Blinde Wut

I can't disagree with any of the above reviews. There's never any real attempt to explain why using blind guys to rob a bank is such a great idea. Yes, no one would suspect blind guys of robbing a bank, but really, wouldn't a sighted electronic expert be more useful? At one point one of the cops posits that the blind men wouldn't be able to identify the "mastermind" (which seems an extremely generous description of Willie Black) because they are blind. Wouldn't it just be easier to kill the thieves after the crime. Dead men can't identify anybody either.

My favorite part of the movie though has to be the chase scene that starts at an International House of Pancakes and then ends up on the roof of an International House of Pancakes! The International House of Pancakes is also where the crime is planned at the beginning of the movie (a great place to plot a international crime).

That's really too much International House of Pancakes for one movie.

My review was written in March 1983 after a screening at Selwyn theater on Manhattan's 42nd St.

Filmed with the more appropriate title "Steal 'em Blind" in 1977, "Blind Rage" is a funny, inept action film as yet undiscovered by connoisseurs of camp.

Filipino production (with American guest actors) was filmed in globe-hopping locations amounts to an unwitting cheapie parody of the international (superimposed card: "Paris 5:30 p.m.") thriller genre.

"Foolproof alibi" gimmick has five blind men, led by familiar blaxploitation actor D'Urville Martin, rounded up to execute a bank robbery in the Philppines. A pretty, poorly-dubbed FIlipino heroine (Leila Hermosa) trains them, with funny dialog, such as the caper run-through beginning with her saying: "Let's begin by synchronizing your Braille watches".

Adequate tension is maintained during the robbery, though the blind quintet's movements often resemble sighted people merely disguised in dark glasses. Poor continuity has a bright, daylight robbery, yet the police cars arrive at the bank in the dead of night.

After an hour's running time devoted to standard recruitment, training and caper execution (plus periodic martial arts outbursts), story premise is suddenly unraveled as the Filipino police immediately (through the aid of an informer) hunt down blind suspects. The heroes escape, hidden in the vast tank of a gasoline truck (a la "White Heat"), which suddenly crashes explosively into a jet plane to end the main narrative.

For the tacked-on final reel, the local crime mastermind flees to Los Angele, where CIA agent Jesse Crowder (Fred Williamson reprising his tough-talking, stogie-smoking screen character from his own films such as "No Way Back") has a showdown with him at the International House of Pancakes. Zipping breezily in and out of the film, Williamson (only his stogie is mussed during some hectic chasing and fighting) gets a tagline which sums up the film's philosophy: "Next time you want some of Uncle Sam's money, ask for it".

... This would be unwatchable. Hongkongsploitation at it's utter worst. Terrible story, acting and dialogue along with one of the top ten stupidest plots - blind guys robbing a bank - this is just trash from beginning to end. Now I've watched some bad movies in my time, the creeping Terror comes to mind, but this is just not even funny!

Ever see a film that you knew deep down was bad, but you were able to suspend your usual beliefs about what a good movie should be and enjoy it anyway? Meet BLIND RAGE, a low-budget '70s anti-masterpiece.

The plot is highly original, if not ridiculous. Five blind men are assembled to rob a bank in broad daylight. Why? Because who would ever suspect blind men of robbing a bank? (Well, there's a bit more to it than that, but I won't spoil it for you). The group of visually-impaired thieves (no, you've never heard of any of the actors) is carefully trained in a mock bank by the lovely Sally (Leila Hermosa, who later landed a coveted role in the highly acclaimed BONGGA KA DAY). But can they pull it off? Well, this is a dumb '70s movie, isn't it?

BLIND RAGE isn't rife with so-bad-it's-good humor, but it certainly has its moments. I'll never forget the badly-dubbed scene where one of the blind dudes breaks up an attempted sexual assault by another. In a voice with about as much emotion as Eeyore before coffee, our hero orders the aggressor to "Get off her... sex hungry bastard." Then there's the hilarity of desperate producers trying to pass this off as a Fred Williamson actioneer. They don't tell you that Freddy doesn't show up until about the last 20 minutes (though he is vintage cigar-chomping Williamson once he finally arrives).

If this review has at all piqued your interest in BLIND RAGE, you're definitely a candidate for enjoying it. (Though you'll probably have to scour eBay to find it).

Men-on-a-Mission film, but with blind men being recruited and trained to pull off a daring bank heist. I was quite tickled that when introducing each of the men, we get a flashback to how they became blind. It's a strange hybrid of Filipino exploitation and blaxploitation that stars D'Urville Martin as one of the blind guys, who are joined by a couple of blind Asian martial artists and another dude. The training scenes are fun, and the heist itself is surprisingly good. It's what happens after the heist, where the film loses its way, but it's still pretty fun. Fred Williamson gets top billing, but he only has a cameo, reprising his Jesse Crowder role from DEATH JOURNEY and NO WAY BACK. Fred also gets to do the climactic fight in the film, set on the roof of the International House of Pancakes. I was interested in checking this film out because there was a Video Archives Podcast episode where Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avery raved about how great this movie was. I'll give them that it's unique and pretty fun, but it's not a grindhouse classic. It's more of a curiosity.