Bullet Points: Bloodfist VII: Manhunt
One of the goals of Bulletproof Action is to review all eight movies in the Don “The Dragon” Wilson Bloodfist series. Up to this point we have reviewed Bloodfist II, Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight, Bloodfist IV: Die Trying and Bloodfist VI: Ground Zero.
In this edition of Bullet Points, I will review 1995’s Bloodfist VII: Manhunt and for those of you keeping score that means we are at 62.5% of our Bloodfist goal…
- Dragon Walks Into a Bar: Jim Trudell (Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Night Hunter) is making his way from Seattle to Mexico when he decides to stop at a biker bar on the outskirts of Southern California to ask if there are any hotels nearby… this questionable decision becomes more questionable when Trudell is hassled by a couple of bikers before he even enters the establishment. The bikers tell Trudell there’s a $50 cover charge. Trudell does not give them $50, instead he kicks the crap out of them and proceeds to enter the bar.
- Dragon Meets Girl: Once inside, Trudell finds himself sitting next to an attractive woman named Stephanie Williams (Jillian McWhirter, Rage) at the bar. The two make some general chit chat, when the two would be tough guys that confronted Trudell outside the bar, drag their carcasses inside and start harassing Stephanie. This leads to the obligatory bar fight with Trudell once again kicking some biker ass. Trudell and Stephanie make their way outside, realizing this random biker bar in the middle of nowhere is probably not the best place to have a drink. They are about to go their separate ways when Stephanie asks Trudell where he is heading, she then feeds him a cock and bull story about having a fight with her abusive boyfriend and asks if she can tag along with Trudell to Mexico.
- Dragon P.I.: Trudell and Stephanie end up at a nearby motel to get some rest before they make their way to Mexico the next day. There’s no hanky panky between the two, although Trudell does seem to be entertained by Stephanie stripping down to her bra and panties. The next morning comes and Stephanie is gone. Trudell also notices his car keys are gone and in their place are keys to a BMW. So Trudell hitches a ride back to the biker bar, where sure enough he finds Stephanie’s BMW. Trudell finds Stephanie’s registration in the glove compartment and decides to do some private investigating, taking a trip over to the address the car is registered to. Once he arrives, Trudell first has to deal with some of Stephanie’s nosey neighbors, then once he gets in the house and finds that it has been ransacked, he is attacked from behind by a guy in sunglasses, who is very clearly trying to kill Trudell. Trudell fights back and not only knocks the guy’s sunglasses off in the process, he also kills him. But that’s not the worst of it… the guy was an off duty cop!
- Interrogating the Dragon: More cops show up to the house (thanks nosey neighbors) including Detective Johnny Marvosa (Jonathan Penner) and Marvosa’s new boss Captain Doyle (Steven Williams, L.A. Heat). The cops haul Trudell’s ass in and interrogate him. Trudell wisely lawyers and tells his side of the story. Marvosa and fellow detective, Stanton, are tasked with transporting Trudell to County Jail… but they make a detour. This is about the time where it is confirmed that Trudell killed a dirty cop and Marvosa and Stanton are just as dirty. Apparently Stephanie was in possession of a tape that could incriminate the dirty cops’ dirty deeds. That is why Stephanie’s house had been tossed when Trudell got there and now Marvosa believes Trudell is partners with Stephanie and knows where the tape is and he intends on getting the information out of Trudell one way or another.
- Dragon on the Run: Marvosa had Trudell handcuffed… but that is not going to prevent Trudell from kicking his way out of the bad situation he finds himself in. Before it is all said and done, Stanton dies trying to kill Trudell and Trudell now finds himself in the wind. Marvosa cooks up some bullshit story that Trudell managed to escape custody while they were driving… Captain Doyle questions why Marvosa didn’t call for backup if that was the case and chastises Marvosa for his sloppy work. Then Captain Doyle decrees he wants the “two-time cop killer” Jim Trudell back in custody ASAP and we’ve got ourselves a manhunt!
The rest of the movie plays out as you might expect with Trudell doing his best to stay one step ahead of the cops both dirty and clean. We get the common tropes of Trudell having a computer hacker friend that he turns to for help and the FBI nosing their way into Captain Doyle’s jurisdiction. We get the inevitable reunion between Trudell and Stephanie and even get to see the contents of the video tape and it is no wonder Marvosa was so desperate to get his hands on it!
Bloodfist VII: Manhunt was worth watching, but overall I would classify it as unremarkable. These Bonus Bullet Points on the other hand are absolutely remarkable…
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Don “The Dragon” Wilson sleep in a dumpster, then Bloodfist VII: Manhunt is the movie for you.
- Familiar Faces: Paulo Tocha plays Ulysses, a professional killer that Marvosa calls in to eliminate his Jim Trudell problem. Tocha is probably best known for his role in Bloodsport, but I also remember him from his work in Stone Cold and Death Warrant… Lurch, one of the biker bullies at the start of the movie, was played by Rick Dean. Dean played Jerry Trimble’s turncoat friend in One Man Army.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Don “The Dragon” Wilson call 911 to report a bogus heart attack all so he could steal first aid supplies from the back of an ambulance, then Bloodfist VII: Manhunt is the movie for you.
- Don’t Call It a Comeback: Jillian McWhirter would return to the Bloodfist series in the eighth and final installment of the Don “The Dragon” Wilson franchise, Bloodfist VIII: Trained to Kill. And in true Bloodfist tradition, McWhirter plays a completely different character in a story that is completely unrelated to any of the Bloodfist movies that came before it.
