This one had been sitting on my bookshelf for some time but after a steady diet of Remo Williams and Mack Bolan I decided I needed a little palette cleanser and MAFIA: OPERATION HIT MAN seemed like a good choice.
Dom Caressimo is a decorated Army vet living in a cheap studio apartment, bedding the building manager’s main squeeze and passing out nightly from cheap hootch – only to wake up with a splitting headache before doing it all over again. So, when he’s approached about a job as a “shooter” he jumps at the chance to improve his lifestyle and bank a little cash in the process.
Seems that Anthony Vicarella – a “legitimate businessman” who owns some local soft drink bottling plants – wants to create a murder-for-hire biz with Caressimo as the triggerman. Setting his new hit man up in a modest brownstone and instructing him on how to maintain a nondescript lifestyle while carrying out jobs for The Family, Vicarella, Dom and his crew of former Army pals immediately begin to reap the rewards of this exciting new venture.
But when Dom is hired to knock off a face from his past, well, that’s when things start to go haywire – and MAFIA: OPERATION HIT MAN turns from a straightforward cheapie Mafia Mania cash-in into an action novel with generous bits that feel cribbed from Penthouse Forum fantasy letters. After completing the job in question, Dom starts having trouble getting Little Dom to do his job. So, when Dom seeks therapy for his – ahem, problem – The Family starts to get suspicious, and Dom finds himself in the crosshairs of the killer team he’s assembled.
Surprisingly better than expected MAFIA: OPERATION HIT MAN is a fast-paced 205-page slab of junk pulp filled with plenty of sex, murder, gore, kinky sex, murder, double-crosses, globe-hopping and the kind of casual 1970s dialogue/prose that would make today’s PC Police blanch. In all honesty, I found myself mentally scripting an OPERATION HIT MAN flick in my head and would not be at all disappointed to watch it streaming on some weekend night after a few beers.
Not a men’s action series a la The Destroyer or its brethren, MAFIA: OPERATION HIT MAN is part of a series of one-shot pulp thrillers depicting various slices of Mafia life, be it the porn trade, cocaine trafficking or truck hijacking. All written under the totally believable nom de plume “Don Romano”, the books were “produced” by Lyle Kenyon Engel aka The Impresario of Paperbacks who re-launched dusty spy Nick Carter as Nick Carter – Killmaster and berthed the hugely successful “Kent Family Chronicles” series written by John Jakes. (For some fascinating reading of a different type Google “Lyle Kenyon Engel” and read some of the profiles, articles and obits chronicling his fascinating career. Where’s the documentary on this guy?!)
It took just a few nights to blow through this one and I’m actively seeking out other installments in the series. This one grades a B+ and is definitely worth a pickup if you spot it in the wild. – Dan Taylor<
Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and The Hungover Gourmet. He also hosts the internet radio show Around the Dial.
"There is only one thing that can save you from that typhoon. That is another typhoon. I am he."
After King Abras of a wealthy Middle Eastern state is sent packing in a bloodless coup, Colonel Baraka of the Lobynian army takes over and puts the squeeze on America by turning off the supply of precious oil to the States. And when a scientist with a revolutionary – and free – way to produce oil turns up dead at the hands of phony federal agents, it’s time to bring in Remo Williams and Chiun, Master of Sinanju to get the pipes flowing again before the American economy comes crashing down. What our heroes don’t anticipate is that one of their deadliest enemies is pulling the strings and awaits them in Lobynia.
I actually started OIL SLICK back in August (!) during a beach vacation but put it down seven chapters in because it wasn’t really grabbing me. Which is odd for a Destroyer book as they usually pull me right in and breeze along for a fast-paced 200 pages as I chuckle and wish for somebody to make a series starring Scott Adkins as Remo. So, after finishing an Executioner, a couple Batman graphic novels, Grady Hendrix’s WE SOLD OUR SOULS, FALLING and an excellent book on 1970s baseball I figured it was time to pick up where I left off. And I’m glad I did.
Once the authors are done setting up the story with the first 80 pages, OIL SLICK gets cracking as Remo and Chiun head to the Middle East along with a perverse oil company president and members of the Third World International Youth Conference. Chiun, incensed that Lobynia has backed out of its contract with the world’s deadliest assassins, wants Adras returned to power while his nephew Nuihc wants to battle the pig Remo whom he believes has stolen his rightful place as Chiun’s pupil and heir to the secrets of Sinanju. Remo, well, he just wants Chiun and CURE honcho Dr. Smith off his back so he’ll do whatever it takes to end the oil crisis.
