Captive Rage (1988)

 

Captive Rage (1988)- * *1\2

Directed by: Cedric Sundstorm

Starring: Oliver Reed, Lisa Rinna, Claudia Udy, and Robert Vaughn

In the small South American town of Parador, the maniacal General Belmondo (Reed) rules the roost. When his son is arrested for dealing cocaine, Belmondo decides the best course of action is to kidnap a bunch of young women and hold them captive until his son is released from prison. What he - and his sidekick Chiga (Udy) - didn't count on was the resourcefulness, know-how, and, well CAPTIVE RAGE of Lucy Delacorte (Rinna). She and some of her female compatriots break out of their captivity and go on the run in the jungle. While Lucy's father Eduard (Vaughn) is trying to figure out what's going on, Lucy and her friends are busy shooting their way out of the situation. Will Lucy and the gang triumph over Belmondo and Chiga?


In much the same vein as Mankillers (1987), Toy Soldiers (1984), or perhaps Sweet Justice (1993) or Hired to Kill (1990), Captive Rage is another in a series of films made in the 80's and early 90's that featured women getting kidnapped and then fighting back. The Grenada incident was still fresh news in the public's mind back then, and, in true exploitation tradition, a spate of movies sought to capitalize on that.


While largely lackluster, Captive Rage has a couple of things going for it: Oliver Reed, who did this the same year as the similarly-titled Rage to Kill (1988 of course), is here in a similar role. He has a beard, sunglasses, and speaks in a ridiculous French (?) accent. Surely it was a nice paid vacation to go to South Africa and spend time with a bunch of ladies, including fan favorite Claudia Udy. Lisa Rinna also stands out as the leader of the girls. She was almost unrecognizable without those puffed-up lips she later became known for. Of course, Robert Vaughn is here, as he usually was around this time. His role is small. His hair is questionable.


Director Cedric Sundstrom, who action fans may know because of American Ninja 3 (1989), American Ninja 4 (1990), and Comeuppance Classic The Revenger (also 1990), delivers a mostly-mediocre movie that makes you wait for the majority of the blow-ups and guard-tower falls. There is gun-shooting throughout, though. But there are plenty of slow moments as well. On the whole, Captive Rage could have been tightened up, including having a shorter running time.


Of course, we don't mean to say it's all bad news of course. There is a classic Drug Deal Gone Wrong in a warehouse, a geologist that looks a lot like Christopher McDonald, and the highly politically-incorrect plot point that the girls have to continually shoot and kill the native population of the Paradorian jungle.


While Captive Rage remains video store shelf-filler, non-U.S. residents will want to take note of the fact that the film, under the alternate titles of Blood Ransom and Fair Trade are both cut. While we agree the movie should have been trimmed down for a leaner running time, they shouldn't have gotten rid of the sleaze. That's one of the only things Captive Rage has going for it.


In the end, despite a handful of bright spots, Captive Rage will probably only appeal to die-hards of this sort of thing.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

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

Nightstick (1987)

Nightstick (1987)- * * *

Directed by: Joesph Scanlan

Starring: Bruce Fairbairn, Robert Vaughn, Kerrie Keane, John Vernon, and Leslie Nielsen





“You need a good workout to get your mind off those terrorists.”






Jack Calhoun (Fairbairn) is a New York City cop with an attitude, and, surprisingly enough, he plays by his own rules. While the top brass, as exemplified by Melton (Vaughn) don’t approve of his rogue ways, some of the other higher-ups, such as Thad Evans (Nielsen) realize that Calhoun’s ways may be unorthodox, but he gets results. 

When a three-brother team of bomb-makers and extortionists known as the Bantam Brothers begin blowing up buildings in the city, only one man can stop them: Calhoun. Did you think it would be someone else? But it becomes personal when they kidnap his girlfriend, Robin (Keane). Meanwhile, bank manager Adam Beardsly (Vernon) wants answers. Can Calhoun save the day? Find out today!

