It seems rather apt to be reviewing this film around Thanksgiving because it is one big turkey. Seriously, I paid one cent for this VHS tape and I feel ripped off! I could have used that penny to do something better and more entertaining for myself like pick my teeth.
Okay, so the plot goes something like this: two cops team up to find out who is selling poisoned cocaine on the streets of LA. Warren Houston (Lee Majors II) is a loner type who (yup, you guessed it) doesn't need or want a partner. Too bad because, after blowing away some Mexican gang members in a church, he gets one in the form of John Lee Chan (Bruce Ly), a martial artist trying to teach cops to use their hands instead of guns. Hey, you use your hands to fire a gun right? Will these two police force outcasts be able to get along while investigating big time Chinatown drug dealer/businessman Hong? Me think, "Yes!"
Damn, this movie is bad. You are all probably wondering about this Bruce Ly guy. After hours upon hours of internet research, it appears Ly is in fact HK actor Henry Yu Yung (aka Henry Yue Young). Why he decided to pop up so late in the Bruceploitation game is beyond me. But he is awful here. His fights (which he choreographed) look like they are in slow motion. The only semi-decent one is at the end with Hong's henchman (Fitz Houston). And Ly's dubbed voice doesn't help. He sounds like a white dude trying to do a Charlie Chan accent dubbed him. Another bit of exploitation occurs with the inclusion of Lee Majors II, son of better known father Lee Majors. Is there such a thing as Majorsploitation?
To the film's credit, there is some laughable dialogue and it is he only thing that helped me get through this movie. The opening has a girl doing a risqué photo shoot with a sleazy photographer. When he is trying to coerce her into doing some coke, she says, "I should probably be going home. I told my mom I would at home by 11." Later, in a stand off inside a church between Houston and some gang members, a Priest being held hostage actually yells, "Officer, this is the Priest. Please leave this church! You're going to get all these innocent people killed!" Damn, that's a first.
The opening credits of the film list it as "A Dennis Bond Film" but later say "Directed by Jean-Paul Ouellette." Bond is actually a co-executive producer (along with one Don Williams). Man, what a greedy little bastard. Ouellette also directed THE UNNAMEABLE movies, a pair of H.P. Lovecraft inspired titles that were apparently so good they didn't even need a title.
Review by William.