In this town, two wrongs don’t make you right…they make you even!
Imagine if you will for a second, John Woo directing a second rate Jet Li in a kitsch parody cum homage to 1970’s Grindhouse Kung-Fu, Blaxploitation and Hong Kong Action flicks in a camp style almost akin to 1960’s Batman or The Green Hornet. Got a good mental picture? Then you’ve pretty much just had the same vision as director Alvin D. Ecarma and his no-budget, no brainer, no holds barred cheese-fest, Lethal Force.
After his wife is brutally slain and his son kidnapped by wheelchair bound (dis)organized crime boss Mal Locke (Andrew Hewitt), family man and gangster, Jack (Frank Prather), is left no option but to betray his best friend, Savitch (Cash Flagg Jnr), a lethal hitman who‘s “Mad, bad and dangerous to know”, in the hope of his son’s safe return.
Within the first 5 minutes of the film it manages to spoof 1970’s tough guy cop movies, cheesey 1980’s action flicks, old school martial arts movies and Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, as the character of Savitch is first introduced, rapidly disposing of two CIA agents to reach his target of a woman they’re guarding as part of the Witness Protection Programme.
The fuller plotline then begins 9 months later, as Jack arrives home to find his wife and son have been kidnapped, in their place waiting for him an OTT blaxploitation stereotype and Psycho Bowtie (Eric Thornett), the strong silent killer type, sitting in an armchair wearing shades and a trench coat, drinking Jack’s bourbon.
After some toughguy banter, Jack shoots the stereotype dead and engages “Psycho” in some hand to hand martial arts combat, which he looses and is dragged away by masked goons to Mal Locke’s Château.
Mal wants Jack to help deliver Savitch to him for his earlier attempted hit upon him. To show that he means business Mal has Jack’s wife blindfolded and shoot in the head in front of him.
Jack of course then has little option but to comply with Mal or see his son and himself receive the same fate…
Lethal Force is great fun for anyone into the realm of action movie subgenres and likes tongue-in-cheek humour. The parody / homage comes thick and fast, yet never gets in the way of the plot or swift pacing of the film. The in-jokes and spoofs are never overplayed such as in out and out comedies like say the Scary Movie films, nor do they become tiresome and smug as with films such as Scream, plus with a running time of just over 70 minutes the film never outstays its welcome. I guess this is what comes when you have a genuine genre fan making the film on a low-budget, rather than when a Hollywood studio tries to cash in on a trend.
One scene in particular that amused me is when Jack and Savitch visit a go-go bar and walk into a full-on Faster Pussycat… Kill, Kill homage, even including a spoofed up theme song playing. As I said before, the film parodies all manner of Grindhouse and Action films from over the last 40 years, so to get the humour you’ll need to be a fan or at least have some knowledge of these films.
The film also features some classically dumb dialogue, such as:
Crucifix: Hi there.
Savitch: I’m still not talking to you.
Crucifix: Would you like a cookie?
Savitch: Damn you and your cookies… DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL!!
If you’re looking for some cheesey and fun viewing entertainment you could do a lot worse than checking this flick out.
Another great release from Unearthed Films, with some rather cool and eye catching menus and the film itself having a 1:33:1 presentation with Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack that does the films low-budget qualities more than justice.
Extra Features:
• Commentary with Alvin D. Ecarma
• Director’s Shorts
• Production Photos
• Action Figure Gallery (I kid you not… pretty amusing too)
• Art Gallery
• Trailers for Unearthed Films releases
The director’s commentary is pretty interesting listening, giving the low down on a low-budget production and revealing the debateable acts of guerrilla film making. Of the 3 shorts included, the one of most merit is titled The Conversation, an amusing skit where we see a street busking hippy debate morals, ethics and Nietzsche with a crime fighting vigilante named “The Badger”.
For further details on Lethal Force check out www.divergentthinking.net or www.unearthedfilms.com