Seeing as how this was originally made for TV, and has the alternate title of “Calhoun”, presumably there was talk of having a Calhoun TV show. Nightstick does indeed feel like a movie-long pilot episode. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, as the movie captures some great NYC locations, not the least of which is an impressive aerial shot of the World Trade Center towers. It wouldn’t be an 80’s cop movie without some smooth sax on the soundtrack, and Fairbairn makes a decent enough hero.

Fairbairn looks like a thinner Tom Berenger, and this must be one of the last movies where the hero smokes. That is exactly what makes Nightstick worth seeing - not just 80’s nostalgia, but the fact that besides Fairbairn, we have Robert Vaughn, Leslie Nielsen and John Vernon all together in a kind of “old guys club”. We always applaud when movies take an anti-young-punk attitude and make salty old guys the heroes. You don’t really see that anymore. 

It’s also nice to see Leslie Nielsen before he was typecast in silly comedy roles. Most people forget the pre-2001: A Space Travesty (2000) times, when he was a serious dramatic actor. Plus, in Nightstick, he was a “foodie” before the term was cool.

From a filmmaking standpoint, there are some weird moments of abrupt editing, and the movie on the whole could have used a bit more energy at times. However, Nightstick is a fairly solid, if somewhat tame, cop thriller/procedural. But really, if anything, it’s the familiar faces that make it work. Plus check out that eye-catching box art.

So if you can’t get enough of rogue cops who handle things their own way (and why would you?), feel free to check out Nightstick, but don’t get your expectations too high.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

River Of Death (1989)

River Of Death (1989)-* *

Directed by: Steve Carver

Starring: Michael Dudikoff, Donald Pleasence, Herbert Lom, L.Q. Jones, and Robert Vaughn 












 At the end of World War II in 1945, Heinrich Spaatz (Pleasence) vows revenge on evil Nazi doctor Wolfgang Manteuffel (Vaughn). Twenty years later, in 1965, we’re introduced to “adventurer” John Hamilton (Dudikoff), a guy who knows the Amazon river like the back of his hand and gives tours through the dangerous jungles. In his latest tour group are people that want to find out the origins of a mysterious disease that’s been ravaging the local population, as well as some Nazi hunters that believe Manteuffel is hiding out in the area. All want to find the legendary “Lost City” which should hold the key to pretty much everything. But along the way, they’re going to have to face many pitfalls and challenges - everything from “river pirates” to the unknown jungle disease. Will they succeed?

I guess Firewalker (1986) wasn’t enough of an overlong jungle slog for Cannon, so they decided to make another one a few years later. Why they thought audiences had such an appetite for jungle slogs is unknown, but here’s another one. Take the aforementioned Firewalker, add some Golden Needles (1974), and maybe some Skeleton Coast (1988), and you have a plot you’ve seen many times before. If you really want to see a quest for the lost city, see Quest For The Lost City (1990). Sure, River of Death might be based on a story by the acclaimed Alistair MacLean, but it lacks a Zap Rowsdower. Or even a Mike Pipper. So can it really compete?

Dudikoff is as cool as ever, and his gruff narration adds...something...but honestly this isn’t really an action movie, it’s more of an old-fashioned “adventure” movie. Why the filmmakers thought that would be better, we don’t know. It seems like a bit of a cop-out. Dudikoff doesn’t even do any Martial Arts. Due to the length of the movie, and the quality cast, we presume Cannon was going for some very mainstream material. What they came out with is pretty boring, because there isn’t really any character development, so you don’t really care what goes on, and even what little bit of gunplay and explosions there happen to be don’t help things.

Robert Vaughn - yes, Control 5 himself! - is on hand as a Nazi. We always love seeing him, and he clearly is enjoying himself here, probably because he doesn’t get too many Nazi roles. Maybe there’s a reason for that? Perhaps the good lawyers at Mark E. Salomone and Morelli liked what they saw and decided to give the poor guy a break. We kid Vaughn because we love. We’re also big fans of Donald Pleasence, and he gets to do a lot more here than, say, in the entertaining (but largely Pleasence-less) American Tiger (1990). Herbert Lom is also onboard with the cast of older gentlemen, which adds to the Skeleton Coast vibe. Too bad they couldn’t get Borgnine.

