American risciò

Not your typical B movie schlock. I've had this one on my shelf for about 6 months now and finally built up the nerve to sit down and watch it and it did not disappoint! A storyline so chalked full of confusing twists and turns, most of which prove to be completely unnecessary, American Rickshaw confuses and then kind of explains it all by the end of the movie. It's a headscratcher and rightfully so as most low budget Italian American films turn out to be in this era of B movies. Some hilarious scenes (Jeans shower, Aids threat and of course Donald Pleasance pig transformation) as well as some genuinely well done practical effects (burning key, Donald Pleasance pig transformation). If you're into these types of movies this one definitely isn't your average bad movie, it has its own charm and wild storyline. I Very much recommend!

My review was written in June 1991 after watching the film on Academy video cassette.

Olympic gymnast Mitch Gaylord makes an okay hero in the Italian action pic "American Tiger". Poorly scripted effort is being released directly to video in the States.

Credited to four writers, including director Sergio Martino, storyline unwisely attempts to inject a mystical element into an otherwise straightforward suspense plot.

Muscular Gayulord plays a young student in Mami who earns money pulling a rickshaw carrying tourists (pic's original title was "American Rickshaw"). Pic opens with him being kind to an old Oriental woman (Michi Kobi) by giving her a ride in the rain. It turns out she's an ageless witch who's been guarding a legendary Boar Statue that's about to fall into the hands of unscrupulous televangelist Donald Pleasence unless Gaylord saves the day.

While Peasence's henchman Daniel Greene is killing folks and hunting Gaylord for a missing key to obtain the statue, Mitch is thrown together with a young stripper (Victoria Prouty) as innocents on the lam. Martino stages the action scenes well with plenty of Miami location atmosphere but keeps injecting idiotic supernatural interventions, as Kobi starts fires or uses her pet cat and snake to try to confound the villains.

Prouty is an attractive redhead who deserves better roles than this while Gylord shows some promise as a he-man action star. Pleasence is embarrassing wearing a wig in flashbacks as a younger version of himself -he already was bald back in '50s movies, so the effect is incongruous..

When seeking fame and fortune as a movie star, a change of name is sometimes advisable. Take Mitchell Gaylord, for example: he's hardly got the kind of name that one would naturally associate with a cool tough guy persona. Unfortunately, Mitchell only saw fit to shorten his name, to Mitch Gaylord, which somehow sounds even worse.

Still, even if he had changed his name to something a lot less effete, I still doubt his film career would have amounted to much with incomprehensible crud like American Tiger on his resumé. As Italian z-grade nonsense goes, this is amongst the worst, with an utterly nonsensical plot made all the more confusing by the muddled direction and editing.

Mitch plays rickshaw driver Scott Edwards, who finds himself framed for the murder of Jason Motom (Gregg Todd Davis), son of a popular TV evangelist (Donald Pleasance, seriously slumming it). Scott attempts to clear his name with the help of a stripper (Victoria Prouty), and an old Chinese witch (Michi Kobi), but his every move is dogged by the real killer (Daniel Greene), who is searching for a key that will lead him to a magical statuette (that looks like Pumba from The Lion King).

Crappy action, dreadful dialogue, risible special effects, and numerous moments that seriously defy description, American Tiger is one for dedicated bad movie buffs only.

2/10. Half a point for Daniel Greene's massive torch, a half point each for Prouty's itty bitty titties, and another half point for Pleasance turning into a pig at the end. Yes, he really does!

This movie is baffling, but baffling in every best ways a movie can be. If you are someone who loves strange, unorthodox and confusing storylines, it doesn't get much better than this. You will find yourself baffled many times, saying "what?'' and usually it would make for a terrible viewing experience, but this is actually enthrallingly confusing. The acting isn't the best you'll ever see obviously, but it is certainly passible and as bonus, you even get to see the one and only Donald Pleasance do ludicrous stuff towards the end that I won't spoil.

I'll just end by saying that for a movie that may somewhat have the reputation of being bad, I was captivated by how confusing everything was. I sincerly think every lovers of bad movies should give it a shot. 10/10 recommended.

After seeing this movie, I realize how bad a film can be. I was sober when I began the movie but it left me intoxicated with stupidity. I've never seen a movie about a rickshaw driver and, because of this movie, I never will again. What was Donald Pleasence thinking? A horrid film such as this does not deserve even a hint of his presence.