Mack Bolan: The Executioner #75 – THE BONE YARD (1985)

It’s “Pearl Harbor in the desert”, but little do Frank Spinoza and his Vegas crew know that they’re under attack from Mack Bolan – The Executioner – and not Seiji Kuwahara, the sushi restauranteur with Japanese mob connections looking to take a slice of Sin City’s gambling pie. 

EXECUTIONER 75: THE BONE YARD (1985) finds the Bolan saga back on familiar ground, with Mack taking his war against organized crime straight at both the Italian and Japanese contingents, while the old guard Jewish mobsters who helped build Las Vegas plot revenge for years of being lap dogs for the likes of Spinoza and the major crime families. Throw in a sympathetic homicide cop and an investigative reporter in distress and you’ve got all the makings for a quick but entertaining men’s adventure outing, despite the fact that none of the villains present much of a threat to our hero. 

Author Mike Newton packs THE BONE YARD’s 184 pages with plenty of colorful and graphic descriptions of the violence that befalls anybody who crosses Bolan’s path (“flattening him between the hard unyielding layers of metal like a slice of ham inside a ghastly sandwich” was my favorite) and if I was drinking at every mention of “parabellum manglers” I’d be face down on our vacation house porch. 

Bonus points for the interview excerpts with Bolan creator Don Pendelton (from KMGH-TV in Denver) in which he discusses the upcoming Bolan film (“maybe a series of pictures”) produced by Burt Reynolds with Sylvester Stallone writing, directing and starring as The Executioner. – Dan Taylor

Mack Bolan, The Executioner #77: HOLLYWOOD HELL (1985)

It’s HARDCORE MEETS BOLAN as the drugged-out daughter of an up-and-coming politician gets sucked into Hollywood’s seamy underbelly of drugs, porn – and worse. When the politician finds himself being blackmailed he reaches out to The Executioner’s brother Johnny and enlists his help. 

Mack Bolan responds the only way he knows how, by conducting a one-man frontal assault on the pimps, snuff film purveyors and other lowlifes that populate the mean streets of LA. Tipped to the presence of a shadowy figure known as The Iceman, Bolan declares all-out war until he gets the info he needs to zero in on his target. 

Written by longtime Bolan series vet Mike Newton, HOLLYWOOD HELL features plenty of street level action as Bolan’s adventure takes him from a rescue of the Senator to a full-blown shootout with The Iceman and an adversary from a previous visit to The City of Angels. 

Newton’s old school prose effortlessly channels the beats of Bolan creator Don Pendelton’s influential books, balancing inner Bolan monologues on the savageness of man with talk of “parabellum manglers” and thoughts of how criminals ripped apart The Executioner’s own family, which makes this bout of urban warfare more personal than usual. 

The daylight raids and wholesale slaughter of the denizens of “Hotel Hell” might be tough to swallow at times, but Newton keeps things moving at a lightning pace over the course of 186 lean pages. 

If I had any complaint it’s that the tale builds to an epic clash between Bolan and The Iceman, only to have the latter swiftly dispatched in the book’s last few pages. That’s a minor quibble, though, and something I’ve gotten used to during this era of the series. – Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and he loves him some Mack Bolan. This review originally appeared in our monster 30th anniversary issue, still available at Amazon or direct from the publisher.

Hollywood Hell is available from Amazon.

Mack Bolan, The Executioner #445: FINAL ASSAULT (2015)

A quick stop at the skeevy thrift store on my way to the beach paid off with a couple new Bolans for a mere 49 cents each. I spotted BLOOD RITES (#439) first and realized that where there’s one Bolan there are probably more. 

Sure enough, amidst the discarded TWILIGHT books and pregnancy guides there was FINAL ASSAULT and its alluring tagline of “Pirates steal the spotlight on a publicity stunt gone deadly wrong.” SOLD! 

It wasn’t long before I secured my favorite spot near water’s edge and cracked open Joshua Reynolds’ taut tale of terrorists, modern day pirates and, oh yeah, Mack Bolan. 

