Death Chase (1988)

Death Chase (1988)- * * *



Directed by: David A. Prior

Starring: William Zipp, Jack Starrett, Reggie De Morton, Bainbridge Scott, and Paul L. Smith

Steven Chase (Of course his name is Steven Chase) (Zipp) is just a mild-mannered resident of Riverside, California who is out for a bike ride with his sister. Seemingly at random, violence erupts and there are car crashes and shootings. One of the mysterious men who gets shot hands Steven Chase a gun and says to him, “you’re it”. Now a pawn in a deadly “game”, Steven Chase goes on the run, having to shoot and/or beat up all the goons that are suddenly after him. Thankfully, he has the help of Diana (Scott) and his buddy Eddie (De Morton). Lt. MacGrew (Starrett) of the LAPD is also on the case. On top of all that, a large man named Steele (Smith) seems to appear wherever the “Death Chase” is going on. Will Steven Chase survive this…Deathsport? Sorry, DEATH CHASE? Find out today!



Before Deathfight (1990), before Fugitive X: Innocent Target (1996), before The Game (1997), and certainly before The Tournament (2009), Death Chase was first in the “innocent guy caught up in a game where people try to kill him” sweepstakes. Leave it up to David A. Prior and AIP – sure, they might have small budgets, but they have big ideas. Entertaining ideas that were used later in other forms. Will Prior and the gang ever get the proper credit? Probably not…except on sites like ours.

If you’re familiar at all with AIP, Death Chase delivers a look and style that you may be used to. Having seen most of AIP’s output at this point, we found it comforting. Low-budget stunts, shootings, and chases (of course) are the order of the day. Chase is chased by car, by motorbike, by boat, on foot…pretty much any way a human being can be chased. One thing you can’t deny – the movie lives up to its title. 

AIP stalwart William Zipp is well-cast as Mr. Chase, our hero. Fan favorite Paul L. Smith brings more life to the proceedings as Steele, and veteran actor/director Starrett is interestingly cast as MacGrew. While Reggie De Morton should have been given more to do, actually the movie felt overlong at 93 minutes. This basic idea could have gotten its point across at maybe 80-85 minutes.

Yes, there is a lot of mindless shooting, and pure silliness with a lot of people talking in funny voices that are post-dubbed in an amusing manner. But that being said, the idea of the corporate overlords in a smoky back room playing a real-life version of Risk with actual people’s lives is a good and interesting idea. The makers of the aforementioned The Tournament must have thought so. Also, the two female assassins playing “the game” was an idea we enjoyed. The idea of a bunch of people tasked with killing Steven Chase and he doesn’t know who to trust or where to turn put us in mind of John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017). Could it be that the makers of the John Wick franchise have seen Death Chase? We may never know…

Once again, some ace Steve McClintock music is on the soundtrack. Songs like “Running With The One I Love”, “What’s Goin’ On”, and “Can’t Get Enough” are movie highlights. McClintock always delivers the goods.

So, for an adventurous AIP outing that probably won’t change your life but fits squarely in the AIP canon (and was quite ahead of its time), do check out Death Chase.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a review from our buddy Keith From The Unknown Movies!

Desert Kickboxer (1992)

Desert Kickboxer (1992)- * * *

Directed by: Isaac Florentine

Starring: John Newton, Paul L. Smith, Judie Aronson, Sam DeFrancisco, and Michael M. Foley











 Joe “Hawk” Highhawk (Newton) is a former kickboxer turned mulleted lawman in the dusty deserts of  California. After a tragedy in the ring, Hawk now devotes most of his time to whittling.  And also to his job as Deputy. He even has some form of PTSD, constantly flashing back to what happened in his earlier life. When diabolical drug runner Santos (Smith), and his lieutenant Bruno (Foley) start causing trouble in the dusty ol’ town, and start going after his newfound friends Claudia (Aronson of American Ninja fame) and Anthony (DeFrancisco), it gives Hawk a reason to live again, and to dust off his old kickboxing skills to use them against the baddies.  Will Hawk triumph in the war against drug runners and find redemption?

