rocket launchers inexplicably make a laser noise when fired, and there is a memorable exploding helicopter along the way. Naturally, guard towers blow up and huts blow up. The villain of the piece doesn’t show up until way late into the proceedings. He should have been around earlier so as to set up the good guy-bad guy dynamic and tension. 

While not in any sense a bad movie, Slash doesn’t do much to separate itself from the pack as far as these exploding hutters go. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really stand out from the crowd even though, as noted earlier, clearly a lot of time and work went into the non-stop action scenes. 

If you just can’t get enough of this type of stuff, Slash will satisfy your machine-guns-in-the-jungle craving. However, those seeking substance or something different may come away disappointed. But the third-world charm remains.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

Heroes For Hire (1984)

Heroes For Hire (1984)- * * *1\2
AKA: Hell Raiders

Directed by: John Lloyd

Starring: Bruce Baron, Robert Marius, Eric Hahn, Jerry Beyer, Don Holtz, Tony Chang, Liza Hutton, Mike Monty, Nick Nicholson, and Lincoln Abraham

There’s some microfilm that everyone is after. Professor Arlington (Monty) has it, and to keep it extra safe and secure, he gets surgery so that it is implanted deep in his arm. We’re told via an on-screen title card that this happened in MIAMI, 1980. Shortly thereafter, we see another on-screen title that reads FEW YEARS LATER. Arlington is at a party wearing nothing but a Speedo. Armed terrorists, led by Charles Barner (Marius), crash the party and kidnap Arlington and his wife Liza (Liza Hutton). Of course, yet another evil baddie, Escaler (Hahn), is also after the microfilm. 

It seems – at least at first – that only one man can stop the chaos: McPearson (Baron), a man who by turns is either sullen and belligerent, or energetic and lively. Evidently McPearson is going to need extra help, so his boss goes to an organization called Heroes For Hire. It’s there that more heroes are brought in: Magnum (Beyer), the Clint Eastwood guy, Cactus (Holtz), the Cowboy guy, and Ninja (Chang), the ninja guy. Now an unstoppable fighting force, the HEROES FOR HIRE will use their combined strengths to fight the baddies…but will even that be enough? Find out today…



We’ve got a winner on our hands with Heroes For Hire (AKA Hell Raiders), a fun and absurd romp that sports some really outstanding moments. There are five John Lloyd movies, and of the ones we’ve seen to date, so far this ranks as the best. It has an extremely high kill count mixed with the silly moments we all love and enjoy. 

It features most of the Philippines-shot action movie mainstays such as Mike Monty (looking especially like Bryan Cranston here), Nick Nicholson (in a tiny part as Berenkov), and Jim Gaines, also in a cameo role, seemingly only placed with Bruce Baron on a boat to further reinforce – as if it were necessary – the Crockett & Tubbs vibe. It truly was the era of Miami Vice – absurdly, the movie even takes place in Miami – and McPearson (or is it Bruce Baron?) truly Crocketts it up with his sports jackets with the rolled-up sleeves worn with a T-shirt, and topped off with Ray-Bans, which he consistently wears indoors just to show how cool he is. Even in the less Crockett-esque moments, Baron more than shows that he’s a crafty, resourceful, and capable hero. 

The movie really takes off at the midway point, at the introductions of Magnum, Cactus, and Ninja, which in itself is a highlight. That being said, we wish more thought had been given to the name of Ninja, but perhaps that’s all part of the charm. Once the Heroes For Hire assemble, it’s truly a joy to watch what ensues. We don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say a lot of people die, McPearson’s boss has the prerequisite framed Reagan photo on his desk, we’re informed that Barner was formerly in Vietnam, and there’s a hilariously truncated chainsaw fight. Also Arlington’s wife calls him both Fred and/or Ted at various different points throughout the film.



We noticed that a man named Lincoln Abraham played a helicopter pilot in the movie, and also was the still photographer behind the scenes. He was probably included solely for his name, which looks like a typo. There are also crew members named Larry Byrd and George Will. Are these real people, or Filipino locals using anglicized names? We may never know. The important thing to remember is that you will have a lot of fun watching Hell Raiders.



