Mafia: Operation Hit Man (1974) by Don Romano

“God, flying gets me horny, you know that?” 

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.

The Destroyer #16: Oil Slick (1974) by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy

"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.

The Destroyer #16: Oil Slick is available on Amazon.

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.

The Destroyer 13: ACID ROCK by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir

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.

Mack Bolan and Cult Horror DVDs: Dan's Funky Finds for 6/8/18

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!

DIRTY HARRY #10: THE BLOOD OF STRANGERS (1982)

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.

DIRTY HARRY #1: DUEL FOR CANNONS (1981)

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.

VHS WEDNESDAY: Sibling Rivalry and Spin Kicks in MARTIAL OUTLAW (1993) starring Jeff Wincott

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.

Exploitation Retrospect 52 Now Available!

Just a quick note on a Friday afternoon to let you know that Exploitation Retrospect #52 is officially available for purchase!

I didn't want to promote it too much till I saw an actual printed copy and made sure I wasn't yanking it from Amazon due to some horrific oversight (though my wife did mention that because I cut my editorial I neglected to thank her in the issue... doh!).

My initial copy arrived last night and despite some nit-picky stuff like a too small gutter margin and some cropping issues with the pages I'm very pleased with how the issue turned out.

Contents include:

• David Zuzelo's penetrating look at Nikkatsu erotic cinema
• John Grace on Hollywood bully Burt Lancaster
• Jonathan Plombon's examination of WAVE  Productions, death fetish films and the cult of pseudo-snuff
• Chuck Francisco on those naughty Nazi Zombies
• A beefy review section featuring manly action flicks and men's action novels – in particular Remo Williams aka The Destroyer – with many contributions from Mitch Lovell
• Plus, tons of reviews on the best and worst in horror, sci-fi and sleazery from Douglas Waltz, John Grace, David Zuzelo, Chuck Francisco, yours truly and many more

It's all wrapped up in a beautiful glossy cover featuring exclusive artwork from Rondo Award-winning illustrator Neil Vokes with colors by Matt Webb.

You can order from CreateSpace, Amazon or directly from ER HQ.

And stay tuned for a new look – and new content – coming to the website soon!

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!

31 DAYS OF FRIGHT: Satanic Rockers Meet Their Match in NIGHT KILL

So when is a Mack Bolan novel not a Mack Bolan novel?

That's what I was asking myself for the first 200 pages of Night Kill, the 124th installment featuring The Executioner. For those who aren't familiar with it, The Executioner series of Mack Bolan novels is the grandpappy of the mens adventure genre, debuting in 1969 with War Against the Mafia and still going today (Sleeping Dragons: Executioner #419 [!] was released earlier this month). While the first 38 books in the series – authored or co-authored by series creator Don Pendleton – dealt with Bolan's one-man vendetta against organized crime, the former vigilante now works as an agent of the government and deals with all manner of terrorists, creeps, thugs and low-lifes.

Including the occasional gang of murderous Satan worshippers.

Yep, I plucked this Bolan adventure from the list of 700 or so potential reads – that includes Executioner novels as well as Super Bolan installments and spin-offs like Able Team and Stony Man – because it dovetailed nicely with October's Halloween theme here at the blog. (Kudos to fellow Horrordad, ER contributor, good pal and Man of Action David Zuzelo for the tip!)

After dismantling a warehouse of arms bound for Northern Ireland in the prologue, Bolan gets roped into tagging along with Amos Carr, an ex-cop following a trail of dead bodies he's sure are tied into cult killings by Devil-worshipping members of the Chingon, Black Cross or Children of the Flame.

Turns out the ritualistic murders have been following the heavy metal band Armageddon as they tour the country in support of their latest LP, 'Souls for Slaughter', and Carr is convinced there's a connection between the band and the mutilated bodies of nubile young gals along the tour route. With three sold out shows in Denver, Carr convinces Bolan (using the nom de Bolan of "Mike Blanski") to tag along and get to the bottom of things. Of course, it doesn't hurt that one of Carr's allies is a comely witch named Cassandra Poole, described as "tall and dark, with glossy hair that grazed her buttocks".