OIL SLICK is a bit more schizo than other Destroyer entries and I suspect that co-creator Warren Murphy wrote the second (and better) half of the book as it crackles with sharp dialogue, especially between Chiun and Remo. Bad guys are dispatched (a dry cleaner showdown is gruesomely inventive), Remo has unsatisfying (for him) sex with an undercover agent, and it all leads to a showdown in the oil fields. Unfortunately, it’s a lot of buildup to a conclusion that’s a bit of a letdown, though we do get to see just how much Remo cares for his “little father”.
This one grades out to a B thanks to a sub-par start and above average finish. – Dan Taylor
Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and The Hungover Gourmet, as well as the host of the internet radio show Around The Dial. Next up on his men's adventure reading list is MAFIA: OPERATION HITMAN.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
PANDEMIC LIBRARY - The Destroyer #13: ACID ROCK
When an open contract on the life of a witness in an upcoming federal trial draws the attention of mobsters and assassins, it's up to Remo and Chiun to find her and protect her. And find her again and protect her. And find her *again* and protect her, since the drugged-out teenage rock groupie proves to be an elusive quarry for both The Destroyer and her other pursuers.
An above average installment of the popular mens action series pokes at everything from the rock festival scene (complete with an Alice Cooper-esque megastar), professional football and disc jockeys, highlighted – as always – by the interplay between Remo and Chiun. While the first half of the book is just okay things pick up steam once the assassins start closing in and it's up to our heroes to save the day. – Dan Taylor ACID ROCK is available at Amazon. Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect. He smells like hamburgers and moves with the grace of a pregnant yak. He also has a soft spot in his heart for REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS.
The kids are almost out of school and one of my summer projects is to devote more time to the social media aspects of my businesses, including the reseller biz.
So welcome to the first of what I hope will be a continuing series of videos featuring everything from what's been recently posted to the store (like today's installment) to treasures we've found in our travels.
Thanks for watching and don't forget, everything you see here and much more is available at the Dan's Funky Finds store on eBay!
While the first original Dirty Harry novel – DUEL FOR CANNONS – benefitted from the ghostwriting of Ric Meyers, the genre vet had to pass on certain installments due to his commitment to other "Men of Action" entries like The Ninja Master (written as Wade Barker). DIRTY HARRY #10: THE BLOOD OF STRANGERS is one of those installments and Meyers' deft touch with the material is definitely missed.
Even for a longtime fan of the original films, DUEL felt like an authentic Dirty Harry film adventure ported over to a pulpier environment, right down to Meyers' descriptions of fight scenes and our hero's sparse dialogue hissed through clenched teeth. STRANGERS – authored by Leslie Horvitz (THE DONORS, DOUBLE BLINDED, THE DYING) – feels more like a generic men's action novel whose main character just happens to be the beloved Dirty Harry. A suitably Eastwood-esque mug graces the cover but the man on the pages inside could be any random cop who gets mixed up in a terrorist plot funded by a Middle Eastern arms dealer.
In a terrifyingly lax pre-9/11 San Francisco, a couple of terrorist scumbags blow up part of an airport terminal and off some nosey patrolmen, which naturally draws the attention of Dirty Harry. But things get a little hard to swallow when our hero gets plucked off the streets to go undercover as "Dan Turner", a fill-in bodyguard for Gamal Abd'el Kayyim, a suspected arms dealer visiting California. After Harry/Turner foils an assassination attempt he finds himself moving in Kayyim's inner circle just as suspicion about him begins to boil over.
With every cop that could potentially ride shotgun either killed off or mortally wounded, Horvitz gives Harry a partner/love interest (of sorts) in Ellie Winston, anchorwoman-turned-reporter (Patricia Clarkson would play a similar role in 1988's THE DEAD POOL). Though it's hard to believe a seasoned San Francisco reporter wouldn't know who Callahan is, Winston finally realizes there might be a story in him and follows the cop from San Francisco to LA, Beirut and El Salvador as Harry's cover is blown and he finds himself matching wits and weapons with international arms dealers playing for both sides.
Brimming with head-exploding violence, THE BLOOD OF STRANGERS is a quick but instantly forgettable read. Whereas Meyers "gets" Callahan and the beats of the original films, Horvitz's attempts at harnessing their vibe fails and jamming Harry into international locales like Beirut and an Italian villa feels forced and more suited to an installment of Don Pendelton's Mack Bolan: The Executioner.