Final thoughts: Heroes For Hire is one of the better non-Vietnam-based, Philippines-shot low-budget actioners we’ve seen in some time. As of this writing, it’s on Amazon Prime and we say check it out.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett 

Commander 3 (1986)

Commander 3 (1986)- * *1\2

AKA: War Without End



Directed by: Teddy Page


Starring: Robert Marius, Jim Gaines, Mike Monty and Nick Nicholson












It’s 1982 in Cambodia. Captain Ted Wilson (Marius), and his fellow soldier Lt. Garvey (Gaines), among others, are test-flying a technologically-advanced airplane named the Wild Weasel. Their platoon (or perhaps their mission?) is named Lickin’ Chicken. We repeat: Lickin’ Chicken. When things go wrong and the plane goes down, Wilson and Garvey manage to escape into the jungle – but is it the KGB who caused the plane crash? Or could it be someone else? The two soldiers find locals named Nooin and Nam, and they head off on a perilous mission to find answers. Of course, this involves almost non-stop machine-gun shooting and exploding huts. What will be the ultimate fate of Lickin’ Chicken?



Director Teddy Page takes us on yet another jungle excursion with all the shooting, blow-ups, and guard-tower falls you’d expect to see. While the movie does have a handful of cool moments sprinkled throughout, including a chain of well-timed consecutive exploding huts, it’s all a bit too mediocre for our liking. The movie isn’t bad at all, and fans of jungle-set exploding hutters who can’t get enough of that sort of thing could certainly check it out on Amazon Prime. It’s competently made, but it’s just not our favorite Teddy Page – which is, of course, Phantom Soldiers (1989).



Maybe it’s unfair to compare everything Page does to that gem, because he’s done a lot of other fine work as well, but this time he had a lot of people backing him up that are mainstays of the Philippines-shot action world – stars Marius and Gaines featured almost exclusively in these types of movies. Fan favorite Nick Nicholson looks great this time around as the shady, bearded KGB agent. Mike Monty, as Dr. Meehan, wears a rumpled sky-blue suit, which is a plus, but on the negative side we don’t think it was his voice doing the dubbing. Of course, when the movie goes from the jungle action to the military offices, there is not only a picture of Reagan on the wall (as normal), but also a framed Reagan pic on the desk. The rotary-dial red phone featured in the movie must be used to call him directly.



Now let’s talk about the Cambodian elephant in the room. While the movie is known as War Without End, it’s also called Commander 3. As readers of the site know, the original Commander (1988) is one of our favorites, and perhaps the best “explosion” movie of all time. How could a Commander 3 possibly measure up? Well, sadly, Craig Alan is nowhere in sight. Commander was an Italian production and Commander 3 isn’t. While we have nothing against Robert Marius, it appears Commander 3 is an in-name-only sequel, and the two movies have little, if anything, to do with each other. This supposed sequel doesn’t approach the majesty of the original, so if you haven’t seen either of them, make sure you see the first one first. 

Commander 3 is not the worst exploding hutter we've seen, nor is it the best. It does feature a cool ending where Marius is brandishing a hand-held missile launcher in one hand and a machine gun in the other and is blowing up everything in sight. For those that can't get enough of the jungle genre, we'd say check it out, but for everyone else, perhaps not. 

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

Just A Damned Soldier (1988)

Just A Damned Soldier (1988)- * * *

Directed by: Ferdinando Baldi

Starring: Peter Hooten, Mike Monty, Romano Kristoff, and Mark Gregory 

In Cambodia, a four-man strike force led by Bolan (Hooten), stages a raid on an industrial complex. After shooting a lot of people and blowing a lot of stuff up (a trend that will continue throughout the proceedings), the men - which also includes Mark Gregory of the Thunder and Bronx series - steal a large cache of gold. The man whose compound was raided, top dog arch-baddie Mr. Titelman, wants revenge on the strike force. 