Right from the beginning of his career, Isaac Florentine was turning out solid movies like this, and even his trademark sound effects are here. Lots of whooshing, crunching and “splat!” noises are heard on the soundtrack, for even the most mundane actions. If someone moves a muscle, it sounds like some guy has mic’d up a bunch of Nickelodeon products like Gak, Floam, and Zzand and are throwing them around with abandon. But where Florentine shines, of course, are the Martial Arts/fighting action scenes, and those are some of the highlights of Desert Kickboxer. It’s easy to see why he followed this up with the similar Savate (1995).

This was our first exposure to one John Newton. He looks like a cross between Ken Wahl and John Stamos. Evidently Hawk is supposed to be some kind of Indian in the film, though Newton looks about as Native American as Regis Philbin. Even Mark Gregory in the Thunder trilogy was closer to Indian than this (and come to think of it, there are a lot of similarities to the Thunder movies in Desert Kickboxer). Newton’s Martial Arts abilities are competent, however, and if nothing else, we can admire his mullet, which was clearly crafted as carefully as the sound effects and the Martial Arts. Naturally, before his final assault on the baddies, he does some form of shirtless Native American Tai Chi on some high desert rocks.

But as Hawk is going through his character arc from flat and none-too-likable to flat and sensitive, he has to deal with some pretty tough baddies. Sure, we all love Paul L. Smith, but his lackey Bruno is far more intimidating, not to mention agile. You know if a baddie is doing Martial Arts in a suit, the guy is going to be a hard opponent to beat. Bruno is so tough and evil, he uses actual Mexican migrant workers as human training dummies. But he didn’t reckon on one thing: the awesome power of Newton.

Featuring some great early-90’s computers, Desert Kickboxer is perfect for Florentine fans that may not have seen his early work. It’s a testament to its entertainment value that, to anyone else, it would have been just another DTV item, but to fans of the genre it retains its staying power.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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

Jungle Warriors (1984)

Jungle Warriors (1984)- * *

Directed by: Ernst R. Von Theumer

Starring: Nina Van Pallandt, Marjoe Gortner, Paul L. Smith, Woody Strode, Alex Cord, John Vernon, and Sybil Danning











A pretty irritating guy named Larry (Gortner) is in charge of corralling a bunch of models and flying them down to an unnamed South or Central American country (the movie itself was shot in Mexico). They inadvertently land in the thick jungles of drug-smuggling country. This particular gang of drug lords is commanded by Santiago (Smith) and his sister Angel (Danning). 

They have a team of thugs led by Luther (Strode). It’s not looking good for the models, and making things even worse is that a mobster named Vito Mastranga (Vernon) and his associate Nick Spilotro (Cord) are collaborating with Santiago and Angel and are in negotiations for future highly illegal doings. With no prior combat training, the models are going to have to take up arms against their captors if they ever want to strut on the catwalk ever again. Will they be able to pull off this daring feat?

You’d think - you’d REALLY think - that a movie about a bunch of models who get together and have to shoot a bunch of guns to escape the jungle and get back at the baddies would be a surefire formula for cinematic greatness. Or at least entertainment. 

Somehow Jungle Warriors manages to fumble this potential home run, to use a spot-on sports analogy. Lamely, the movie is talky, boring, slow, lacks action, and the worst crime of all is that it’s not exploitative enough. To compare it to something, Raw Force (1982) is better, and Jungle Warriors kind of falls into that video store shelf-filler netherworld inhabited by the likes of other similarly-themed mediocre flicks like Savage Justice (1988) and Sweet Revenge (1987). Though to be fair and balanced, it is better than Mercenary II (1999).

Perhaps you even saw this or the aforementioned titles collecting dust on the shelf of your local video store. Sybil Danning’s face couldn’t be much bigger on the U.S. VHS box art (as was the case with her “Adventure Video” series), but she is painfully underused in the movie itself. Another quite easy thing the movie could have done to improve itself would have been to include more Danning. 

Actually, pretty much the entire cast gets the short end of the stick somehow. Woody Strode says nothing, Danning is barely there, Paul L. Smith has no facial hair and does minimal fighting, John Vernon is in a veritable sit-down role, Alex Cord does what he can, and only Marjoe Gortner adds some Woody Allen-like spice to this mush. The models don’t seem to have individual personalities.

It’s a plot we’ve all seen many times before, and they saved all the supposed action for the climax. Some pew-pew machine gun shooting and maybe an exploding helicopter at the last minute doesn’t make up for all the waterfall footage we’d seen for the previous eighty or so minutes. 

