Herowork

I watched this movie not expecting too much as the cover is really (and i mean one of the worst I've ever seen) bad. From the cover (as there is no description of the movie here at IMDb); "Freewheeling Hank a local good ol'boy decides to mend his wayward ways and contribute to the community by becoming a hero and helping folk out of scrapes but passes all the glory off onto his bumbling masked sidekick who soon becomes a celebrity to the grateful townsfolk.

Meanwhile a psychopathic killer has been terrorising young women in the area, stabbing them and leaving his mark, a dollop of chocolate ice cream on his victims. Hank is soon forced to get on the trail of the killer and uses the beautiful Marsha as bait but things go wrong as the local law arrest Hank as the prime murder suspect." This is full of recognisable 70's actors from TV, and is very enjoyable in a 'flares' and 'kipper' tie way. In the UK the movie is called 'The Chocolate Killer'

I was lucky enough to go to the premire of this movie in Houston, Texas and was thoroughly entertained by it. When I saw Smokey and the Bandit years later, it reminded me of Herowork. Herowork takes a man with a big heart and a desire to make the world a better place... and pits him against the bad guys. Fun for the entire family.

Lead Rod Browning is Frank Pellet, a self appointed crime buster who thinks being a cop is beneath him ("I just don't want to be some ordinary cop" is his logic). Along with his buddy Sidewinder (Robert Chapel) he decides to track down "The Chocolate Killer," a serial killer offing young ladies. Writer-director Michael Adrian was one-and-done with this and judging from his handling of tone I can understand why. This jumps from suspense to comedy to action to romance without a thought. Pellet looks like a combo of Chevy Chase and Earl Owensby. That is not a good combo. Hugh Gillin (Psycho II & III) plays the local sheriff.