Bullet Points: Raven Hawk

Albert Pyun is one of the directors I always try to go back to and watch some of his work. Not because I am guaranteed to see something good, but because there is always something I have never seen and it usually won’t be like anything else. That is why when Raven Hawk came across my desk I jumped at the opportunity to give it a watch to fill my Albert Pyun quota while also providing some Raven Hawk Bullet Points. Does Raven Hawk just add another checkmark to the Albert Pyun watchlist or does it serve double duty by also being entertaining? Let’s find out.

• Neck Tattoos – Raven Hawk starts with a young Rhyla Shadowfeather with her parents discussing some of their Native American traditions, including the purpose of having the mark of the raven hawk tattooed on your neck as protection. Rhyla’s mother tells her the hawk is stronger than the raven just like the good inside of you is stronger than any bad things that may come her way. I guess her mom doesn’t know about William Atherton, one of the top notch assholes on film. Atherton plays Thorne, a businessman trying to get a power plant built on tribal land with some help from a shady Senator Stansfield (John de Lancie) and Sheriff Daggert (Ed Lauter, Death Wish 3) who turns a blind eye to Thorpe’s dealings. Rhyla’s family is not for the plant being built so Thorpe has them killed and gets the murder blamed on Rhyla. I told you he was an elite asshole.

• 12 Years a Loony – Raven Hawk jumps 12 years in the future and we meet adult Rhyla (Rachel McLish, Aces: Iron Eagle 3) as she is being transferred from a psychiatric hospital to a prison, when a cow saves the day… or at least causes an accident allowing Rhyla to escape from the prison transport. The plot of Raven Hawk is now moooving (cow pun!). Rhyla returns home and somehow manages to find her childhood horse who just so happens to be owned by a random jerk so we don’t feel bad when she steals the horse… touching. We also now see the giant power plant that was built and Rhyla decides to ride straight into it on horseback. We don’t get enough Jeeps and motorcycle versus horse chases in movies.
• Revenge Hawk – Rhyla has begun her revenge tour of the men who murdered her parents and she decides to start with the champion, or more accurately Michael Champion. Gordon is a sleaze ball dive instructor who ends up getting what he deserves in an exciting death. We don’t see the actual death, nor the post mortem scalping, but knowing that Michael Champion perished in a wetsuit is good enough for me. Rhyla’s second murder is even more epic, thanks to the Glen Canyon Dam backdrop, but how is she finding these guys so fast after being in an asylum for so long? The murders also bring back Sheriff Daggert who would have been a completely useless character except that he was played by Ed Lauter and he hurls insults at Marshal Del Wilkes (John Enos III). Del is the man sent by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to investigate the murders. Del is definitely more competent than Daggert but doesn’t really do much until the end. 

• Tracker Supply – Thorne, and his right hand man Rikker (Mitch Pileggi) realize Rhyla is on a revenge tour that forces Thorne to bring in some experts. Thorne has Vincent Klyn (classic Pyun) and Thom Mathews (classic Pyun) on the hunt for Rhyla with Klyn as an unnamed Native American tracker and Mathews as the pro-technology Stiles. Spoiler alert, both methods don’t work against Rhyla. Before these trackers meet their demise, Rhyla finds some Native American gear in a dusty basket inside a cave, as one is wont to do. The new gear, and spiritual cave dance is just what Rhyla needed to go full warrior mode. Like a guy named Stiles would have a chance against Rhyla. And don’t get me started on how stupid Riker was to follow Rhyla onto that cliff. We know how that is ending.
• Getting Thorny Now – Rhyla dispatches all the men who have wronged her with only Thorne left. Not that it was super easy, as she is cut and beat up and not to mention dragged behind a horse. As an aside, while getting dragged behind a horse is common in movies I guarantee you will never see one end like the one in Raven Hawk. Rhyla is ready for the final showdown at Thorne’s house and it features the best use of a motorcycle as a weapon I have seen in a long time. Will Rhyla get her final revenge? Will Del’s character finally have something to do other than provide exposition? 

Raven Hawk is an Albert Pyun film that definitely fits into the watchable spectrum of the Pyun filmography. Will I be watching it again? Sure, but probably not anytime soon, but that has more to do with my unfortunate backlog of Pyun film’s I haven’t yet seen. I wish there were more Rachel McLish films for me to add to my watchlist because even though she is not one of the better actors, she definitely has a physical presence on screen. If you are looking for some more from Raven Hawk, here are some Raven Hawk Bonus Bullet Points.

• Familiar Faces – Be on the lookout for Matt Clark (Tuff Turf) especially if you want to see Matt Clark getting knocked right off his horse by Rachel McLish, Mitchell Ryan (Lethal Weapon) and Nicholas Guest (Night Hunter). You Seinfeld fans will easily recognize Rhyla’s mother (Kimberly Guerrero) as Winona from “The Cigar Store Indian” episode.
• That’s How You Know It Is a Flashback – For my money, it doesn’t get better than sepia toned flashbacks. Especially when the flashback explains how a girl in a nuthouse is so physically fit. Rhyla’s physique gets plenty of attention in Raven Hawk and more than one character references her body being “chiseled out of stone.”
• Screech Power – The sepia toned flashback might be my favorite thing, except for the hawk screech during several of the transitions and pivotal scenes. Powerful stuff.
• Question You Don’t Want to Be Asked – “Did anyone tell you are a class A anal retentive?”