But on the plus side, 80’s buffs will be delighted to see a vicious-looking drug goon wearing an E.T. shirt, and a too-brief glimpse of the wardrobe girl on the fashion shoot who has a sideways ponytail and is listening to a Walkman with orange ear covers. She should have gotten her own movie, she was the best character. The whole thing tops off with a theme song  featuring the aggressively abrasive, Lene Lovich-like vocals of one Marina Arcangeli. So it all ends on a bad note, literally.

Jungle Warriors is unfortunately lackluster, and it should have been called, if we may borrow a phrase from ourselves, Jungle Slog.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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

Terminal Entry (1988)

Terminal Entry (1988)- * * *1\2

Directed by: John Kincade

Starring: Edward Albert, Patrick Labyorteaux, Paul L. Smith, Rob Stone, Sam Temeles, Heidi Helmer, Yvette Nipar, Jill Terashita, Tracy Brooks Swope, and Yaphet Kotto











Captain Danny Jackson (Albert) is a Strike Team Leader who is trying to stop Islamic terrorists from crossing over the borders of the USA from Mexico. He’s working with Colonel Styles (Kotto) and their mysterious and overweight boss Stewart (Smith). Complicating their job is the fact that the terrorists are now communicating via the all-new technology of “going online”. This is confounding them, especially Jackson, who is a man of action who would rather be shooting a machine gun from a speeding jeep than tinkering around on a computer like some kind of nerd. 

Which brings us to the activities of six teens - Bob, Tom and Howie (Labyorteaux, Stone and Temeles) and their prospective girlfriends Chris, Tina and Gwen (Helmer, Nipar and Terashita) who go out to a remote cabin in the woods to play the awesome new online game, Terminal Entry. What they don’t realize is: this game just got real. The kids are messing around with the same system the terrorists are using to communicate, and that Jackson and Styles, along with reporter Dominique (Swope) are trying to crack. It all comes to a head when the teens, the baddies and the heroes converge. What will happen?

We LOVED Terminal Entry. It was only natural that a movie would be made that marries together two standards of the video stores of the day: action movies and Romps (teen sex romps as we call them). But one of the most fascinating things about this movie is how ahead of its time it was. 

Who else in 1988 was talking about computers going “online”, Islamic terrorists (“suicide hit squads” in the movie) crossing our borders, and kids with headsets heavily involved in interactive video games? The movie is so ahead of its time, the filmmakers didn’t even realize it was unrealistic to give all the guys girlfriends. It was before the trope of “girlfriend-less dork” even developed in the popular consciousness. Of course, Terminal Entry will never get any credit for being ahead of the curve by anyone except us.

It’s wall-to-wall “80’s Awesome” as everything from the clothing, to the dialogue and of course the computer graphics scream 80’s. To us, that’s a very good thing. Even the Celebrity Video intro oozes with 80’s charm. It’s probably our favorite VHS label intro. 

Further increasing its 80’s cred is the presence of Rob Stone, who is instantly recognizable to Mr. Belvedere fans as Kevin on that classic show. Sadly, this is his only film role to date. Also, the movie features Edward Albert at his coolest, as he plays the hero with aplomb with machine guns and missile launchers. He’s the only dude awesome enough to bring nunchuks to a rural forest fight outside of a Godfrey Ho joint. Presciently, he says, “They’re bringing the war to us.” Yaphet Kotto is always nice to see, and he puts in a cigar-chompingly good role. We also loved seeing fan favorite Paul Smith. Tracy Brooks Swope, who was in such “classics” as Counter Measures (1999) and the immortal Keaton’s Cop (1990) is also on board.

And lest we forget Patrick Labyorteaux as Bob. He’s the charismatic, funny, wacky kid who looks like an 80’s version of Leave It To Beaver’s Tony Dow, and lives by BPOL - Bob’s Philosophy Of Life. Based on his monologue during the end credits (which are yellow on blue), perhaps they were setting up a series of “Bob” movies or TV shows. They seemed to be investing a lot in his character. 

Fascinatingly, it was all produced by the mysterious Sandy Cobe, the man behind the great Revolt (1986) and a few other items. The music by Tweed Sneakers is appropriately 80’s, and our man John “Action USA” Stewart did stunts.  It all adds up to a solidly fun movie that is ripe for reappraisal.