The bottom line here is that this movie should have been snappier, with a more vibrant pace and about a half an hour chopped out of the running time. We see what the filmmakers were trying to do, but it’s all so bloated. Director Steve Carver, who only a year previously directed the fun Bulletproof (1988), should have taken a page out of his own handbook and livened things up a bit like he did with that Gary Busey vehicle. He truly shouldn’t have been such a “Butthorn”.

We’ve seen a lot worse, and this movie is fine for Dudikoff completists or even Pleasence fans, but casual viewers will probably be turned off by River of Death’s sluggish ways.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out a review by our buddy, DTVC!

Lethal Force (2002)

Lethal Force (2002)-*

Directed by: James Dalthorp

Starring: Richard Tyson, Steven Owsley, Michelle Stafford, Willie Gault, and Robert Vaughn













Thomas Carruth (Tyson) is a Texas cop who laments the “old days” when law enforcement didn’t have so much red tape involved and there were less confining rules. So he goes rogue, becoming the judge, jury and executioner all on his own terms. Apparently this doesn’t sit right with go-getting attorney Renee Alexander (Stafford), who approaches fellow lawyer J.B. Thornton (Owsley) about building a case against Carruth. Even with the help of Eddie Mills (Gault), catching Carruth is not going to be easy. So they slowly, meticulously do it anyway. Will they catch this Carruthless character? Can they fight through the Carruption? Find out today! (Actually, don’t...)

You’d think a Direct-to-Video movie starring Richard Tyson and Robert Vaughn called Lethal Force would be a surefire winner. However, it’s not very lethal and has minimal force. However, that’s the Corman-released title (others were Cottonmouth and Silent Justice) - and it seems to be a cynically misleading ploy to get suckers like us to think this is an action movie. It’s actually a TV-style drama about two lawyers building their case against someone. It’s nothing you wouldn’t see on an episode of Law & Order - and it would probably be done better on a Law & Order episode. The main problem is, by far the best and most interesting character is Carruth, and there are huge stretches where he’s nowhere in sight. And they could have made him a lot more evil. The non-Carruth scenes have no edge or bite to them.

Carruth is a good role for Tyson, and we were wishing he would come back in a better movie. Incidentally, he resembles a cross between Martin Kove and Steven Bauer. Amazingly, this movie came out in 2002, but it looks like it’s from 1992. And seeing as how we were on Robert Vaughn watch, we noted how he doesn’t appear until 69 minutes into the movie. At that point it’s just a salvage job and it’s far beyond the powers of any actor to save the wreckage, but it seems Vaughn at least tried his best.

Sadly, Lethal Force is a dull, uninvolving legal drama that was cruelly mis-marketed as some kind of action movie. If you ever see this movie in any store, don’t take the bait. (Ty paid fifty cents at The Salvation Army for this on VHS - and that’s exactly where it’s going back). Let us act as guinea pigs for you. If you’re expecting action, avoid Lethal Force.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Skeleton Coast (1988)

Skeleton Coast (1988)-* *1\2

Directed by: John "Bud" Cardos

Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Robert Vaughn, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Arnold Vosloo, Herbert Lom, Daniel Greene, and Oliver Reed












When his son Michael, who is an undercover CIA operative, is kidnapped and imprisoned by the Angolan army, his father Col. Bill Smith (Borgnine) snaps into action and assembles a team of inter-racial mercenaries to travel deep into Africa to free his son. This team includes, but is not limited to: Smith himself, Blade (Vosloo), Toshiro (Kwong), Sam (Mulford), Chuck (Kennedy) and Rick (Greene). All have their specialties in the fighting arts. On the side of the baddies we have Col. Schneider (Vaughn), supposedly an East German with some interests in the Angolan army vs. the rebels, and Capt. Simpson (Reed), yet another character who has his own interests. Add to this mix Elia (Lom) and you have a desert/jungle adventure best suited to Saturday afternoon viewing.