When “sustainable technologies wunderkind” Nicholas Pierpoint hired Georges Garrand and his team of international mercs to hijack his super-yacht’s star-studded maiden voyage he assumed any publicity was good publicity. But he didn’t count on a double cross that would find him held captive on his own ship, helpless to stop an auction of the floating city to some of the world’s most dangerous criminals. 

Cue a bevy of Feds who can’t let the Demeter’s technology fall into the wrong hands and would rather see her blown to pieces, resting in a watery grave. If only there was a man capable of taking the ship back before it’s too late… 

Recruited for the gig by old pal Hal Brognola, Bolan enlists help from a band of Somali pirates in order to defeat the mercenaries, rescue the hostages and send the Demeter to the ocean floor before she can be turned into a floating – and potentially impregnable – criminal fortress. 

Reynolds’ book reads like a ready-made, action-packed Bolan film franchise entry (don’t I wish!) with sly asides to everything from DIE HARD and UNDER SIEGE to Tom Cruise (“he looked a little like a certain American movie star, the one who’d made that film about bartenders and liked to stand on couches”). 

The mercs and who’s who of international criminals are colorful and so perfectly drawn I couldn’t help but cast the film in my head as the pages breezed by. Bravo, too, to Reynolds for giving Mack some formidable foes to deal with. 

Despite knowing that nobody executes The Executioner, the final few chapters find our hero dealing with harrowing scenarios featuring tough as nails villains, near drownings and a shark feeding frenzy. 

As I looked up from the last page I could almost see Bolan and Brognola having their debriefing on the deck of a CIA-owned “fishing boat”. – Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and he longs for a big budget Mack Bolan flick. This review originally appeared in our super-sized 30th anniversary issue, available from Amazon and direct from the publisher.

FINAL ASSAULT is available from Amazon.

Mack Bolan, The Executioner #107: AMERICAN NIGHTMARE (1987)

The recent months seemed like the perfect time to dig out an election-themed Bolan and 1987’s prescient AMERICAN NIGHTMARE could not have been a better choice. 

With the Presidential primaries heating up, Bolan is tasked with providing beefed-up security for Senator Jack Torrance, a rising star who loves the spotlight and might just be his party’s nominee. But when a series of seemingly unrelated, gory and very publicized murders begin, The Executioner and his computer whiz sidekick must uncover Torrance’s connection to the killings. And stop the international hit team before they take out the would-be President. 

Easily one of the more brutal Executioners I’ve read, AMERICAN NIGHTMARE reads like author Mike McQuay took a time machine from the present back to 1987 in order to pen this tale of terrorists bringing their particular brand of mayhem to American shores. 

“I think that international terrorism is the greatest threat this country will face for the rest of the century,” Torrance tells Bolan during an early encounter, while head assassin Blocker (aka Freon) attempts to deflect attention from his true intentions by posing as part of an Islamic hit squad. 

Complicating matters for Bolan are the senator’s attempts to obfuscate his connection to the victims as well as a head of security who sees neither the need for nor value of Bolan. It all adds up to a satisfying and recommended action/mystery with the added bonus of Bolan. – Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and he hopes that the recent American nightmare is over soon. This review originally appeared in our super-sized 30th anniversary issue still available at Amazon or direct from the publisher.

American Nightmare is available from Amazon.

Mack Bolan, The Executioner #276: LEVIATHAN (2001)

When ER cover artist Neil Vokes and I started kicking around cover concepts for issue 53 we tried zeroing in on something that would tie together the issue's dual themes of Bolan and anthology flicks. From the initial phrase “Bolan vs monsters mashup” we ended up going a Lovecraftian route (“tentacles and gooey creepy stuff”) because it seemed like a great way to link the two and, in my own fateful words, “No, [Bolan’s] never done anything like that…” 

Fast forward a few moths and it comes to my attention that, well, I’m not quite right. In fact, The Executioner battled cult beasties from the dark depths in LEVIATHAN (2001), not to be confused with the Peter Weller film of the same name (itself part of the brief underwater horror craze of the late 1980s). 