Before The Net (1995), before Hackers (1995), there was Terminal Entry. As it says on the back of the box, “Terminal Entry picks up where War Games left off.” We think it should be enjoyed by a new generation of fans.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Return Of The Tiger (1979)

Return Of The Tiger (1979)-* * *1\2

Directed by: Jimmy Shaw

Starring: Bruce Li, Angela Mao, and Paul L. Smith












In Bangkok, an American crime lord, Paul (Smith) is making his play to become the number one heroin dealer in the region. His main competitor is a Chinese gang who also wants control of the drug trade. But our hero, Chang (Li), is slyly playing them against each other so they can slowly wipe each other out. Inevitably, Paul and Chang will have to battle it out in the final confrontation. See who is victorious tonight!

From the opening of the movie, when Angela Mao shows up in a gym wearing a denim jumpsuit and stylishly beats up all comers, you know you’re in for an above-average chop socky outing. This is a true drive-in-style Martial Arts film, where characters have great outfits with huge collars, the dubbing is funny in its own right, there’s quality, non-stop fighting that is well-choreographed, and there are some nice directorial flourishes along the way that keep things from ever getting too flat.

Adding a lot to the proceedings is the extra-funky music, which includes some seriously badass drums. It’s easy to see why rappers like Wu-Tang like this style of movie, especially after hearing this cool soundtrack. Bruce Li even wears an imitation Adidas tracksuit for a bunch of his fight scenes, showing that the filmmakers trying to wring every last drop out of the Bruce Lee legend created something special that can stand on its own - and since a lot of these movies played on New York City’s 42nd Street, they ended up inadvertently inspiring some of the street culture of the 70’s and 80’s.

We always felt Bruce Li was underrated. While he came to prominence in the rush of Bruce Lee imitators along with Bruce Le, Dragon Lee, and our personal favorite knockoff name, Bruce Rhee, Bruce Li can hold his own as a high-quality Martial Artist, and this movie puts his talents on display - not only does Return Of The Tiger have the most threadbare plot to allow for non-stop brawls and fights, but there’s a hilarious scene where Li, right before a fight, oils himself up with oil that he just happened to have in his own pocket! 

So there’s a sense of humor here too, which is nice. Paul Smith, whose career has plenty of interesting moments, including appearing in the David Heavener vehicle Outlaw Force (1988), makes a visually different villain for this type of film. His bearded, hulking appearance gives Li a big challenge to overcome, and the climax - just like this movie overall - doesn’t disappoint.

Naturally, it takes place in the time-honored abandoned warehouse. Other things to watch out for are the musical stings (presumably) lifted right from the John Barry James Bond theme music, and an obese minion of the baddies named Tom who always wears a sweatshirt with the word “TOM” written in huge letters right on it. There are other memorable moments as well, making Return of the Tiger a cut above the legion of similar films being released at this time.

Also known in some territories under the awesomely overblown title of “Silent Killer From Eternity” (!), Media released this on VHS back in the good old days, so check it out if you can find it.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Outlaw Force (1988)

Outlaw Force (1988)-* *1\2

Directed by: David Heavener

Starring: David Heavener, Paul L. Smith, Robert Bjorklund, Devin Mills, and Frank Stallone



"A Story of what happens when a bullet comes between a man and his family."








Billy Ray Dalton (Heavener) is a simple family man and a “Cowboy of the modern day”, to quote Tesla. He loves his rural lifestyle, he loves fried chicken, and he fully lives up to his cowboy persona, putting on live Western stunt shows during the day and pursuing his country music career at night. 

One day some middle-aged punks roll into town and decide to start harassing the town’s gas station owner, Gumby (Patterson). When Dalton stands up for Gumby, the punks then murder Dalton’s pregnant wife and kidnap his pre-pubescent daughter, Holly Lynn (Cicero) to sell into human trafficking and child porn. Must make sense by punk standards. Either that, or they really, really hate Gumby.

Dalton leaves the country and heads into the big, bad, mean and dangerous city streets of Hollywood. We then learn that Dalton is an ex-Green Beret and expert marksman, and he will stop at nothing to get revenge and save his daughter. 