Based on who is sending and receiving the gold, Titelman states he doesn’t “want to see the tense political situation in this country explode”. Truly that’s not the only thing that’s going to explode. Titelman is tied in with the Cambodian authorities and will be in deep trouble if he doesn’t find his men. Thankfully, he has loads of cannon fodder to disperse throughout the jungles of Cambodia (i.e, the Philippines. Let’s not forget Mike Monty is involved as a suit named Schaffler). Who will survive...and who will get the gold?

Oh, Hooten, we hardly knew ye. Truly Peter Hooten could have been the next Steve Guttenberg. (Peter Hootenberg?) At least they have a similar look about them.  Hooten and the aforementioned Gregory lead us through yet another Italian-produced jungle romp, where the machine guns fire with abandon, and huts were made to be blown up. If you like that sort of thing - and we’re supposing you do - Just a Damned Soldier (great title - even better than Titelman) will win you over. It’s a quality example of this sort of movie, and there were plenty of them in the late 80’s. It’s no Commander, but what could be? JADS does what it does quite well, and praise goes to writer/director Ferdinando Baldi, using his normal anglicized name of Ted Kaplan. 

Baldi ended his lengthy career, which dates back to the 1950’s, by making some jungle-set blow-em-ups, and what better way to cap off a life in cinema? His final three movies are Warbus (1986), Ten Zan - Ultimate Mission (1988), where he infamously sent Frank Zagarino to North Korea - and the movie we’re currently discussing.  Baldi re-teamed with his Ten Zan composer, Elio Polizzi, whose great music goes a long way in helping things stay afloat. The music also helps to give the whole movie a “Contra” vibe - soldiers in the greenery, shooting, 1988.

Because plot is minimal (not a complaint; they had to make time for more exploding huts), things do slow down at times, but JADS is still solid and has a lot going for it. They sure don’t skimp on the blow-ups and shooting. Also Titelman is a Taekwondo arms dealer. Featuring the songs “The Shadow of Your Eyes” by Gatsby and the truly memorable “I Just Have Had Enough” by Paula, Just a Damned Soldier is a Damned good time. 

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

Dog Tags (1985)

Dog Tags (1985)- * *1\2

Directed by: Romano Scavolini

Starring: Clive Woods, Baird Stafford, Robert Haufrecht, and Mike Monty










When an author, in 1984, receives word that a man in Vietnam is willing to finally tell the tale of a series of events that transpired a decade earlier, we are transported back to 1974 and a very dire situation is unfolding in the jungles of ‘Nam. After escaping from a prison camp, a group of soldiers are lost, angry, irritated and disillusioned. Capturing all the angst is a German photographer along for the ride. 

When they do manage to make contact with Captain Newport (Monty), they are told they must recover some documents from a helicopter that has been shot down, which only adds insult to injury. The final straw is the fact that the supposed “documents” are gold bars, which only adds fuel to the fire of division going on amongst the soldiers. While all this is going on, the men have to avoid various other jungle pitfalls such as a leg amputation, murderous locals, unfriendly nature, and much more. Will these embattled enlisted men be encouraged or entreatied to end it all? Find out...

Dog Tags is writer/director Romano Scavolini’s follow-up to his horror classic Nightmare (1981), and those who have seen that can well imagine what he would do with the “namsploitation” genre. Well, here it is. It’s an exploding hutter with a difference. It’s unrelentingly dark, bleak, depressing and self-serious. Sure, that provides a point of difference with all the other jungle jaunts out there, who never come close to this level of straight-ahead dreary desolation. That said, the movie is very well-shot, with quality camerawork and creative lighting and angles, and the editing reinforces the “masterminds behind the scenes” vibe.

This would have been a home run if there was any character development. Imagine high drama but with a bunch of random people you know nothing about. There are many times when the whole outing becomes dull and loses any kind of drive. Imagine if Scavolini directed Platoon (1986) instead of Oliver Stone, but slower. That should give you some idea of what we’re dealing with. 

Sure, there are a few blow-ups here and there, but the emphasis is surely on the grimness of ‘Nam and the human toll. In its single-minded fixation on that, the movie forgot to have one strong, clear baddie, a misstep we see all too often, and is another contributing factor to the movie losing focus.  All this is put in a clearly-delineated three-act structure, with epilogue, complete with title cards to help the audience.