After twelve "Never before published or seen on screen" novels the Dirty Harry series (pulp division) ended with 1983's DIRTY HARRY #12: THE DEALER OF DEATH in which Harry's beloved .44 Magnum is stolen and used in a series of murders intended to frame the cop. After seven years away from the character, Eastwood agreed to once again strap on the badge of Inspector 71 for 1983's SUDDEN IMPACT and, coupled with the fizzling men's action market, that meant the end of the books.
Though I'd certainly recommend other men's action books of the era over this one, the couple Dirty Harry novels I've tackled have been quick reads and brought back fond memories of a character I spent many hours with over the years. I'll certainly be keeping my eyes peeled at garage sales and thrift stores, hoping to grab installments where Harry battles filthy pirates, watches a family reunion go south, or has to clear his name. – Dan Taylor Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect. This review originally appeared in Exploitation Retrospect #52 available from Amazon and direct from the publisher.
After three flicks cementing Spaghetti Western vet Clint Eastwood in the role of San Francisco Homicide Inspector Harry “Dirty Harry” Callahan, the versatile actor/director declared that his relationship with the .44 Magnum-brandishing cop was over.
Looking for ways to wring more cash from one of their most bankable creations – and establish their own line of men’s action novels to rival Pinnacle’s stars like The Executioner and The Destroyer – Warner Bros. launched ‘Men of Action’ featuring original Dirty Harry novels alongside such pulpier
titles as The Ninja Master , S-Com, The Hook (a “gentleman detective with a talent for violence and a taste for sex”), and Ben Slayton: T-Man.
Ghost-written by pulp and non-fiction vet Ric Meyers under the pseudonym “Dean Hartman”, the first Dirty Harry adventure seamlessly flows from silver screen to printed page. Mimicking the beats and pacing of the original films, DUEL opens with a bloodbath at a cheap California amusement park as a hired gunman hunts down San Antonio sheriff – and Friend of Callahan – Boris Tucker. Though misguided officials would blame the deaths of Tucker and some local teens on the stressed Texas cop, Dirty Harry knows better and heads to the Lone Star State to settle the score.
Texas isn’t very welcoming to Harry, with corrupt cops, local businessmen, street gangs, muscle-bound hit men and two-bit hoods hassling him at every turn. The SOBs even go so far as to slice up Harry’s wardrobe and keep him from getting a cab. Soon, Callahan finds allies among Tucker’s few
remaining friends on the force – as well as a rival determined to kill him by book’s end – and they look to disrupt the corruption flowing through town.
It’s no surprise that Meyers nails what we’d come to love about the Dirty Harry flicks, from Eastwood’s mannerisms and fighting style to his minimalist dialogue. The book’s cover art does nothing to suggest Harry isn’t Eastwood and there’s little attempt to describe him from a physical standpoint, so Meyers takes every opportunity to make you think Clint is delivering each pistol blast and flying fist during DUEL’s many action scenes.
Though the tale veers dangerously close to going wildly over-the-top and is a bit too neatly wrapped up (a common problem with men’s action tales of the day), DUEL feels more like a legit Dirty Harry installment than SUDDEN IMPACT (1983) or THE DEAD POOL (1988) featuring Liam Neeson (as a horror film director) and a pre-stardom Jim Carrey. Meyers’ attention to detail and inclusion of characters and events from DIRTY HARRY (1971), MAGNUM FORCE (1973) and THE ENFORCER (1976) go a long way towards drawing us into this cinematic world.
DIRTY HARRY #1: DUEL FOR CANNONS landed on bookstore shelves in 1981, the first of a dozen entries in which “The Magnum Enforcer” would battle corrupt cops, serial killers, “dope-running sea pirates”, terrorists, arms dealers (look for our upcoming review of DIRTY HARRY #10: THE BLOOD OF STRANGERS), a renegade government scientist and a killer looking to frame Inspector 71. The books can currently be found on thrift store shelves, flea market tables and boxed up at garage sales near grandpop’s musty back issues of PLAYBOY (and the occasional OUI). – Dan Taylor Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and has way too many men's action novels on his bookshelf. This review originally appeared in Exploitation Retrospect #52 available from Amazon and direct from the publisher.
Recently named one of the Best DVD/Blu-Ray releases of 2016, the Blu-Ray of Takeshi Kitano's VIOLENT COP (1989) is now available for fans of Japanese cinema and gritty action flicks. Robert Segedy takes a look at this tale of a no nonsense detective taking the law into his own hands. WARNING: Review contains spoilers, so if you have not seen the film, take heed!
