What Not To Watch: Dead End City

If a person was compiling a list of must see action films released in the year 1988, I am going to bet that Dead End City would not appear on that list. Partially because I doubt most people have ever heard of the film.

But virtual anonymity wasn’t Dead End City’s only problem. The movie was saddled with a less than impressive action hero and huge gaps in logic, so even the inclusion of the unforgettable Robert Z’Dar in the supporting cast was not going to save this one…

• There Goes The Neighborhood: Our story begins with a motorcycle gang led by Maximum (Robert Z’Dar) wreaking all sorts of havoc on the city. I’d like to point out that Maximum is riding in a sidecar because with a head his size, he’s probably way too top heavy to balance himself on a motorcycle. The gang drives by a hooker who asks “Got a light?” and they shoot her, a business owner comes out of his establishment and tries to shoo them away and he is killed for his bad decision making and then the gang decides to invade a random home, attempt to rape the woman of the house but when she fights back they shoot her in the back as she is running away. This crime spree forces police chief Felker (Dennis Cole) to declare a state of emergency and the inhabitants are being forced to leave their homes and businesses by “relocation officers” and are told to report to temporary evacuation camps… which are nothing more than empty lots with tents and a soup line.

• Not My Jack Murphy: Allow me to introduce you to the hero of Dead End City, Jack Murphy (Gregory Scott Cummins). Jack thinks it is bullshit that he has to shut down the factory he owns and operates. Jack expresses his displeasure with the situation to his friend/co-worker Brett, who is driving Jack home after they receive the evacuation news and drive by one of the camps. But before they can reach their destination a cop randomly standing on the side of the road stops them and tells Brett he has to turn the truck around and report to their relocation officer. Brett says “yes sir” but then floors it, the cop then responds by shooting AT Jack and Brett. The cop doesn’t try to shoot out their tires to disable the vehicle, he goes straight for the kill. To escalate things even more, Brett decides to defend himself and shoots back at the cop. I am not sure why the cop was just standing on the side of the road and did not have a police car to pursue them in or why he did not radio for help. I am also not sure why moments after getting away from the cop, Brett and Jack decide to stop in the middle of an alley. I am also not sure why Brett rides around with an entire arsenal in the back of his truck, but it is a good thing he did, because Maximum and some of his gang show up and end up chasing Jack and Brett back to Jack’s factory. Once they get there’s a stand off between Jack and Maximum… they are just feet from one another but neither of them takes a shot, instead they talk tough and then spend the rest of the movie trying to kill one another.

• Open Door Policy:  At this point Jack has made up his mind, he is going to go all vigilante and stand his ground and not leave his factory. So Jack and Brett start boarding up the windows and fortifying the factory as best they can… Jack and Brett are assisted by Nancy, she has a crush on Jack and works in the office at the factory. Nancy also has her blind brother Malcolm with her, because why not?!?!  Unfortunately none of our four heroes can manage to lock the damn door.The unlocked door does come in handy when “ace” reporter Opal Brand (Christine Lunde of Young Rebels fame) shows up to cover the story of the factory vigilantes and simply walks right in. But Opal gets more than she bargained for when her car is trashed by Maximum’s punks while she is inside reporting and she is forced to spend the night at the factory something she hates at first, but the thin line between love and hate will come into play before the movie is over.

• Urban Renewal: It is revealed that Maximum and his gang are actually working for Chief Felker. Felker and his government cronies are using the crime spree to clear out the city so they can tear it down and rebuild it section by section. Then once their new city is complete they will only allow people of their choosing to live and work there. Some areas of town have already been torn down and rebuilt. I am not sure how they are building high rise buildings in secret or how cost effective it is to build these buildings and leave them vacant but so much of the movie didn’t make any sense up to this point, so why start now!?!

If Gregory Scott Cummins had aspirations to be a big time action star, Dead End City did him no favors. Even with a leather jacket and his character sharing the same name as Charles Bronson’s character from the Cannon classic, Murphy’s Law, I was not buying what Cummins was selling here. From some quick IMDb research I see that Gregory Scott Cummins’ acting career continues to this day and in recent years he has been a part of some successful series including It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Bosch. That could be a sign that Cummins is a better supporting player than he is a lead actor or it could be a sign that Dead End City sucked and no actor was going to be able to make that role work.

There’s no dead end to this review… instead here are some Bonus Bullet Points…

• AKA: Dead End City was released as Fighting Warriors in Germany. As much as I disliked the film, I bet it does not compare to that dude in Germany who saw the cover of Fighting Warriors then watched the movie and realized the two things had nothing to do with one another.
• Blind, Dumb and Stupid Quote: “What I can’t see can’t hurt me.” – Malcolm
• If You Ever: …wanted to see a blind man shoot another man off a roof, then you may be the one person out there who would actually want to watch Dead End City.
• Blind, Dumb and Stupid Quote: “What I can’t see can’t hurt me.” – Malcolm
• First Time Director: Peter Yuval made his directorial debut with Dead End City, he would go on to direct three more films before he called it quits on his directorial career in 1991.