The Avenger - Der Rächer

Poor Oliver Reed, he was such a good actor but forced to play in some very bad movies. This is one of them and it is not very bad, but very very very bad. I mean, an exact film as Frank Zagarino, which I saw only in super bad movies, a guy who does not have anything to do with acting. Worth minus zero stars!

My review was written in July 1990 after watching the film on AIP video cassette.

Frank Zagarino makes a sympathetic and muscular film noir hero in "The Revenger", a direct-to-video feature originally titled "Saxman".

He plays a jazz artist whose ax is the alto sax. In helping a ne'er-do-well old friend he gets involved with some thugs led by Oliver Reed who are making snuff films. Zagarino recruits his old war buddy Jeff Weston to fight against Reed.

Film climaxes in okay martial arts fights and a corrupt cop subplot. Tacked-on finale is too cheerful to be true.

Reed's hamminess and male chauvinist routine is both convincing and entertaining, while Zagarino continues to impress as the B-movie's anser to Jean-Claude Van Damme. Pic suffers from some weak dubbing of the supporting cast and other telltale signs that it was shot in helmer Cedric Sundstrom's native South Africa rather than its purported southern California setting.

A sax player (Frank Zagarino) gives his coked up mate a lift somewhere after a gig and gets caught up in a police chase. After his mate is gunned down, Frank gets a few years in prison and upon release, is set upon by goons looking for half a million dollars his coked up mate stashed somewhere. In order to show their seriousness, they've kidnapped Frank's girlfriend.

Did I mention that the goon's boss is Oliver Reed? I probably should have. Here, his acting ranges from subdued to outright insane (his rape of Frank's girlfriend, in front of a panel of TVs showing snuff movies, is more hilarious than offensive), and he looks rather unsteady in certain scenes. Truth by told though, the film was heading for dullsville until Reed became more prominent. Plus, Frank's character is rather crap so when he enlists the help of his Vietnam veteran buddy Harry (who has one leg), things pick up a bit.

Mostly, the action in the Revenger is a bit tame, but it gets more lively towards the end when Reed and co lay siege to Frank in a country shack. For the duration, it's mainly punch-ups and the odd shooting (Harry seems genuinely remorseful that he's had to shoot Reed's young girlfriend in self-defence).

I thought it was strange, however, that the rape of Frank's girlfriend isn't referred to ever again. I reckoned she'd be the one the execute Reed, but instead they just stick her in a hiding place for most of the climatic battle. Strange.

All in all, The Revenger was not bad (mainly due to Reed), but it ain't gonna turn out to be some long lost classic (unlike Codename Vengeance, which was the 'b' side to this film when I picked it up)

This film is a cheap and average movie. If you want good maintenance and action without much tension - so you will be right. Too much is foresees and unbelievable...you know what will happens from the beginning and that doesn't change... But you can look at this film...when you don't want to make any "brain-work" - or want to get off some stress ! It's good Popcorn-maintenance.

Nice to see Arnold Vosloo in one of his earlier role (18 min. from the whole film)...but always the bad guy ! Damn !

I really don't know what it is, but whenever I see Frank Zagarino's name in the credits of a movie, I simply can't resist the urge to watch it. It's not that Zagarino is a fine thespian or the best of action stars, but there is something about him that I trust. He nearly always brings something good to the table. There are exceptions, like `Armstrong,' but he's usually entertaining even in his lesser movies. I caught `The Revenger' on television late one night and decided to watch it. I was scared to do so at first, as it co-starred Oliver Reed. Now I like Reed, but this is 1990 we're talking about, and Reed was in a bit of a slump. In fact, I had watched his `Rage to Kill' a few weeks earlier on the same TV channel, and that movie was simply awful. But `The Revenger' was so much better. I'm glad I took the time to see it.

Zagarino plays Michael Keller, a saxophonist engaged to his girlfriend Lisa (I didn't recognize this actress, but whoever she is, she chose to be uncredited). One night after performing a gig, his brother Mackie (Arnold Vosloo) asks for a ride home. What he really wants is a ride so he can hide half a million dollars that he was entrusted by criminal Jack Fisher (Reed). After the money is hidden, a police chase ensues resulting in Mackie dead and Zagarino sent to prison for five years for accidentally killing a police officer with his car. Fast-forward five years and Michael is released and tries to get back to life with Lisa. Only trouble is, Fisher thinks Michael has his cash. He sends his goons to kidnap Lisa to extort the money from Michael, who must then figure out where Mackie may have hidden it. Then he gets help from Mackie's old army buddy Harry (Jeff Weston). They manage to rescue Lisa, but then they are pursued by Fisher and his thugs for a death to the finish.

`The Revenger' suffers from all of AIP's films, that being a miniscule budget and a thin plot. The budget especially holds it back and, I suspect, is the main reason why other people would shy away from it. But Cedric Sundstrom (whose other movies are not good) adds some nice touches that you don't usually see in this type of movie: Michael's saxophone playing, the gentle moments at the cabin, Fisher's reactions when someone close to him dies (though this is also due to Reed's good acting here), Harry's guilt over killing someone, the cop on Fisher's payroll that changes his mind about the whole deal (though his end is handled badly). And the final action scene, where the remaining villains surround Michael and Harry in a cabin in the woods, is really exciting. Oh, and don't forget to stick around during the credits for a good song by Steve McClintock. The movie's not perfect, though. The budget is still a problem and a final twist simply does not make sense and is not a very good twist anyway. But for those that will tolerate a B-movie once in awhile, you can't expect more from this one. You might even like it more than I did. Zantara's score: 6 out of 10.