Killpoint

An awful sub-par thriller from Crown International Pictures, much along the lines of their follow-up LOW BLOW. It's hard to know what's worse: the quality of the martial arts fights (in which the blows are the softest ever and barely hit the opponent half of the time), or the acting from a cast slumming it throughout. The plot, in a nutshell, is about a criminal gang armed with stolen weapons who go on a killing spree through the city, leaving one tough cop to track them down.

Actually, I think the worst thing about this film is the quality of the editing. It's incredible - worse than in an Ed Wood film, for instance. One shot will have a character coming up to somebody from the left, then the next shot will see them randomly standing to the right of that person. It makes for a disconcerting viewing experience to say the least.

The production values are very poor, although at least the outdoor locations are sunny. Leo Fong gives an appalling performance in the lead role, just as he did in LOW BLOW; throughout the movie I couldn't work out what was worse, his acting or his wig. Cameron Mitchell seems drunk in his turn as the villain, and only Richard Roundtree and Stack Pierce in support give anything approaching halfway decent performances. Yes, there's some quite graphic violence in KILLPOINT and a storyline that just about passes muster, but the execution is so poor that it's a real chore to sit through.

My review was written in March 1984 after a Times Square screening.

"Killpoint" is a perfunctory police picture made in asemi-documentary fashion that reduces audience involvement. Prospects on the action circuit are okay.

Filmmaker Frank Harris (who takes five credits on the pic) has sought to out-do Louis de Rochemont and Jack Webb in low-key realism, but the result is dull. Dozens of members of the Riverside, California police department plus the local coroner's office and people off the street fill most of the "acting" roles, and several lead players are so ice-cold in their performances that the film seems remote instead of exciting.

Leo Fong, a Chinese-American martial arts expert, toplines as Lt. James Long, a cop troubled by his wife's rape and murder, who is assigned to work with government agent Bill Bryant (Richard Roundtree) in catching the killers who have stolen automatic weapons from a National Guard armory and are creating mayhem by selling them to local criminals and gangs. Stack Pierce portrays Nighthawk, the key gunrunner whose boss, played behind dark glasses by Cameron Mitchell, is a nut who gets his jollies torturing and killing women.

Fong, whose immoblie but strong featured visage suggests an Oriental counterpart to Woody Strode, is unimpressive, a totally unemotional nonactor. Pierce's one-note "Mr. Cool" is counter-productive, Mitchell is silly and guest star Roundtree tarnishes his "Shaft" superhero image by getting blown away in routine fashion. Technically merely adequate, "Killpoint" delivers none of the fun that once made B-features so enjoyable.

Killpoint is a standard violent action flick from the 80's. It's about a criminal gang who steal weaponry from the National Armoury and then sell it on to various hoods, while still finding time themselves to go around annihilating a variety of unfortunate people. A Chinese cop is put on the case to track them down.

This is an entertaining actioner which is somewhat rough around the edges it has to be said. It's poorly edited throughout in a manner that often doesn't make it too clear what is happening in certain scenes. But it has enough bloody violence and martial art fighting to ensure it's never boring. B movie stalwart Cameron Mitchell plays the gang lord who is combines his crime boss role with a penchant for sadistically killing women, while lovingly fawning over a small pet poodle. Richard Roundtree's name is prominent on the poster but he's hardly in it, it's more Leo Fong's movie - I hadn't even heard of him – and he puts in a stony-faced and decidedly uncharismatic performance while sporting an impressive pudding bowl haircut throughout. But best of all is Stack Pierce who plays the menacing character Nighthawk, who is Mitchell's sidekick/enforcer – he is a convincing bad ass and his performance is very committed.

On the whole this is quite middling fair though. Certainly entertaining enough but just don't expect too much.

What an amazing movie this is ... a true classic masterpiece! Inspiring dialogues and amazing martial arts techniques will take your breath away ... Highly recommended! I really look forward to see a remake of this movie with the original cast (if they're still alive and well) . Many action movies that are more popular and well-known are more or less based on the plot of Kill Point ... the plot is one of a kind;originality is one of the qualities of this movie that is clear to see. Let us hope that this movie company will produce more brilliant products like these and enjoy other great movies featuring Leo Fong in the meantime ... Last but not least I would like to propose the concept of a sitcom based on this movie;that would be truly amazing ...

This movie is very violent, yet exciting with original dialog and cool characters. It has one of the most moving stories and is very true to life. The movie start off with action star Leo Fong as a down and out cop who is approaching the end of his career, when he stumbles on to a big case that involves corruption, black mail and murder. This is where the killings start. From start finish Fong delivers in this must see action caper. This movie also co-stars Richard Roundtree.

I really enjoyed this film as a child but as I got older I realized that this film is pretty cheesy and not very good. I would not recommend this film and the action is very, very bad.