In the cast department, we have fan favorite Mike Monty, a Philippines-shot movie mainstay, as well as fellow Romano, Romano Kristoff, who is also credited as being Second Assistant Director. Or maybe the credit-makers just got confused. 

Nick Nicholson is also credited, but it must be a “blink and you’ll miss him” situation, and we definitely must have blinked, because we didn’t see him at all. There’s also the credit “Chris Hilton as Himself”. Okay. Good to know. Baird Stafford, so memorable from Scavolini’s Nightmare, returns as the soldier who, infamously, gets his leg amputated. If I may quote Scavolini himself, speaking about Stafford, from the book Spaghetti Nightmares: “He was also very effective in DOGTAGS because I managed to get him to accept the idea that he had to be sexually ambiguous. His leg being cut off clearly represents a type of castration, and it is his mutilated sexuality that, in the end, ruins everyone.” So now you know. Consider yourself warned.

Released on the small label Cinevest on VHS in the U.S., it didn't get wide exposure here, but that's more than a lot of other Italian productions got. Dog Tags succeeds stylistically, if not dramatically, and its style and substance seem out of sync with each other. Add to that the distressing, somber vibe, and it can make for a very rocky viewing experience indeed.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Fist Of Steel (1992)

Fist Of Steel (1992)- * * *

Directed by: Teddy Page

Starring: Dale "Apollo" Cook, Cynthia Khan, Nick Nicholson, Cris Aguilar, Ned Hourani, Mike Monty, Greg Douglas, and Don Nakaya Neilsen













In a post-apocalyptic desert landscape, a fighter named Amp (Cook) has to fight and, well...fight some more. Teaming up with a woman named Wild (Khan), Amp realizes he can put his pugilistic skills to use in Punchfighting tournaments in order to win some water (which is as good as currency in our coming future). The diabolical arch-baddie of the future is a man named Mainframe (Douglas). Once Amp fights his way through all the contenders, Mainframe is the final nemesis, and Amp has special reasons for wanting to defeat him - he was imprisoned, beaten and even crucified by him and his goons.  The miniboss is played by Don Nakaya Neilsen. Will Amp and Wild reign supreme?

Much like Blood Ring (1991), Fist of Steel is a Davian International production, released by AIP, directed by Teddy Page, and starring Dale “Apollo” Cook. They had quite a thing going for a while. Unlike Blood Ring, this is set in a sparse desert environment, and perhaps could have been titled Desert Kickboxer. It even has enough “sand-fighting” to compete with The Ultimate Game (2001).

Of course, Fist of Steel is filled with ‘facepalm’ dialogue, brain-cell-depleting pretexts for fights, and very silly costumes. As we all recognize, whoever survives after the bomb drops will be wearing hubcaps and broken smoke detectors on their chests. But isn’t that why we watch these movies in the first place? Would we expect anything less? Sure, what we’re watching, technically speaking, is “dumb”, but we all knew that going in, and it all contributed to making the video store era great.

Speaking of dumb, Dale “Apollo” Cook may not be a master thespian, but he does a great “dumb face”. If something dumb is going on, you can count on an authentic reaction from Cook. We kid because we love. We’ve seen every available Cook movie and we remain fans. His Martial Arts abilities are why we’re here, after all. It was a genius move to pair him with Cynthia Khan, who fans of Hong Kong action will know. Her presence is vital to the movie and keeps things rolling along. The same could be said for fan favorite Nick Nicholson, who plays a druggie fight promoter. He wears a silver shower cap and matching shorts. He got a respectable amount of screen time, which is a good thing, and we’re guessing the film was shot in the Philippines, because his fellow stock company - Cris Aguilar, Ned Hourani, and Mike Monty also make brief appearances.

While there is a ton of Punchfighting on display, use of nunchuks is also prominent. It’s likely that if this ever got a UK VHS or DVD release (we don’t think it has, but correct us if we’re wrong), it would be cut there, because they hate nunchuks. They even hate nunchuks if they’re made out of sausage links, as the BBFC proved when they cut Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All that being said, there is some dialogue too, as previously alluded to, but why talk when you can grunt? That seems to be the overriding ethos. Hence, there are plenty of unintentional ‘laffs’. Like if someone says something to Apollo, and his response is “UUUUuuurrrggghhhhh!!!”, it’s hard not to respond to that with some chuckles.

