Le Maniaque

I was reading Sherry Jackson's bio on Wikipedia and thought I'd look for some of the films she's in. For the most part, I've only seen her Trouble Along the Way (1952), The Miracle of our Lady of Fatima (1952), and an amazing appearance in a Star Trek Episode entitled What Are Little Girls Made Of. I happened to find this movie online and decided to give it a try mainly because it was on of the films that inspired Quentin Tarantino. Sleezy/Blaxploitation 70s movie reportedly made for $25,000, it takes you for a ride along with bounty hunter Zachary Kane through the underbelly of Los Angeles looking for a serial killer. It's not nearly as good or well-produced as others in this genre, but it's still worth watching if for no other reason than seeing Sherry wearing only a boyfriend shirt.

From what I can tell, this movie is totally out of print, which is a shame because it is quite good for what it is. Zach Kane is a tough guy who covers all the bases: he can box, smokes unfiltered cigarettes, drinks, you can bust his ribs, stab him, repeatedly, beat the hell out of him and he still comes back for more. However, he also has a nice pad, is a lady's man, and plays the flute, so he's not only a caveman, but a caveman with sophistication and class. Aside from the larger than life character the movie attempts to foist on the audience, it's a pretty gnarly action flick in a way they simply don't seem to know how to do anymore. No CGI, just raw poundings, bloodshed, and explosions, the way it ought to be. If you are lucky enough to run across a copy, buy it.

Viharo, an ex-late 60's early 70's leading man enters the low budget action genre in this actioner directed and made by the people who made ILSA films. Viharo plays a bounty hunter who is on a trail of a rich psychopath who wears a mask killing girls in Los Angeles. 70's low-budget black action star John Daniels has a small part to bring in the black audience in an all white movie. The excellent soundtrack was later re-used in 1977 Tom Sellick film THE WASHINGTON AFFAIR.

This movie ultimately is a combo of the following elements.

Rocky/ Billy Jack type main character is a struggling boxer who survives by beating up and then turning over to the police various bad guys for a reward. In this way it's a bit of a western. Hero even meets cute with neighborhood gal, like in Rocky.

But then it sort of becomes one of these black tough guy with tough cool black guy partner movies.

But then, it becomes a psycho killer movie. And our hero isn't even on screen for a fair amount of time.

Oh and there is a Kung Fu sidekick/teacher who looks Hispanic but has an Asian name. Go figure?!? Not that these elements don't make it fun--but it never completely becomes a good movie about any of these things. It just shifts gears whenever it wants to. It's mostly done as exploitation--rather than true grit. The hero spends as much or more time being brutalized than he does brutalizing. Though of it's time it also seems out of step with it's time--the gay bar scene is either hilarious or offensive--both really, if you can sit of both sides of the fence at the same time.

In order the enjoy the movie you have to sit on that same fence, don't take it too seriously if you can.

Performances are over the top--by the standards of the day--not by today's ridiculous over the tops standards. Groovy and effective music score and long almost silent final chase scene through rough areas of downtown Los Angeles help wrap it all up. Most of the male cast have the same mustache, just in case you were wondering. One gutsy plot twist and a few very brief moments of social commentary also pop up to keep it lively. A refreshing lack of Hippies--I guess their time had passed by then.

Drive-in genius!

In this gem, Zachary Kane (Viharo) is the strong, silent type who is also a scrappy, street-smart bounty hunter. He always gets his man. But he faces the ultimate challenge when a crazed, hissing, sadistic serial killer begins abducting and killing women on his home L.A. turf. So Kane teams up with Black (Daniels) to find the culprit, searching through the seedy sides of the city, but finding ample time to seduce the ladies, mainly Jennifer (Jackson). What is the secret of spoiled rich brat Richard Devlin (Heit), and his sidekick/sparring partner Kido (Jace)? Will Kane be able to put 2 and 2 together before it's too late? Bare Knuckles is so great for so many different reasons. They truly don't make 'em like this anymore and the movie industry should be ashamed. It is loaded with 70's atmosphere, from the disco-like soundtrack to the fact that 90% of the men in the movie have a mustache. It defines the pre-political correctness era, with an awesome hero who smokes, drinks and does whatever the hell he wants.

Top-notch grittiness ensues on a technical level and it all has a low-budget guerilla feel to it that works perfectly. Sure, there are some imperfections that naturally come from underground filmmaking, but they are more than made up for by all the movie's strengths. Namely, the street-level, 70's feel and the character of Zachary Kane. There were no sequels or TV series spinoffs for the Kanester, but we should have seen more of him in some way.

Robert Viharo as Kane is brilliant. The taciturn, David-Heavener-like style, the fact that he is a man on a mission that knows what he wants, he is a boxer (great training sequence) and he even plays the flute! He's so smooth he even picks up the main love interest Jennifer while chowing down on some Pizza Hut in the parking lot. Needless to say, we loved Kane.

Director/writer Don Edmonds, known primarily for the two official Ilsa movies, here was in a state of grace and he should be more known for Bare Knuckles than he currently is. Although there are some people in the know. Not surprisingly, Quentin Tarantino is a huge fan and has memorized verbatim dialogue from various Edmonds movies.

For a fun ride through the 1970's with a film with its heart in exactly the right place, we strongly recommend Bare Knuckles.

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