Clearly, the only real reason to see this movie is its incredible cast. Our hometown hero Ernest Borgnine leads the pack with his engaging and always-upbeat performance. It really is a pleasure to see him shooting machine guns along with all the younger cast. We also always love to see Oliver Reed doing what he does best - yelling crazily - whether he technically has to be there or not. He plays a very similar character here as he does in Rage to Kill (1987). Robert Vaughn brings his distinct voice to the proceedings, and a fairly early performance by Arnold Vosloo completes the picture. Interestingly enough, he met and married co-star Nancy Mulford when they met on this film. See, Skeleton Coast really brings people together.

While the many stars on show will draw viewers in, and there is plenty of beautiful scenery and such, the movie is kind of flat and feels like filler at times. It also has some wacky musical stings that seem inappropriate. Really, this is just a star-studded Exploding Hut movie, and it’s also a bit overlong (probably to try to accommodate all the characters).

On the technical front, if you watch this on Netflix streaming, the colors are soft and faded. On the Nelson VHS, that is not the case. The movie looks a lot more normal, with sharper colors. If you opt to buy this movie, look for the Nelson VHS.

While the wonderfully jolly Ernest Borgnine is a personal hero, Skeleton Coast really is nothing overly good OR overly bad. It’s kind of somewhere in the middle. If you’re a fan of any of the stars involved, and you’re okay with that, do proceed.  If not, your time might be better spent elsewhere. If Skeleton Coast was The Expendables (2010) of its day, then Ernest Borgnine truly is the original Stallone.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Hour Of The Assassin (1987)

Hour Of The Assassin (1987)-* *

Directed by: Luis Llosa

Starring: Erik Estrada, Francisco Giraldo, and Robert Vaughn

Martin Fierro (Estrada) is hired by some generals to assassinate the new president of the South American country of San Pedro, Roberto Villaverde (Giraldo). They convince him to do this by playing to his sympathies regarding his father, a man assassinated by these very same generals, although Fierro doesn’t know that. According to them, his father was “leftist scum” (which they say behind Fierro’s back, of course). Fierro has his work cut out for him, except for one thing: ex-CIA operative Sam Merrick (Vaughn), who is tracking Fierro and intent on stopping the assassination. It’s a race against time - who will come out victorious?

It’s yet another “El Presidente” movie - A South America-set film about rebels in the streets versus the political establishment. This plotline was more prevalent in video stores than you might think - Cocaine Wars (1985), McBain (1991), Perfect Target (1997) and the latest example, The Expendables (2010). The plot is extremely simple - it’s Vaughn chasing Estrada for over 90 minutes - so after an exciting opening chase sequence and the setup of the plot, the middle section drags heavily. It’s natural that this would happen with such minimal plot. A few interestingly-lit sequences are not enough to solve this problem.

The movie does deliver some standard chases and shooting, but the roles for both Estrada and Vaughn are a little different than usual. The tone is downbeat, serious and low-key. Estrada doesn’t play bad-guy assassin roles too often, and how often do you see “Control 5” himself, Robert Vaughn, at least at the age he was when he shot this movie, running around South America playing the action star?  Of course, Vaughn’s “hair” is odd and is constantly changing from scene to scene, and, like Chris Lemmon in Firehead (1991), whose catchphrase was the ever-present “Jesus Christ!”, here Robert Vaughn utters the word “Bastard!” every other scene. 

This was a Corman production, released in the U.S. in the always cool MGM/UA big-box. Director Luis Llosa shot the film in his native Peru and there are some nice locations. He later had some mainstream hits with Anaconda (1997), the Stallone vehicle The Specialist (1994) and the classic Tom Berenger Sniper (1993). He’s also responsible for the Corman David Carradine film Crime Zone (1989). This was his first cinematic foray, and it’s not bad, it’s just standard, and even tends toward boring at times.

