Killpoint

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.

Killpoint is another film that earns it's place in the sick category, or like a film, whose story lost it's way, like Hollywood Cop. In that Cameron Mitchell was a cranky cop (a good guy). In this, animal lover that I am, he's one sick, unhinged, son of a bitch, who deals in stolen arms. One senseless scene has his black partner shoot up a room of people. A separate incident, where an Asian cop's wife and child were killed, the same gun was used in that massacre. The wife was initially raped, and being a cop (Leo Fong) we know it's personal. Working with an another L.A. cop, (Richard Roundtree, before his Seven days) wasted in this amateur scripted dribble, they soon find the source of the heavy artillery and begin to close in on these bad as...s. Again as reference to Hollywood cop, some written scenes, are so amateurish, and lazy, it seems as the dialogue was written as it went along. Fong is the most calm and collected cop, while still maintaining a coolness. He's also the most unresponsive. Could it be that he's just a bad actor. Killpoint is a movie I hesitate to watch again, one that leaves me double minded, cause I know it won't leave me feeling really good at the end of it. Much is the blame on Cameron Mitchell's loathe character, and his actions.

Essentially plotless action film has two good guys (Fong and Roundtree) pitted against two bad guys (Mitchell and Pierce). Fong is perhaps the most uncharismatic action lead of the 80s, Roundtree's small part is a far cry from his "Shaft" days, and Cameron Mitchell adds another shameful role to his career, one to sit right next to his laughable turn in "The Toolbox Murders" (this man was a respected actor once, now he has come down to wearing flowers in his hair and complaining about people bleeding on his carpet). Only Stack Pierce acts with some dignity. As for the violence, don't worry: most of it is too badly done to offend anyone. (*1/2)

This movie is on the slow side for me. There's action and plot. But there's a lot of killing in it. Leo Fong plays a cop who goes after a violent gang who raped and killed his wife. Stack Pierce play the stoic gun runner and killer who hires and fires the people who have helped him. Richard Roundtree plays the Fed who helps the police find the killer. The martial arts scenes are always for me. The fight scene however is slow and stiff. Very effective.

It's not a bad movie, but it's not a good movie as well. Too many flaws. It needs a lot of work. It looked more like a documentary than a flick.

2 out of 5 stars.

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.