Lethal ForceI gotta say, going into Lethal Force I really wasn't expecting much as I'm not at all a fan of spoof or action / comedy hybrids, especially if they're specifically designed to "pay homage" to exploitation films (yeah, fuck you Tarantino) but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this fun low budget outing. When sometime hit man Jack's (Frank Prather) wife is murdered and son is taken hostage by wheelchair-bound ultra-villain Mal Locke (Andrew Hewitt) and his creepy white mask-wearing goons, Jack is forced to set up his best friend and contract killer Savitch (Cash Flagg Jr.) if he ever wants to see his son alive again. Mal wants revenge on Savitch because he's the one who crippled him. Savitch is a badass assassin who looks and acts as if he stepped straight out of a John Woo flick. He performs mindblowing acrobatics during gun battles, never has less than 2 or 3 guns on his person and is basically invincible. The homage elements of the film go WAY over the top, its pretty much one after another - there's references to everything from blaxploitation and Hong Kong heroic bloodshed films to spaghetti westerns, 80s action hero and 70s Kung Fu flicks, plus many more including a scene in a go-go club directly ripped from Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! which is accompanied by an altered version of that films title track. The comedy isn't TOO overbearing or goofy, although in some parts it does go a little overkill with silly lines like ''he shoulda died when you killed him!'' The gory finale is definitely the crowning glory of the film - there's plenty of ultra-violent carnage including geysers of blood a la the Lone Wolf and Cub films, crucifixions, some Driller Killer inspired drill-to-the-head nastiness, a head explosion, a knife in the head and a shitload of OTT gun battles. There's also a fat fez-wearing bull-dyke called Big Bertha, a mock-horror scene starring dude with the most hideous teeth you've ever seen, and some borderline homoeroticism. On the whole I'd say if you dig cartoonish action and characters, bad jokes and a fair bit of blood, check this film out. The Special Edition DVD from Unearthed Films also has a bunch of special features which includes; Commentary with director Alvin D. Ecarma, 3 of the directors short films, Production photo's, Action figure gallery, Art gallery and Trailers.
|
Disc Details:
Special Features:
|