After a search at the nearby Bolan-laden thrift store proved fruitless I hit Amazon, paid a whopping penny and waited for the 267th installment of the series to hit my mailbox. 

Set on an abandoned oil platform turned nation state pledged to make high-quality drugs, LEVIATHAN spins a Lovecraftian-inspired action yarn as Bolan, feisty special agent Mallory Harmon and Miskatonic University’s twitchy nano-technology expert Donovan (Don’t Call Me Herbert) West must infiltrate the CIA-funded nation/ghost platform in the seas off Bermuda to cut off the drug operations and get to the bottom of the recent attacks from the ocean’s dark, briny depths. 

Toss in a nebulous CIA revenge plot against Bolan and a bevy of Bermuda-based cult members and you’d think LEVIATHAN would add up to one of those off-beat Executioners (a la PRISON CODE and NIGHT KILL) that I love. Eh, not so much. In fact, Gerald Montgomery’s sluggish outing is probably the first Executioner adventure I’ve read that I’d recommend to completists and the curious only. 

LEVIATHAN’s problems are legion: the revenge plotline never gels; Bolan’s half-assed plan quickly falls apart and he’s easily bested by the rogue Company man running security (a guy in a Hawaiian shirt and Birkenstocks no less!); the 220-pager is padded with a pointless appearance from Bolan’s PI brother; and, Montgomery spends far too much time describing everything in exhausting detail from the various levels of the oil platform (which eventually gets needlessly confusing) to the van transporting Harmon and West to Stony Man. 

On the plus side, Harmon’s escape from the clutches of a clan of inbred Southerners is right out of a low-budget, straight-to-video serial killer movie and the author name-checks classics like THE HOWLING and JAWS. Unfortunately, all the references and pantie-clad shootouts did was make me wish I was watching (or reading) something of their ilk. Hell, I’d have settled for a re-watch of the mini-series based on Peter Benchley’s THE BEAST (also referenced) starring a pre-CSI William Petersen as “Whip Dalton” (one of my all-time favorite character names). 

What should have been a breezy read for the Halloween season turned into a dull chore. – Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and he wishes everybody a happy, spooky and healthy Halloween! A version of this review first appeared in our super-sized anniversary issue still available at Amazon and direct from the publisher.

The Executioner #276: LEVIATHAN is available from Amazon.

Exploitation Retrospect Returns with 130 Page 30th Anniversary Issue!

The Journal of Junk Culture and Fringe Media returns with a super-sized 30th anniversary issue clocking in at 130 pages! 

This time out the ER Crew looks at the world of horror anthology films with a special review section featuring SLAUGHTER TALES (2012), TORTURE GARDEN (1967), THE UNCANNY (1977), TOMB OF TERROR (2004), HOLIDAYS (2016), GRIM PRAIRIE TALES (1990), ASYLUM (1972), THE BURNING MOON (1992), CRADLE OF FEAR (2007), SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT (1979) and many more. Plus, we look inside the world of 21st century anthology flicks with filmmaker Scarlet Fry.

We remember THE DESTROYER co-creator Warren Murphy with an interview by The Paperback Fanatic and examine the legacy of Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan (THE EXECUTIONER) and other men's action heroes via reviews, articles and an interview with author Mike Newton.

Obscure horror gets its due thanks to an interview with Gary Wallace (star of video store oddity THE JAR) while Evan Romero waxes nostalgic about Joe D'Amato's PORNO HOLOCAUST and breaks down the films of Jorg Buttgereit.

Longing for the sights, sounds and smells of old movie theaters? Take a trip through Kris Gilpin's theatrical scrapbook while Chris Poggiali examines the history of hot pants cinema.

