Bullet Points: The Silencers (1996)
For whatever reason, Jack Scalia seemed to be PM Entertainment’s “go to guy” when they were making action/sci-fi flicks in the mid 1990’s.
Sandwiched in between 1994’s T-Force and 1996’s Dark Breed was The Silencers…
- Men in Black: The movie begins on a Nebraska farm in 1966, where a farmer, his wife and his daughter (and one of their cows) are about to have a close encounter with an unidentified flying object. When the farmer pulls out his shotgun, he ends up dead and his now widow is quickly visited by some men in black who coldly tell her to forget everything she has seen… I guess they didn’t have neuralyzers yet.
- In the Line of Fire: The movie jumps to present day Los Angeles, where Senator Rawlings and his security detail led by Chuck Rafferty (Jack Scalia, T-Force), are about to attend the re-opening of a church that was damaged in an earthquake. We quickly find out that Senator Rawlings had his share of enemies, specifically over an issue with the Phoenix Corporation. A team of assasssins led by a man named Lekin (Carlos Lauchu, Street Hunter) arrive at the church looking to take out the Senator… the fast acting Rafferty ends up getting the Senator out of the church alive, but all parties involved end up at the subway station. The good news is, PM Entertainment upped their usual vehicular mayhem with some subway car action… the bad news is, this time Rafferty is not able to save the Senator.
- Flight of the Phoenix: The Silencers’ puzzle pieces start coming together as we learn that the aliens that first appeared three decades earlier have been working with the United States government and that the Phoenix Corporation is a front for the technological collaboration between the humans and the aliens… We also learn that Lekin, is in fact the leader of the alien race that has found itself on Earth. The reason that Lekin was targeting Senator Rawlings (unbeknownst to his “friends” in the United States government) is because Rawlings opposed the further funding of the creation of interdimensional portal that the Phoenix Corporation was working on. With Rawlings out of the way, the interdimensional portal is opened… but an unexpected visitor comes through and immediately damages the equipment needed to open and close the portal.
- Plan 9 from Outer Space: That unexpected visitor is Comdor (Dennis Christopher), someone who knows the truth about Lekin and his nefarious plans for conquering Earth, because he’s seen Lekin do it to other planets… naturally Lekin is not happy to see Comdor and the two engage in a huge brawl. But to the soldiers tasked with providing security for the Phoenix Corporation Comdor is the invader going after their ally Lekin, so it is no surprise that Comdor is taken prisoner and put on cryogenic ice. But that’s not good enough for Lekin… he wants Comdor dead.
- Convoy: At this point I almost forgot Jack Scalia was in this movie, but thanks to General Greenboro (Clarence Williams III, Maniac Cop 2) Chuck Rafferty is hand picked to escort the tanker truck that has the cryogenically frozen Comdor on board. The convoy is attacked by some of Lekin’s men in black which means we get an exploding van, flipping cars and an out of control tanker truck that ends up going the wrong way on a busy Southern California highway. The tanker truck eventually crashes and burns, but Comdor is able to escape and suddenly we have a reluctant team up movie with Rafferty having to work with Comdor, the strange visitor from another planet, in order to stop Lekin from using the interdimensional portal to allow his army to arrive and conquer Earth.
The Silencers had “the odd couple” angle that T-Force did, but didn’t do it as well. Which is not a good thing. The Silencers had the alien invasion element of Dark Breed, but without the doo wop music. Which may or may not be a good thing depending on your views on doo wop music.
But I am not sure there has ever been a PM Entertainment completely devoid of good things, and Director Richard Pepin made sure there were enough of the good PM elements in The Silencers to make it worth watching.
Here’s a good element to any Bullet Points review… some Bonus Bullet Points…
- Familiar Faces: As a long time fan of professional wrestling, I recognized two familiar faces in The Silencers… First was Ken Resnick, who had a brief run in the WWE as an announcer in 1986/1987. Resnick played Agent Longo, a member of Rafferty’s team who also ends up having a brief run… Terri Poch, who wrestled for years as Terri Powers prior to joining the WWE during the Attitude Era, played General Greenboro’s assistant Mariam… Fans of The A-Team will recognize Lance LeGault as Jack Kirby, the driver that Rafferty hand picks to drive the cryogenic transport.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Jack Scalia attend a UFO enthusiasts convention, then The Silencers is the movie for you.
- The Name Game: Not to be confused with 1966’s The Silencers starring Dean Martin and Stella Stevens, the first movie in Dean Martin’s Matt Helm Trilogy.
