Blu Release – 3/5
American Rampage
Director – David DeCoteau (Dr. Alien, Deadly Embrace)
Starring – Kary Jane, Thomas Elliott (American Strays, Riptide), and Troy Donahue (Cry-Baby, The Godfather Part II)
Release Date – 1989
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “In America, there is only one form of justice and justice is another form of revenge”
I’m on my last Massacre Video release in my marathon which just happens to be an 80s action double feature. When I first started writing reviews my goal was to dig into old action and exploitation movies but my love of horror knocked me off course. That’s why I always jump at the chance to watch these releases whenever I can.
I know most of you bitch and moan that I’m reviewing a non-horror release on a horror oriented site but I don’t give a shit. I love shitty 80s action flicks and I refuse to apologize for it. The first one in this double feature is the 1989 David DeCoteau film American Rampage.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a female cop who has a knack for getting into gunfights and getting her partner killed. After losing one she was extremely close to she vows to get revenge and take out the drug lord responsible for his death. **Spoiler Alert**
David DeCoteau was a big part of my childhood with his work with Full Moon and Moonbeam. I loved a lot of his films but I never actively went looking for his other releases so I was pretty excited when I saw that Massacre was putting this one on blu. The film was far from perfect but it was just the right amount of cheese and 80s action that I was looking for.
The acting in this one is extremely campy. The cast hams it up so much and they try to act as bad ass as possible which fails. It results in some unintentional humor and unforgettable dialogue. The cheesy dialogue was so much fun and I could see myself randomly quoting some of those lines at inappropriate times.
The story for this one is your standard 80s action movie centered around a cop. Regardless if the lead is male or female, we have seen dozens, if not hundreds, of action movies following a cop looking to avenge his fallen partner’s death. Nothing new or original. Hell, even the action scenes are rather dull. However, the nudity, cheesy dialogue, and campy acting make up for the story.
Finally, the film has several death scenes with some pretty horrific gunshot wounds. In fact, one shot gun death really caught me off guard. It looked absolutely amazing. I would recommend this film for that death scene alone. Overall, American Rampage was a fun time and would be even more fun with some drinks. It’s extremely campy and the acting made this one as fun as it was. It was well worth the price of this release alone.
Danger USA
Director – Eames Demetrios (Stories from Lobo Creek, The Giving)
Starring – Dan Haggerty (Elves, Abducted), Lyle Waggoner (Dream a Little Evil, Wizards of the Demon Sword), Martha Hackett (Exorcism of Allie Fay, Love Vampires)
Release Date – 1989
Rating – 2/5
Tagline – “Total mind seduction”
Here we are at the end of what has been a while ride as my Massacre Video marathon comes to a close. I’ve enjoyed myself but a few of these were duds. Well, only two at this point. Mr. No Legs was a bit of a disappointing film while the second let down is also the second film in the action double feature. The film, Mind Trap, was also released under the title Danger USA which fits with the American film of this set. I was excited for some late 80s cheese but found myself bored out of my fucking mind.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a b-movie actress who finds out her sister and father were caught up in a Russian plot to steal her father’s dream machine he has created. He built it with the intentions of helping mankind but the Russians want to use it for bad and will stop at nothing to get it. **Spoiler Alert**
Have you ever watched a movie that was just so campy that you laughed at first but the deeper you went into it you found yourself extremely bored? That was Mind Trap. I laughed at some of the crazy ass dialogue at times but by the 20 minute mark I wanted it to end.
The acting in this one is so bad at times and at others it was still bad but so fucking funny. The dialogue in this one was written by someone with the same sense of humor as me but with little to no sense of how real dialogue should be spoken. Some of the dialogue spoken is so out of place and weird that it catches you off guard while completely killing the atmosphere of the film. The cast lazily goes through their dialogue which makes these scenes even more awkward.
The story for this one is all over the place but it’s extremely choppy and uneven. The movie starts out goofy and only gets goofier but when we hit the middle of the film the movie almost evens itself out but goes off the rails even more. I love campy and cheesy 80s films but this one is just bad.
Finally, the film has several deaths but they are usually off camera or quick on screen with no practical effects to enjoy. Overall, Mind Trap was a huge disappointment. It’s cool that it’s included with American Rampage but it’s not a selling point. It’s a horrible film that should have just been listed in the special features as bonus content.
Special Features:
Brand New 2k Restorations from the original elements for both films.
New AMERICAN RAMPAGE Audio Commentary with Director David DeCoteau and Producer Raj Mehrotra.
Rare AMERICAN RAMPAGE Deleted Scene, featuring scream queen, Linnea Quigley.
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Trailers for other Massacre Video releases.