Written by Mike Newton – a Bolan series veteran who worked with Pendleton on the final Mafia story arc that culminated with Satan's Sabbath: Executioner #38 – Night Kill feels a bit more like an Amos Carr novel than a Bolan/Blanski book, which is not necessarily a bad thing. While my fondness for the series and character grows with each read, the Executioner novels usually lack the wit of a series like the Warren Murphy/Richard Sapir-penned Destroyer books and occasionally border on being too serious for the subject at hand.

Night Kill solves that problem by pushing Bolan into the shadows as Newton deftly juggles a solid cast of characters and multiple storylines involving everything from a conniving preacher filling his coffers by riding the coattails of the heavy metal murders to the messed up members of Armageddon and their Satanic handlers. Though Mack pops up to crack the skulls of some kiddie porn producers to elicit information, he's barely involved in the post-prologue "action" for the first couple hundred pages. A motel room meeting here, a diner breakfast there, and a quick trip to attend an Armageddon concert mark most of the Bolan/Blanski sightings in the early going.

Naturally, once things start to get heavy The Executioner straps on his gear, springs into action and wrings more info out of the Satanic shitheads in two-and-a-half pages than Carr or any of the local gendarme figured out in the first 200+.

I dug the way Newton weaved real-life events into the storyline – the Manson killings and Son of Sam shootings are tied into the cult's litany of atrocities – and the book zips along as you might expect from a genre vet with 250-plus works of fiction under his belt. And the author is still going strong. A quick glance at his website shows that this December's Bolan installment (entitled Hard Targets) is penned by Newton and he's contracted to write more Executioner installments through next year and into 2015!

A fun detour before I wade into Wednesday's Wrath: Executioner #35, Night Kill isn't just a solid Bolan book, it's a well-executed page-turner recommended for any fan of adventure/detective fiction. – Dan Taylor

Night Kill is available from Amazon along with hundreds of other Executioner titles.

Sum-Sum-Summertime at ER

I was a little shocked the other day when I fired up the ER blog to find an old review and discovered that I hadn't posted an update since May 3rd! Looking at the blog you'd think nothing had been going on here at the House of ER, but you'd be wrong. Let's catch up, shall we...

The Current Issue
For a few moments there it was looking grim regarding future printings of ER #51 (not to mention our upcoming issue). ComixPress, who printed the first two print runs and did an outstanding job, decided to close up shop which kind of left us in a lurch. When the announcement came I was actually down to the last handful of issues from our second printing but thanks to input from pals and some quick Googling I was able to locate a company that could do just as nice a job (if not better), for the same price, and much faster. For those still looking to pick up a copy of ER #51 – SHOCK CINEMA calls it "chock full of schlocky cinema and savvy analysis" while LIQUID CHEESE raves "Do yourself a favor and order one NOW!" – visit our site for info on ordering on-line or via mail.

The Upcoming Issue
Speaking of ER #52 – which was teased in the back of ER #51 – I'm happy to report that it is coming together nicely and is on schedule for an October 2013 release. There will be a big review section covering a slew of genres, an interview or two you won't find anywhere else and a heaping helping of action with a look at men's action paperbacks, action cinema and much more. I won't know exact contents until mid-August but this issue is already starting to feel more like the ER of old.

Other Writing
Despite the fact that this blog has been woefully neglected while I've been juggling travel, my daughter's summer vacation and my real world jobs, I have been staying active in the writing trenches. If you haven't checked it out already be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the next issue of Brian Harris and Tim Paxton's excellent WENG'S CHOP. Each issue gets bigger and better and #4 (due out soon) is no exception. No article from me this issue but I did contribute a handful of trash cinema reviews and sleaze fans will not want to miss ER contributor David Zuzelo's epic contribution to the new issue.

I was also pickled tink to be asked to contribute to the Italian Horror Week over at Dr. Terror's Blog of Horrors. Dr. Jimmy delivered a crushing lineup of content based around that simple concept, covering everything from old school giallo to Spaghetti Splatter and more. My beer-fueled recap of one of my favorite nights at the Super-130 Drive-In appeared during the week and thanks to the good doctor looks better than I could have ever hoped.

