Bullet Points: Death Force
Some might argue that with a 100 directorial credits to his name, Cirio H. Santiago valued quantity over quality. Now I am no Santiago expert and admittedly I have only seen a small fraction of his overall output, but I’d argue that Santiago’s films were consistent. Santiago knew what audiences wanted to see and provided it to them to the best of his ability and within budget.
My latest Cirio H. Santiago viewing experience was 1978’s Death Force, a movie I had heard good things about and wanted to see if they were true…
- And Then There Were Two: Doug Russell, Morelli and McGee are three American soldiers on their way home from serving in the Vietnam War. The trio stop off in the Philippines to sell the gold bars they smuggled out of Vietnam to a local mobster. Morelli (Carmen Argenziano, Red Scorpion) wants to use the money from the gold sale to make even more money by controlling Los Angeles’ criminal underground. McGee (Leon Isaac Kennedy, Lone Wolf McQuade) is on board with the idea but both Morelli and McGee see family man Doug Russell (James Iglehart, Bamboo Gods and Iron Men) as a liability. So while the trio are out on a pleasure cruise following the gold sale, McGee stabs Doug in the gut, while Morelli sneaks up behind Doug and slits his throat… the traitorous friends then dump Doug’s body overboard and they are on their way to becoming big time crime lords.
- Dirty Dingus McGee: It isn’t long after Morelli and McGee return to Los Angeles that they are muscling their way into all the criminal activities in The City of Angels. But upsetting the apple cart was not enough for McGee… he decided to pay Doug’s wife Maria Russell (Jayne Kennedy, The Muthers) a visit and break the news to her that Doug wasn’t coming back to her or the infant son that he never even met. McGee is ready to make Maria his lady, but shows some restraint on his first visit and tells her he’ll be back to check on her and her son Jimmy. To increase his chances of scoring with Maria, he forces the owner of the club that Maria sings at to fire her ass and then makes sure none of the other clubs in town will hire her. But even a jobless and desperate Maria wants nothing to do with McGee.
- It’s a Miracle: At this point I couldn’t help but feel like the movie needed a hero and that is about the time Doug Russell’s body washes up on the shore of a remote island where he is discovered by two Japanese soldiers who have been stranded on the island since World War II. By some miracle, Doug is still alive. The Japanese soldiers nurse Doug back to health and once Doug is healthy teach him the ways of the samurai! When his training is complete Doug Rusell will be able to take on an entire criminal empire… but there’s one problem, he’s still stuck on this remote island and nowhere near Los Angeles. Enter the second miracle, a search party looking for Japanese stragglers from WWII happens upon the island more than three decades after the war ended and Doug suddenly has a way home.
- Bustin’ Loose: Doug makes his way home and starts chopping away, literally and figuratively, with his samurai sword at the criminal empire that his “friends” Morelli and McGee have built in LA! Morelli and McGee start scrambling once they figure out that the guy causing them all this trouble is Doug… a guy they thought was dead. Morelli and McGee hire a professional assassin who attempts to take Doug out while he’s getting a trim at the barber shop… that doesn’t work and both McGee and Morelli figure they are next on Doug’s hit list. They figure right too… fortunately for McGee he only gets his ear sliced off by Doug and manages to get away before Doug can finish the job. Morelli on the other hand is not as fortunate. This sets up my favorite scene in the film… McGee is convalescing in the hospital after losing his ear when he receives a “get well” gift… inside the gift box… Morelli’s severed head! At that point, McGee checks himself out of the hospital and manages to nab Maria and Jimmy, hoping he’ll be able to use them to bargain with Doug for his own life.
Death Force was a cut above the average revenge flick with a great deal of credit going to Carmen Argenziano and Leon Isaac Kennedy for playing such despicable characters. The samurai sword wielding hero was a nice touch and James Iglehart was believable as the vengeful vigilante in what would end up being his last film role. The icing on the Death Force cake was the twist ending… a definite WTF movie moment.
No twist ending here, let’s wrap up this review with some Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: Death Force was reissued in the United States as Fighting Mad following the success of Leon Isaac Kennedy’s Penitentiary and Jayne Kennedy’s appearance in Playboy.
- Memorable Quote: “He don’t need a mother like you for a father!” – Maria to McGee
- Montage Alert: Once Doug is reunited with Maria and meets his son, little Jimmy for the first time. We get a family fun day with montage with the Russell Family.