And what would an issue of Exploitation Retrospect be without a bulging review section? Join Douglas Waltz, Mitch Lovell, John Grace, Devin Kelly, David Zuzelo, Jim Ivers, Evan Romero, Eric Miller, Neil Vokes, Robert Segedy, Mike Hauss and Dan Taylor as they dive deep into a video vortex of horror, action, exploitation and sleaze.

The new issue is currently available from CreateSpace as well as Amazon.

If you prefer to order direct from the publisher, please visit the ER website.

Men Of Action... Assemble! Bolan and Remo to Battle for Big Screen Bragging Rights?

You can have your superhero movies... this was a great week to be a card-carrying Man Of Action.

First came the announcement that the grandaddy of the men's action novel – Mack Bolan aka The Executioner – was in development (again) for the silver screen. Bolan has been a property of interest in Hollywood pretty much since Don Pendleton debuted the character in 1969's WAR ON THE MAFIA.

Still chugging along thanks to a dozen or so new titles each year, Bolan has drawn the attention of everyone from Steve McQueen and Sly Stallone to Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood and even Groot himself, Vin Diesel (that one I can't see). I even have several copies of 70s-era Bolan paperbacks with a flag on the cover trumpeting its imminent arrival as a "major film series".

Alas, the film series we all wanted never materialized – I'd still love to see a young, lean Burt Reynolds in the role – and I think fans had long given up hope of ever seeing Bolan on the big screen. Then news arrived that AVATAR sequel screenwriter Shane Salerno had obtained rights to the long-running series from the Pendleton estate and was pitching a gritty, action-oriented (though PG-13) trilogy showcasing the man who basically wrote the book for The Punisher.

While the news was met with enthusiasm by myself and fellow men's action lovers/Bolan fans, I think that we all were taking a cautious, wait-and-see approach given the series' lengthy flirtations with the silver screen.

And BAM! Like Bolan taking out a warehouse of oily thugs with a trusty rocket launcher we got word that not only had the trilogy found a studio with some background in the Men of Action market – Warner Bros. – but that the project had secured A-list talent in front of and behind the camera. Warner has locked up director Todd Phillips and – thanks to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY – red hot Bradley Cooper as the lynchpins for what could be an action franchise to rival the Bonds and Bournes of the cinematic world.

Admittedly, I've grown to love Bolan – which wasn't easy after my first attempt at the character via the clunky TENNESSEE SMASH – so I'm thrilled to see him coming to a multiplex near me, in 2017-ish. (Which should coincide nicely with ER 53 featuring... MACK BOLAN!) But my initial thought upon hearing the news of A-list talent being attached to the character was the hope that maybe, just maybe, a blockbuster Bolan flick would result in Hollywood getting off their collective ass and making the movie I really wanted... a new Remo Williams/The Destroyer flick!

I've made no secret of my love for both Remo Williams (the book character) and the film REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS. In fact, our new issue – out soon! – features cover boys Remo and Chiun imagined by award-winning illustrator Neil Vokes. And if any series lends itself to our turbulent times with its blend of action, sci-fi, martial arts, politics, bromance and satire it's The Destroyer.

So color me shocked when I pulled up Facebook on my phone this afternoon as I sat on the beach and saw ER scribe John Grace crow "this is even better news than the Mack Bolan movie". Even as I shaded the phone with my hand and squinted through my sea-spray-coated specs I knew exactly what he was talking about – a new Destroyer flick was in the works!

But it wasn't just the news that Sony was planning a new Remo big-screen adaptation that got my brain going, it was the news that longtime Destroyer fan Shane Black was attached to direct a script co-written by series author James Mullaney (he co-authored #88: THE ULTIMATE DEATH and went on to author novels #111 through #131 as well as several installments of THE NEW DESTROYER series).

Though both projects are in the early stages of development – no casting has been announced for either project besides Cooper as Bolan – and it will be a few years before we see either on the big screen, this was a good week to be a fan of The Men of Action!