Dan's Funky Finds and Vintage Mags
Some of you who have known me over the years and/or followed the zine know that I'm also a frequent haunter of garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores and their ilk. Though I have slowed down quite a bit in that department I still keep my eyes peeled for good trash to share which led to me breaking down and opening an eBay store devoted to selling movies, zines, books, posters and more. I'm still in the process of cataloging and posting items but you'll definitely want to bookmark the store. A recent trip to Kentucky yielded about 20 years of vintage Playboy (1965-1985) plus some other classic smut, I just stumbled upon a stack of great 1970s trash and horror posters (most in unbelievable condition), and I'm always pulling out boxes of DVDs, zines, mags, promo items and more. If you want to keep up with our latest findings and listings be sure to check out the Dan's Funky Finds Twitter feed and Facebook page.

What I've Been Watching
Been trying to juggle stuff I have to watch for review purposes with stuff I want to watch. The former category includes such flicks as: THE COOK (awful, schizo wannabe horror spoof); SNOW SHARK (dumb as a post but consistently mediocre); BAD MEAT (a killer first 78 minutes submarined by the final six); THE DARK DEALER (surprisingly enjoyable anthology throwback); SLAUGHTER TALES (entertaining, if a tad too long, love letter to SOV horror trash); and, SEXCULA (amateurish, but fun, Canadian erotic horror comedy derailed by endlessly dull sex scenes). On the want to watch side FAST 6 was as wonderfully check-your-brain-at-the-door fun as I could have hoped while the reboot (remake? sequel?) of THE EVIL DEAD left me feeling kinda "meh". Streaming continued to blow my mind (in good and bad ways) with the jaw-droppingly awesome CATCH THE HEAT and The Asylum's staggeringly unwatchable 500 MPH STORM (with Casper Van Dien). I guess they can't all be SHARKNADO.

What I've Been Reading
While I've devoted most of the last few months to plowing through my collection of Destroyer and Executioner novels – with one-off sidetrips with such men's action characters as The Butcher and The Protector – I've still found time to work in a few other reads. DRINKING WITH STRANGERS is a breezy memoir from rocker/producer Butch Walker while MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY features a fascinating history of the comic giant from its pre-superhero heyday to the present. COMMANDO: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHNNY RAMONE is a must-read for Ramones fans while KISS: BEHIND THE MASK is probably for die-hards only. Currently, I'm juggling my loves of food and music with LOUDER THAN HELL (an oral history of heavy metal) and BACK OF THE HOUSE, another look at life as a restaurant worker.

Whew! I suppose that ends this little catch-up session. I promise to (try and) be more diligent about posting here in the coming months. But you can always stay up-to-date by checking out the ER Twitter feed and Facebook page.

Men's Action Roundup: Journal Entry 7/4/12

Happy 4th of July from Exploitation Retrospect. Here at the journal of junk culture and fringe media I try and steer clear of topics like religion and politics but let me just say that I love this country and the fact that it's okay for me to watch, talk and write about sleazy trash from around the globe. 

You know who else loves this country? Mack Bolan (aka The Executioner). Mack Bolan seems really American. Maybe not as American as, say, Ron Swanson, but pretty damn American. And so, for America's birthday, here's a look at My First Executioner...

THE EXECUTIONER #70: Ice Cold Kill (Gold Eagle/1984) by Peter Leslie
Don Pendleton's THE EXECUTIONER was the first men's adventure series that caught my eye way back in the 1970s. When we'd go to the Moorestown Mall to shop, my Mom would drop me off at the little indie bookstore near the mall's entrance and I'd wile away the hours perusing the shelves. And though I was supposed to be looking at things like STAR WARS tie-ins and other kid-friendly fare I couldn't help but be drawn to the covers for books like THE EXECUTIONER and the adult western series LONGARM (whose covers would evoke Beavis-like titters even then).

I clearly remember looking at the covers for early, Pendleton-penned Mack Bolan adventures that took place in Philly (#15: Panic in Philly) and New Jersey (#17: Jersey Guns) and being amazed that these were books that were set where I lived, not the international hot spots that attracted the likes of 007 (whose adventures I was already knee-deep in). "The Executoner? In Philly?! Well, I'll be."

With that history I can't really explain how or why it took me another 30 years to pick up my first Bolan, but Ice Cold Kill – grabbed last spring at a used book sale here in Maryland – certainly set the ball rolling on my reignited fascination with Bolan, Remo and their ilk.

No longer a vigilante obsessed with taking down the Mafia (we'll get to that later), Bolan is now part of a government-sponsored team that battles terrorists and enemy agents. Ice Cold Kill finds him tasked with assuming the guise of an Albanian contact man in order to locate a brilliant Soviet scientist, destroy their super-computer, smuggle them out of the country and convince them to cast off their Commie ways and defect to the good old West. All the while avoiding Russian enemies from his past. Whew!