Meanwhile, Inspectors Wainright (Smith) and Grady Purella (Stallone) (did Heavener come up with that name?) are following the case. The “funny” part is, Purella is a glasses-wearing, rulebook-citing, suit-wearing liberal college boy  who loves yogurt and Wainright is an obese, rule-flouting, disgruntled, slovenly dude who loves nothing more than to chomp into the nearest burger. They’re the original odd couple! With the help of Jesse  (Mills), will Dalton emerge victorious, or will his plans and his musical career fall at the hands of the evil Washington (Bjorklund)?

David Heavener wrote, directed, co-produced and stars in this “cowboy Death Wish” and makes the most of its rock-bottom budget. His buckskin fringed jacket is even more awesome than Steven Seagal’s. And Heavener was first with that style. Frank Stallone shows his range as an actor - compare his role here with his character from Fear - totally different. None other than Fritz Matthews is credited with special effects, but he doesn’t appear in the movie. Paul Smith as Wainright is a triumph, especially with lines like “leave the detective-ing to us”.

Sure, the many scenes of Heavener singing may seem gratuitous - but who can argue with such gems as “This Honky’s Gonna Honky Tonk Tonight”? Interestingly enough, the film seems to get more competent as it goes along - as this was Heavener’s first directorial effort, perhaps he was learning quickly on the job.

An amazing highlight of - not the film itself- but the TransWorld VHS tape - is a TV commercial that runs before the movie. It’s a “special TV offer” for the Outlaw Force soundtrack, available on cassette or LP! Remember when they used to advertise for 2-record sets on TV with a 1-800 number and it had a blue background? Call today for “David Heavener” at a certain P.O. Box in Marina del Rey, CA. Now you can have such songs as “I am the Fire” and the aforementioned Honky...right in your own home! What a great commercial! Heavener fans (I assume they’re out there) will want to check out the movie and commercial so get the TransWorld tape!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Sno-Line (1986)

Sno-Line (1986)-* *1\2

AKA: Texas Godfather

Directed by: Douglas F. O'Neons

Starring: Vince Edwards, Paul L. Smith, and June Wilkinson











Steve King (Edwards) is a New York gangster that moves to Beaumont, Texas, figuring he can bring his street smarts to an unsuspecting criminal underworld in a different part of the country. Shortly after the movie begins, there's an on-screen title that reads: "One Year Later" for no discernible reason. He wants to build a "sno-line" from Houston to El Paso, controlling the cocaine racket. He also has a casino and there are corrupt Senators on the take.

Meanwhile a rival gang, headed by the bearded Kenny Loggins lookalike Bedford, wants to move in on the action. They have listening devices everywhere, including at the table at the country club where King hangs out. One of the members of the rival gang, Michael (Carey Clark) wants to just escape with his girlfriend with some stolen money. So it's gangsters chasing after gangsters, and Michael running away, and cops chasing them all. Who will escape?

In director O'Neons' only directorial effort, he brings us a very 80's subject. Cocaine and the people behind this drug trade. It's always fun to see Vince Edwards but the problem is this film has no heroes. You don't really root for him, Bedford or Michael to succeed. This is one of the main failings of the film. You don't really care what happens to anyone because they are all bad guys. Of course, King's assistant Gus (Louis Guss) is the most likable one, as the wisecracking old-school Italian schlub. Burt Young also could have played this role.

King hides his operation through a milk-delivery company called "King's Dairy". He delivers the coke in the milk and also collects on his gambling debts. Clever innovation. This leads to a mob war in the bayou with some good-ole-boys. King and Gus travel the back swamps in their boat named the "Fungus". A movie highlight involves Duval (Smith) and an alligator. We won't give it away.

There are some more fights, chases and double crosses, most of which the audience is indifferent towards, even though some involve King's main lady Audrey (Wilkinson). It quickly devolves into a Dukes of Hazzard episode. While the idea of a mob man dealing coke and doing mob things in Texas is pretty novel, Sno-Line lacks a certain energy and cohesiveness that would have helped considerably. We love the low-budget attitude, and all the 80's fashions alone make it watchable. Released on VHS in the U.S. on the great Lightning Video label, Sno-Line is the type of movie if you see somewhere you should pick up, but it's not necessary to go out of your way to try and find.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty