Bullet Points: Angel of Vengeance

I don’t know about you, but one thing I enjoy about watching movies is trying to see every movie for an actor and all the different roles someone can play. Completing a filmography for an actor isn’t easy when they have had a long career or keep making new movies. Not that this has stopped me from seeing a vast majority of films from the likes of Charles Bronson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Dudikoff and Yaphet Kotto among others. Of course the other end of the spectrum are the actors that only have a handful of movies, or the even more idiosyncratic one and done actor. Recently I had the pleasure of watching Jannina Poynter in 1987’s Angel of Vengeance. Poynter is the star of Angel of Vengeance and this being her first role she was either so good or so bad that she was never in another movie again… filmography complete! Luckily for you I happen to have some Bullet Points for Angel of Vengeance so join me on a journey as we play The Most Dangerous Game with a decidedly female bent.

• Thanks for the Use of Your Cabin – Jannina Poynter plays Tina Davenport, the daughter of a decorated deceased military man that she plans on writing a book about in his mountain cabin. The movie starts off on a high note when Tina witnesses some nogoodniks causing problems with an old woman and we are treated to this exchange: Old woman, “Are you new around here?”; Tina, “No ma’am, I just arrived on a bus.” Wait… what? We are off to a blazing start. We quickly learn that Tina can take care of herself as we see her sprinting all over town, fishing with a self fashioned spear, cooking said fish over an open flame and eating it straight off of the spear. Tina also enjoys singing Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”…I am glad someone enjoyed it… woof, but it does become an important plot point during the climax.

• Survive, Survive, Survive – There is a group of militant survivalist led by Major Hargrove (David O’Hara) that believe war is coming and they need to be prepared in order to restart civilization in their image. First of all, I understand the Major was probably a major in the armed forces, but if I am going to start my own militia I am going to grant myself a higher rank, say something like general or most highly exalted supreme commander. Second of all, of course war is coming, that is the one thing we humans have been consistently good at so bonus points to them for being prepared, so should you. The Major is a real hardass, but the men in his group leave a lot to be desired. That is unless their desire is to have everything decked out in camo, including every article of clothing, trucks, shacks and an entire mobile home. The head dummy of Hargrove’s men is Manny, and he can’t stop himself from his rapey tendencies, even if Hargrove tries to bullwhip it out of him. I see the bullwhip being very important in post war reconstruction.

• The Thrill is Gone – A biker gang known as the The Thrill Killers (fans of the 1964 horror/thriller?) think that rousting the survivalists is going to be a good time. This gives the audience a good chance to see how well prepared for war the survivalists really are… spoiler alert, they are loaded for bear. Their arsenal includes handguns, automatic rifles and everybody’s favorite, rocket launchers. The bikers had no chance, although one biker tries his best with the classic nut punch and the smart headbutt while still wearing a helmet. The survivalists put the dead bodies in an abandoned mine, which means the bodies will start to stink, which means Manny has to go to town to buy lye, which means he can’t help himself from kidnapping Tina as she is sprinting through town. It is all a logical, natural progression.

• Who Wants to Play the Most Dangerous Game – Once kidnapped, and after she gets raped by almost the entire camp, Tina is going to be killed by Hargrove because they can’t waste supplies on prisoners. Tina convinces Hargrove to let her go and be chased by his men for the practice. Tina is given a two hour head start before the survivalists start to hunt her down and honestly this is where the movie should have started because the action finally picks up as we see Tina pick off the suddenly hapless survivalists. I should stop calling them survivalists because… spoiler alert, they don’t. Not that they had much a chance once Tina started going all Rambo on their asses with homemade booby traps. My favorite kill is when Tina uses a grenade to blow up a guy while he is hanging from a snare trap leaving only his foot left… or is it his right.

Angel of Vengeance is not what you would call a good movie and it is certainly not something that you haven’t seen before. However, if you are looking to watch the entire filmography of Jannina Poynter it is a must watch. The action, when it is there, is entertaining and sometimes surprisingly gruesome. Also, I can’t get mad at any movie that features death by snakepit. A strange storyline that is made even more frustrating by the ending of the movie features a couple of murdering nutcases who take out everyone in their path. The whole movie sets up a potential crossing between our hero Tina and the two killers. Do we get a resolution? I am seriously asking because the movie ends on a freeze frame when the two parties finally meet. No need to worry about the ending of the Angel of Vengeance Bullet Points because it ends with Bonus Bullet Points.

• Also Known As – You might find Angel of Vengeance as War Cat which seems to me to be more of a unique title. You might also find the 1981 exploitation film Ms. 45 as Angel of Vengeance. Don’t forget about finding the 1993 action/thriller Miao jie shi san mei as Angel of Vengeance.  All worth watching.
• Familiar Names – Fans of the horror genre will recognize director Ted V. Mikels, although Angel of Vengeance probably doesn’t even deserve cult status like some of his other work. The original director was Ray Dennis Steckler (that explains The Thrill Killers reference!) who was fired and replaced by Mikels.
• Best Insult – “That gun is the only prick you got.”  Give it to him, Tina!
• Worst Scream – This is a tie for everyone that screams in Angel of Vengeance. Man, was it annoying. So annoying I was happy when the screamer would get shot right in the head.
• Night of the Lepus – I have never seen two men get so excited after making plans to kill some rabbits.
• A Triumph in Film – Not too many 80’s actioners feature a Triumph TR7. I approve.
• Classic – Luckily, all of the rape in Angel of Vengeance is implied and not shown on screen, but even so the classical music playing makes the horrible act more palatable.
• Filmography Complete Jackpot – By completing the filmography of Jannina Poynter by watching Angel of Vengeance you also get the bonus filmographies complete of no less than 16 other actors. One of those actors is T. Craig Keller who also wrote and performed the end credits song “Take Me Home.”