This is the perfect example of video store shelf-filler that, yes, has cool box art and all, but will underwhelm you. It makes true gems like Deadly Prey (1987) stand out all the more.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Deadly Reckoning (1998)

Deadly Reckoning (1998)-*1\2

AKA: The Company Man

Directed by: Art Camacho

Starring: Frank Zagarino, Don Stroud, Elizabeth Giordano, Bryan Genesse,  Matthias Hues, and Robert Vaughn as "Control 5"









"Deadly Reckoning" is an oddity that sadly is too junky and downmarket to be all that interesting.

A block of wood, excuse me, Frank Zagarino, plays Ernest Gray, bespectacled owner of the Either/Or bookstore (apparently a real place in Hermosa Beach, CA). He just wants to be left alone to raise his young daughter, Jennifer, and get her into Julliard. Unfortunately, he is menaced for $50 in protection money by a trio of middle-aged "homies". Their big threat is to call him "Book Boy". I know, I know. As if that wasn't enough, it turns out Gray - if that's his REAL name - was the "greatest spy of them all" for the CIA with the code name of Napoleon.  One of his big achievements was to dismantle a terror cell named...The Cell. 

Now the evil Control 5 (Vaughn - that's his actual name in the film) and his henchmen, one of which is the beefy, shotgun-wielding Van Guilder (Hues) are after Ernest and Jennifer. Luckily, Ernest's compadres Lewis (Genesse), The Mule (Stroud) and  Marianna (Giordano) are helping them out. Will Gray and his daughter Jennifer Gray beat The Cell?

Frank Zagarino, who resembles a cross between Dolph Lundgren and Brian Bosworth, with the square-headedness of Howie Long, shows little-to-no emotion and his voice is weirdly monotonous. Matthias Hues joins the fray as Van Guilder, and he has some similar issues but he makes it work because he's charming. He is a hulking brute, and one of his "disguises" is to wear glasses and put his Fabio-like hair in a ponytail. But he still wears his trademark sleeveless shirt. 

The actress that plays Gray's daughter, Rebecca Ayre Doughty, gives far and away the best performance of the film and acts rings around everyone else (it's not her fault her violin playing is an obvious keyboard). Her beloved bear, Chewy the Bear has some sort of secret to it which is never fleshed out.

Robert Vaughn- yes, THE Robert Vaughn, shows us the definition of "slumming". He's gone from being nominated for Oscars to Control 5. How the mighty have fallen. In the end credits, there is a credit for "Special Effects Hair Stylist". We can only assume this refers to Vaughn's hairpiece. We love Vaughn and we want the best for him. Why is he here?

Director Camacho, despite the nil budget, cheap feel  and dingy "film" quality, still tries for some John Woo-style flourishes but they are pretty ham-handed. Note the bookstore and abandoned warehouse (of course) shootouts. Actually a lot of the movie is padded out with brainless shooting. 

It seems the only people that should see "Deadly Reckoning" are die-hard Zagarino, Hues or Vaughn fans. Anybody who watches this glop will get their intelligence insulted.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Gang Warz (2004)

Gang Warz (2004)-* *1\2

Directed by: Chris McIntyre

Starring: Chino XL, Coolio, Pablo Patlis, Reni Santoni, and Robert Vaughn













I expected the worst and got a surprise here. Gang Warz is actually good.

The Crime Strike Force was great at catching criminals. Until corruption and bribes surfaced, and because of that, violent gang members were let out of prison. One gang member, Marco Cruz (Patlis) vowed to kill the people who put him away. Ro Conner (Chino XL) is the cop who has to stop him.

The biggest surprise of the movie is that Coolio's performance was first-rate. He was subtle. Robert Vaughn makes an appearance and spouts cop clichés. Chino XL was a little wooden in his delivery. 


The action scenes were goofy because during the gunfights, it looked like they didn't have a budget and winged it.

Besides that, if you want a pretty decent cop\gang flick, this isn't a bad choice.

Comeuppance review by: Ty