Reactor

After a nuclear war has decimated Earth a small religious community goes about life as best they can by essentially using 19th century technology to make ends meet. Unfortunately, the news that they appear to be thriving soon draws the interest of a gang of thugs led by an exceedingly brutal man who goes by the name of "Hog" (Darwyn Swalve) who decides he wants everything they have-and this especially includes an attractive young woman named "Shawna Dawson" (Alyson Davis) who just happened to catch his eye. What he doesn't know is that there is another man who he thought he killed named "Cody" (David Heavenor) who has since recovered from his wounds and is seeking vengeance upon him at all costs. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather dull low-budget film which suffered from extremely poor audio and some really ridiculous action scenes. Admittedly, Alyson Davis was pleasing to the eye but other than that this film had nothing else going for it and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

I'm one of those people who enjoys low level films, at least to some extent. I like the idea that there are people in show business who are doing their best despite the fact that they are not very talented. Some low budget films are very good indeed with high quality actors, clever writers and maybe marginally competent directors. You can hire writers and actors to do a job and do it well just for the exposure and a little money, but quality directors won't attach themselves to a piece of trash. This film is not high quality trash. It is barely adequate trash. The secondary characters are not bad. The male lead, who is also the director and helped work on the screenplay, is not very good. Look at his output on IMDB. It is a history of trash. He has worked a lot over the years but has never been attached to anything very good. The narrative has a certain coherence. The world is divided into good people and bad people. The bad prey on the good. The good have to learn to stand up for themselves. The high point of this movie is the appearance of Stuart Whitman. Whitman was always more than a character actor but less than a big star. He could always be depended upon to turn in a solid, professional job and that is what he does here but all too briefly. If, like me, you enjoy scrounging in Hollywood's weed patch for small but interesting pieces of junk, I applaud you. If you find this one however, throw it back.

Where DID they get the screenplay and the actors for this laughable attempt at a movie? At times I wondered if perhaps there was a new school of acting where woodenness was considered a new art-form. The gaps in the dialogue let you can almost hear the prompter reminding them of their lines. Look out for the guy who jumps backwards a second after the shotgun blast hits him. Mind you, there is a cute girl who plays as major a role as any in the movie. She willingly shows off her body which goes a little way to reprieving this otherwise sad attempt at movie making. Mind you, I only paid 50 pence for the DVD so I really didn't expect much.

My review was written in May 1989 after watching the film on AIP video cassette.

"Deadly Reactor", formerly titled "The Reactor", is an offbeat Western in sci-fi clothing that could attract a modest following among home video aficionados.

Filmmaker-singer David Heavene demonstrates, as he did in previous pic "Outlaw Force", a fondness for the Clint Eastwoo/Sergio Leone Westerns, Here he plays a preacher-styled gunslinger in a post-nuclear war West, appointed town sheriff and charged with defending the righteous citizens from a marauding gang (styled like contemporary bikers) led by fatso Hog (Darwyn Swalve).

Relying over-much on Heavener's voice-over exposition, pic opens with him recuperating from wounds inflicted by Hog's gang. Hog rape his sister and killed his family, so Heavener has lots of avenging to do. He's known as "The Reactor", a tag acquire from learning gunfighting from wise old mountain man Stuart Whitman, who taught him to observe the other guy, prompt the adversary to make the first move and then react.

Heavener, who resembles Tommy Lee Jones with beard, is quite effective doing Eastwood's Western shtick, abetted here by a catchy, folksy musical score by Brian Bennett that is inspired by Ennio Morricone's "For a Few Dollars More" theme.

The tv station I work for recently showed this movie. The shootout at the end has to be one of the most poorly put together scenes I have ever seen in a movie. While watching you may be laughing to much at it to care though. Great movie to watch late at night with friends.