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Vigilante
USA 1982
produced by Andrew W. Garroni, William Lustig, Jerry Masucci (executive), John Packard (executive), Kenneth Pavia (executive) for Magnum Motion Pictures
directed by William Lustig
starring Robert Forster, Fred Williamson, Richard Bright, Rutanya Alda, Don Blakely, Joseph Carberry, Willie Colón, Joe Spinell, Carol Lynley, Woody Strode, Vincent Beck, Bo Rucker, Frank Pesce, Steve James, Randy Jurgensen, Henry Judd Baker, Dante Joseph, Vincent Russo, Donna Patti, Peter Savage, Mike Miller, Hyla Marrow, Frank Gio, Raymond Serra, Sal Carollo, Sandy Alexander, Geri Martin, Susan Phelps, Gregg Stevens, Burt Pittari, Kim Delgado, James L. Brewster, John Caparosa, Alex Stevens, Ralph Monaco, Sandy Dell, Ramona Brooks, Enid Britton, Nick Barbaro, Harry Madsen, Michael Irene, Mark Bruno, Christopher Ferris, Jerry Preiser, Daniel Dod, Joseph Winogradoff, Gino Lucci
written by Richard Vetere, music by Jay Chattaway
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Mechanic Eddie (Robert Forster) is a law-abiding citizen and a happy
family man in New York City who has never hurt a fly ... and then one day,
a gang of thugs enter his house while he's not home, beat his wife
(Rutanya Alda) to a pulp and kill his young son (Dante Joseph). Of course,
Eddie's world is absolutely shattered, but when co-worker Nick (Fred
Williamson), who's in secret also the leader of an especially brutal group
of vigilantes, offers to exact revenge for Eddie, he turns him down,
trusting in the rule of the law. Assistant DA Fletcher (Carol Lynley) is
also very ambitious to finally nail at least the ringleader of the gang,
Rico (Willie Colón), but thanks to a corrupt judge (Vincent Beck),
everything ends in a plea deal, and Rico merely gets a 2 year suspended
sentence - and because Eddie loses his cool hearing the verdict and tries
to attack the judge in a fit of rage, it's ultimately he who ends up in
the slammer. And prison changes him for sure, so as soon as he's out, his
first way is to Nick to exact revenge on Rico and his right hand man (and
Eddie's son's killer) Prago (Don Blakely) - but the question's always, do
two wrongs make a right? Woody Strode plays Eddie's guardian angel in
prison, Joe Spinell Rico's sleazy lawyer. Now sure, the film's
stance on vigilante justice might not be to everyone's taste (and it
certainly isn't to mine), but at the same time it makes valid points about
under-policed neighbourhoods and a broken justice system. And seeing this
not as a "message movie" (which I doubt it was meant to be) but
merely as a B genre flick, this is a very well-crafted piece of action
thriller, and one that has a story complete with character arcs to it,
solid acting and truly exciting setpieces. Sure, the film isn't exactly
subtle in anything, but it's a pretty great piece of 1980s action fare for
that.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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