After reading many reviews comparing Takeshi Kitano's VIOLENT COP (1989) to Clint Eastwood and his Dirty Harry character, I soon grew tired of that analogy. VIOLENT COP is and isn't like Eastwood's famous character. Kitano puts his own trademark, but nevertheless odd, spin on a familiar theme: good/bad cop is angry and filled with scorn for today's criminals and fellow lawmen, so he decides to act accordingly and disobey the upper echelon of command, sets about delivering his own brand of justice and ultimately ends up being fired from the police force and goes it alone. And that's putting a very simple spin on a relatively complex character; Kitano's detective is an army of one, answering to no one, delivering justice with one slap, one kick, and one bullet at a time. At the same time, his character is multi-faceted; he's loyal to a fellow detective discovered selling drugs; he's protective of his sister, just released from the hospital; but, he's also tight with his money, engages in illegal betting, and constantly borrows money from his colleagues. He may resemble Dirty Harry in his policing techniques, but it's impossible to know what's happening inside his head.
VIOLENT COP was Kitano's directorial debate and the film (as written by Hisashi Nozawa) was initially planned as a comedy. When director Kinji Fukusaku had problems with Kitano's film schedule he dropped out, so Kitano rewrote the script and starred in and directed it. Kitano was well known to Japanese audiences, but his persona wasn't of a dramatic nature, he was seen as a fast-talking motor-mouth comedian. Japanese audiences were used to seeing Kitano as the host of various talk shows and part of a two-man comedy team named The Two Beats. He was also cast as a sadistic POW commander in Nagisa Oshima's MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE (1983) opposite David Bowie and Tom Conte.
Azuma (Kitano) is a no nonsense drug enforcement detective. In the introduction to his character, we witness a group of Japanese youths take advantage of a homeless man as they beat the poor man senseless. The youths leave the scene of the crime and the camera follows one boy as he rides a bicycle home; Detective Azuma knocks on the door and flashes a badge to the boy's mother. Promising the mother that he just wants to talk to her son, he barges into the boy's bedroom and violently bitch slaps the shit out of the offender, making him promise that he and his friends will come to the squad room and surrender themselves. We are immediately made aware of Azuma's style: silent, quick to anger, fast with his feet and fists. The Japanese title of this film is "Suno otoke, kyobo nit suki", which translates in English to "That man, being violent." Kitano is indeed a violent cop.
As a character study, VIOLENT COP is a fascinating examination of an individual who is not afraid to take a stand against the bad guys of the world. Not letting the authority of the new commander bother him, Azuma is coerced into writing a letter of apology to a man that attacked several police officers, including hitting one man in the head with a baseball bat. Azuma hits him with a car after a lengthy chase scene. A streak of black comedy runs throughout the film; when a bartender asks him and his partner what line of work are they in, Azuma replies "Mail order guns".
Azuma's facial expressions barely register; there is a stillness that is present before he explodes into an act of violence, his face a frozen mask, his eyes black and lifeless. Kitano as a director favors long takes with a still camera, his character usually looking directly into the lens. Instead of a pulsing rock soundtrack, Kitano prefers to use a light, almost classical score that acts as a counterpoint to the action on the screen. The piano theme heard several times during the movie is Erik Satie's "Gnossienne No.1".
Fans of violence will find much to enjoy here as Azuma meets his match in an ultra-violent criminal counterpart, Kiyohiro (Ryu Haku), a killer that is partial to sadistic acts and relishes seeing his opponent cower in fear. Azuma and Kiyohiro face off in a nasty scene that involves Azuma being stabbed repeatedly from behind, but for reasons unknown, he lets his adversary walk away from him, perhaps to leave him to fight another day. This reminded me of the relationship between Batman and The Joker; the men are twisted reflections of the other, identical except in which side of the law their allegiance lies. That may be a rather simple analogy, but this film is not that simple to decipher; each viewing brings another layer of understanding to these complex characters.
[WARNING: Spoilers Follow!]
After Azuma is fired from the police department, he finds himself free to completely embrace his bad side and he dedicates himself to ridding the world of the assassin Kiyohiro, his boss Nito (Ittoku Kishibe) and anyone else that is affiliated with the underworld. In a finale that mirrors the bloodbath ending of films like TAXI DRIVER (1976) and CHINATOWN (1974), Azuma coldly tracks down Kiyohiro and his motley gang to a warehouse where they have been busy amusing themselves by raping his sister (Maiko Kawakami) and consequently addicting her to heroin. Even before Azuma arrives Kiyohiro has offed three of his crew. Azuma fearlessly enters the warehouse and after a long take, steadily walks toward the assassin, who empties two revolvers at Azuma; but at this point nothing can stop the avenging ex-policeman, and even though badly wounded, he finishes the killer off with a shot to the forehead. His drug addicted sister, pleading for another fix, gets a bullet for her trouble while Azuma is killed by one of Nito's henchmen, who shakes his head in disgust at this waste of life.