Fist of Steel is one of the more watchable post-apocalyptic movies we’ve reviewed, thanks mainly to the cast and the non-stop beat-em-ups. If that appeals to you, do seek it out.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett 

Commander (1988)

Commander (1988)- * * * *

AKA: The Last American Soldier

Directed by: Ignazio Dolce

Starring: Craig Alan, Max Laurel, David Light, Mike Monty and Tanya Gomez










Wow! Now here’s a hidden gem if there ever was one. Commander (AKA Last American Soldier), we can safely say, is one of the best - if not the best - Exploding Hut movie of all time. Probably more huts explode (along with just about everything else within a 100-mile radius) in this movie than in any other Exploding-Hutter...COMBINED. The plot, if there even is one, is nothing more than a simple excuse to perhaps win a Guinness World Record for the most jam-packed kaleidoscopic cornucopia of blow-ups, explosions, detonations, fireballs, firebursts, fireblasts, combustions, ignitions, flare-ups, and, yes, cannonades ever committed to film. And if you think there isn’t a difference between all these things, Commander will show you the subtle nuances, and the whole outing gives new meaning to the band name “Porno for Pyros”!

Sure, you may have seen some Italian-made, jungle-set “Rambo knockoffs” before such as Tornado (1983), Rolf (1984), Strike Commando (1987), Strike Commando 2 (1988), etc. (or non-Italian outings such as Mannigan’s Force (1988) or anything on the Mercs box set), but here we have something special. 

For starters, we have true American hero Craig Alan in the lead as Commander. He’s a one-man army of epic proportions, an unshaven, beer-swilling killing machine who’s so macho he makes Arnold Schwarzenegger look like Richard Simmons. His voice sounds like a narcoleptic Elvis. At the end of every line he utters, you’re just waiting for a “thank yuh, thankyuhverymuch.” But he cares very much about freedom, and if he has to slaughter entire regions to make his dream of freedom happen, then, so be it. 

Evil Russians and commies have to get what’s coming to them. And speaking of Arnie, don’t get confused - the title Commander isn’t meant to recall any other movie titles, surely. Actually, if this movie brings anything similar to mind, it’s high body count-classics like No Dead Heroes (1986).

It should also be highlighted that his name is Commander, which leads to actual dialogue such as “Commander seems very efficient.” Evidently his rank is Sergeant, which would mean his name is “Sgt. Commander”. That alone makes this movie worth seeing. God bless losses in translation. Of course, the director, Ignazio Dolce, also directed Last Flight to Hell (1990), which, as we all know, had a great 'sceenplay'.

Mike Monty has very minimal screen time as a Major, but that doesn’t stop Commander from getting into a conflict with him. Apparently all this is happening some time after the Vietnam war, and Commander is helping the people of Southeast Asia to be free, before the commies can take over their villages. 

He has a girlfriend of sorts named Cho Lin (Gomez), but a lot more time is spent on the Prerequisite Torture than on any time with her. In between blow-ups, there’s some shooting. Then some more shooting. And maybe a few knifings. For extra added spice, there’s some neck snaps. But it’s all about the explosions (helicopters certainly included), and this movie delivers, and then some. It makes Hollywood pap like Blown Away (1994) look like Larry Crowne (2011). And it’s all set to a quality Simon Boswell score. How can you lose?