Actually, I found Ice Cold Kill to be far more fun and a better read than the lone Pendleton Bolan (#32: Tennessee Smash, review to come) I've encountered. While nobody is going to confuse Leslie's plotting and dialogue for Fleming's 007 (Bolan has a tendency to plug, pulverize and/or detonate a grenade whenever his identity is exposed or threatened) and what constitutes a "twist" in the Bolanverse is easily guessed, the story moves along at a brisk pace with tense scenes of Bolan avoiding detection followed by midnight border crossings gone wrong and aerial battles with Russian fighters.

The fetishizing of the weaponry gets a bit much at times, but that seems to be the direction the books had taken at this point in the run. (And, in case you needed to brush up on it, the back cover features a review of the Soviet AK-47 Assault Rifle with its 710 meters/second muzzle velocity.) And after reading Tennessee Smash, I'm pretty sure I'd take fetishized weaponry over Pendleton's cold, clumsy prose any day.

Men's Action Roundup: Journal Entry 7/2/12

Thanks to used book sales, flea markets and generous pals, my cup runneth over with men's action paperbacks. Those same books I drooled over in the bookstores and K-Marts of my youth are now so plentiful in my office that I have a hard time deciding what to read next!

To kick off July's ACTION MONTH here's a look at two surprisingly fun faves from my stack of recent reads...

PROTECTOR #6: The Dragon Slayings (Pinnacle/1985) by Rich Rainey
On the book’s acknowledgements page author Rich Rainey thanks Alexandre Dumas and it’s no wonder. Not only is the lead character named Alex Dartanian, but he and fellow ICE agents Sin Samara and Mick Porter create a loose version of Dumas’ Three Musketeers that make this, the final PROTECTOR book, easy to digest.

When a Soviet-trained brain-bender launches an attack on America’s top psychics, Dartanian and his team are sent into the psychic battlefield to find the ringleader and stop him. Along the way, Dartanian finds himself at the mercy of the enemy, brainwashed into a killing machine aimed straight at his allies.

Definitely one of the better men’s adventure books I’ve read in recent months, The Dragon Slayings builds real tension and benefits from replacing mind-numbing gunfights and explosions with mind-control battles that frankly get a bit creepy at times. Dartanian’s ordeal places the character in real peril and – without a working knowledge of the series or character – made me feel like I wasn’t 100% certain things would work out in the end.

It’s too bad this was the last in the series as I would have liked to see where it went from here. Reviews of the previous books suggest that they were more in line with the typical Pinnacle “blast first, ask questions never” scenario, so maybe this was just dumb luck. Author Rainey also turned out several EXECUTIONER and MACK BOLAN titles. (More on Mr. Live Large later this month.)

THEY CALL ME THE MERCENARY #15: The Afghanistan Penetration (Zebra/1983) by Axel Kilgore
Admittedly, I plunked down 25 cents for this book purely on the author’s name alone. Seriously? Axel Kilgore? Like you wouldn’t have done the same thing.

Turns out it was 25-cents well worth investing as The Afghanistan Penetration is a riveting and fun read with an excellent lead character I’m definitely interested in catching up with. One-eyed merc Hank Frost is called on to slip behind Soviet lines (it’s 1983 and the era of Soviet occupation) and rescue Matt Jenks, a former Army buddy who has uncovered a secret Soviet super weapon capable of bringing the West to its knees.

Kilgore (real name Jerry Ahern) strikes just the right balance, blending characterization and tense situations with bloodthirsty violence. Frost is a great character – both icy and sympathetic – capable of blowing off a Soviet soldier's head on one page while wistfully missing his girlfriend Bess on another. I also dug how Kilgore peppers the text with allusions to past THEY CALL ME… adventures with notes like “See THEY CALL ME THE MERCENARY #13, Naked Blade, Naked Gun” tucked at the bottom of the page.

Begun in 1980 with The Killer Genesis, THEY CALL ME… appears to be Ahern/Kilgore’s first foray into men’s adventure publishing but it certainly wouldn’t be his last. The series would run for three more installments before the author would go on to essay the TRACK, DEFENDER and SURVIVALIST series’, a handful of standalone novels (including something called WerewolveSS) and the non-fiction title CCW: Carrying Concealed Weapons: How to Carry Concealed Weapons and Know When Others Are.