In the final scene, we see Azuma's former partner Kikuchi (Maiko Kawakami), once a bumbling rookie, now a slick looking agent, taking the place of drug dealing detective Iwaki (Shigeru Hiraizumi). VIOLENT COP comes full circle as Kikuchi has become a composite of both Azuma and Iwaki. This was Kitano's directorial debut and the film still packs a punch 26 years later. Kitano would go on to direct several other films including SONATINE (1993) and OUTRAGE (2010).
VIOLENT COP arrives on a 50GB Blu-ray from Film Movement framed at 1.85.1 widescreen in an AVC encoded transfer. The Blu-ray is produced by Film Movement Classics and features the film, a documentary (That Man is Dangerous: The Birth of Takeshi Kitano Featurette), a Japanese preview of the film and a new HD re-release trailer, as well as six other Film Movement trailers. The package contains a booklet featuring an essay by Tom Vick as well as cast and crew credits. – Robert Segedy Robert Segedy is a published author who resides in North Carolina; his interests include intense films, esoteric writings, and true crime. He previously wrote about the film SESSION 9.
A week ago a fellow thrifter sent me photos of a local store packed to the brim with men's action novels featuring The Executioner, The Death Merchant, The Destroyer, Able Team, Phoenix Force and more. When I got there the next day I scooped up a few dozen titles but not before almost passing out at the sheer volume of low-budget VHS action that had also been dropped on the shelves. After breaking out in a cold sweat and initially filling my cart with about 30 tapes I collected myself and whittled the pile down to a half-dozen. Surviving the cut was this week's VHS Wednesday outing, the Kung-Fu Kane and Abel tale MARTIAL OUTLAW from director Kurt Anderson. Oh, by the way, that Troegs Nimble Giant pictured at right with the counter card that came with the VHS tape is awesome.
"We're not ever gonna be even!"
Do you have a brother? Does he bust your chops about your job? Your clothes? The gifts you buy his wife? Do you ever feel like sucker punching him in the nuts and/or doing a spinning kick that lands on his stupid face?
Then 1993's MARTIAL OUTLAW is the movie for you!
Jeff Wincott (the superb DEADLY BET, WHEN THE BULLET HITS THE BONE) stars as DEA agent Kevin White, an ass-kicking, by-the-book Fed who is set to crack a drug ring run by Rachenko (Vladimir Skomarovsky), a former KGB agent hiding his operations behind an import/export business. White plants an informant on the inside by offering him his own grocery store (!) and follows the trail down to Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, his trek to the City of Angels brings about an awkward family reunion with his older brother Jack (Gary Hudson), his alcoholic father (Richard Jaeckel), and Jack's wife Lori (Krista Errickson) who may or may not be harboring a flame for her brother-in-law.
Complicating matters is Jack's preponderance for operating on both sides of the law and it isn't long before he sees a payday from the Russians as his ticket out of town. (Yes, Jack is a complete dick who can't wait to leave his boozy pop and perky wife behind, screwing up his brother's big case in the process.)
It might come as a bit of a surprise that it required five writers to come up with MARTIAL OUTLAW'S story, especially since the last half of the flick can basically be summarized as "battling brothers kick Russian mob ass". Wincott is perfectly serviceable as the spin-kicking good guy while Hudson's smarmy bad boy demeanor (also on display in the great ROAD HOUSE) makes you simultaneously root for him and against him.
Most of the fights (courtesy of choreographer Jeff Pruitt) are nothing you haven't seen before, though the "Russian Circle" segment in which Kevin beats the shit out of about 30 guys using barbells, free weights, sticks and more is certainly the flick's action highlight.
Bonus points for Al (Endo) Leong, giant cell phones, a beefy Russian henchman who looks like Martin Kove, car wash subterfuge, Kevin's ugly shooting range sweater and lines like "Who am I? I'm the guy that's gonna nail your ass!" delivered with stone-faced sincerity.
The Republic video VHS includes trailers for INFESTED (aka TICKS) with Seth Green and Clint Howard and the jaw-dropping TERMINATOR rip-off APEX which immediately went on my radar. – Dan Taylor Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and has a healthy relationship with his two older brothers. He last wrote about the excruciating NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET for Throwback Thursday. MARTIAL OUTLAW is available at Amazon and finer thrift stores everywhere.
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!