Criminally, Commander was never released on VHS in the U.S. Evidently it only came out in Greece, Brazil, and, of course, Japan (they get everything). Based on that kind of poor decision-making, is this even a country Commander would want to serve? We didn’t even release COMMANDER for God’s sake. Well, what the world needs now - RIGHT now - is this movie. In our wimpy, wussy, overly-PC, “Gun Free Zone”, safe space, wet-noodle, touchy-feely culture, Commander stands as a raging, double-middle-finger “F-you” to all the liberal sludge polluting our lives. Craig Alan is our new hero, and he will be yours too when you see this utter classic of the action genre. This movie just rules. See it ASAP.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

Fighting Spirit (1992)

Fighting Spirit (1992)- * * *

Directed by: John Lloyd

Starring: Loren Avedon, Nick Nicholson, Mike Monty,  Ned Hourani, Jerry Beyer, Michelle Locke, and Sean Donahue










Billy Edwards (Donahue) is a young man who trains in Martial Arts and spends a lot of his time training at the gym. When his sister Judith (Michelle Locke in her only credited movie role to date) is assaulted by a gang of no-goodniks and suffers optic nerve damage, the evil Russell Peretti (Hourani) offers him a way to pay her medical bills: underground Punchfighting matches. When Russell and his super-evil brother Tony (Douglass) keep ratcheting up the stakes, as gangsters often do, Billy wants out. Unfortunately, he gets his wish: the baddies off Billy. Billy’s friend David Carster (Avedon) then assumes responsibility for Judith, who must wear bandages around her eyes while she recuperates. In a ‘spirit’ of revenge, David trains hard with Murphy (Beyer) in order to obtain the fighting skills necessary to defeat Russell, Tony and their goons once and for all. But will he have a little supernatural help along the way? Find out...

In this movie at least, Loren Avedon resembles Scott Baio. Sean Donahue bears more than a passing resemblance to pre-Bibleman-era Willie Aames. Coincidence? Fighting Spirit could very well be the Charles in Charge - or Zapped!, if you will - of early-90’s low budget Punchfighting movies. This is actually one of the better Avedon outings, he’s not unlikable like he is in some other efforts. His character even goes through something of an arc, from smug non-fighter to full-fledged action hero (though it is odd that on the first day of his training, he can already do Van Damme-style splits). And, adding to the feel that this movie is a lot older than it really is, the two of them train to disco music.

The music, generally speaking, is pretty weird. There are a ton of misplaced cues, and a lot of it (which repeats over and over) even seems out of tune. The main theme appears to be nothing more than a slow pick slide over a lightly-amplified electric guitar. So when you’re not distracted by the music, you can concentrate on the funny dubbing. Once again, those loud or wacky voices appear. Either the music or the voices are blaring at all times: one of the main positives of the movie is that it is almost non-stop fighting. There’s a fight scene seemingly every few minutes, which keeps the attention up.

Sure, it’s all pretty downmarket, but it’s also fun most of the time. It doesn’t seem like the filmmakers were working with the best equipment, but maybe that’s all they had in whatever foreign country they were in. Our guess is the Philippines, due to the presences of Nick Nicholson, Ned Hourani, and a bit part by Mike Monty, though fellow Philippines-shot movie mainstay Henry Strzalkowski isn’t present. Monty gets raving drunk in the first scene of the movie and isn’t seen again; Nicholson is a kickboxing coach who is constantly barking orders at his charges and calls everyone “boy!” All that being said, a police officer identifies himself as “LAPD” - are we supposed to believe this is all taking place in Los Angeles? But silly details like that add to the enjoyment of the movie.

There are not one, but TWO ideas lifted wholesale from Cape Fear (the then-recently released 1991 version, probably), and the Punchfighting audience Billy must fight in front of is rather small, especially for such large sums of cash that are on the line, but, as we’ve said before, there are many kinds of stupid, and not all stupid is bad stupid. You might say Fighting Spirit is more confused than anything else,  because it seems a lot of the wackiness/dumbness resides from its strange take on what someone believes to be American life, and mind-numbing scenes ensue. Once again, that is not a negative criticism. We don’t know the country of birth of director John Lloyd, but thanks to this movie and his Ron Marchini vehicle Ninja Warriors (1985), we do know he certainly has an off-kilter sensibility. Despite all odds, it’s actually pretty darn entertaining.

Featuring the lounge-type song “Why Must This Be” by Harry Strong, Fighting Spirit may be a bit grimy, but you just have to either enjoy it or look beyond it. Confusingly, this is also known as King of the Kickboxers 2, presumably because of the presence of Avedon, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with the earlier Billy Blanks romp.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty 

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