SUMMER OF ACTION! -- Why Am I Alive?

Don't be sad, don't be blue, Happy Burger has treats for you!

SERIES: The Dead Man
VOLUME/TITLE: #1/Face of Evil
AUTHOR: Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin
PUBLISHER: CreateSpace
YEAR: 2011
OPENING LINES:February 19, 2011. In the few minutes before Barney Slezak recorded the gruesome YouTube video that would draw more than a million hits, winning him and his family an all-expense-paid trip to Los Angeles to be on Jimmy Kimmel's show, he was thinking about how much he hated snow.
CLOSING LINES: And with that, Matthew Cahill walked out the door and down the road, chasing the receding echo of Mr. Dark's twisted laughter wherever it might lead him.

One of the biggest problems with getting hooked on men's adventure novels a good twenty or thirty years after they peaked in popularity is that it can be difficult – and sometimes pricey – to pick up a series from the beginning. Oh sure, you can grab fistfuls of adventure for 25 cents a pop at your local flea market or thrift shop, but you're often dropped into the midst of a series, wondering just how this guy you're reading about became a Death Merchant, a Protector or a one-eyed mercenary.

Though some series, like The Destroyer, have made it easy for fans and newbies to get started thanks to things like selected "best of" volumes or dirt-cheap ebooks, be prepared to shell out more than flea market prices if you want to read the first few adventures of Mack Bolan.

The ability to get in on the ground floor, so to speak, was but one of the things that attracted me about The Dead Man books, a new series created by Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin (action fiction vets and writers of the popular MONK and PSYCH novels, respectively). Not only could I start at the beginning and keep pace, but good pal and kindred spirit David Zuzelo assured me that the tales of Matt Cahill would dovetail nicely with both the Summer of ACTION! and my horror-loving side.

FACE OF EVIL introduces us to Matt Cahill, one of the luckiest – or unluckiest – men alive. I supposed it depends on your point of view. After a skiing accident leaves him buried under a mountain of snow and presumed dead, Cahill rejoins the human race when his body is discovered by a family that I'm sure will spend the rest of their vacations in a warm, sunny climate.

Not surprisingly, the time spent locked in his icy tomb has left Matt with an unwelcome skill – he can literally see the bad in people. And when he sees it he really sees it – soulless eyes, rotting flesh and boiling skin are just a few of the ways the evil manifests itself as Cahill attempts to return to the life he led before the accident.

Complicating matters are the presence of Mr. Dark – a shadowy figure who haunts Cahill at every turn – and the fact that Cahill's best friend appears to be falling prey to the evil that's tearing away at him from the inside.

If you're anything like me – a card-carrying HorrorDad^TM who fits in his reading time between pre-school drop-off/pick-up, meals, swim lessons, exercising, grocery store trips and the like – FACE OF EVIL (and the other Dead Man books I'll be reviewing soon) gets my highest recommendation. The book is short and fast-paced, but never feels rushed, and you'll find yourself looking for any excuse to bang out the next chapter.

And, like an adaptation of the greatest tv show that's not on the air, the end will leave you wanting more. NOW!

July 2011 Viewing Addendum!

I realized the other day I left a couple things off my July 2011 viewing list. DEATH HUNTER: WEREWOLVES VS VAMPIRES (MTI) is an overly-ambitious but cheap and fun horror/action flick that would have made for a great men's action paperback series. A couple on an anniversary camping trip get attacked by vampires at a remote bar (sorta like if FROM DUSK TILL DAWN happened in reverse). She turns into an undead bloodsucker but he survives, only to get bit by a werewolf! A mysterious stranger injects him with an antidote and helps him train to be a part-man/part-werewolf monster hunter.

THE FRANKENSTEIN SYNDROME (also MTI) was a very pleasant surprise, with Louis Mandylor, Ed Lauter (!) and current scream queen Tiffany Shepis in an entertaining Frankenstein update mashed with a dash of RE-ANIMATOR. Lots of low-budget ruminations on life and death plus just enough gore to keep trash fans tuned in. Some surprisingly good performances, especially former NFL player Scott Leet as David, the bodyguard turned "manster".

Full reviews of both to come in our upcoming summer update!