Bloodmatch

All through "Bloodmatch," I was like, that main actor looks so familiar. And then I looked him up after the movie and realized he's Tommy Jarvis from "Friday the 13th Part VI." When the most famous actor in a movie is most known for the sixth episode in a slasher film franchise, that tells you something right there about the quality of the movie you're watching.

"Bloodmatch" is so funereally paced and set to such an incongruous, droning score, that it unfortunately is more boring than bad movie good. I could summarize the plot, but....ha! Ha!.....why? It might be the most monotonously structured movie I've ever seen. There's a twist ending I think, but since the plot devolves into the incomprehensible, it might just be a normal ending to a plot that doesn't make any sense in the first place. I'm not really sure, and trust me, this movie is not worth the mental energy required to figure out what happens.

And this also has to be one of the darkest movies I've ever seen. I don't mean in tone or subject matter -- I mean it's literally so dark you can't see what's happening half the time. It's like the budget was so small that they couldn't afford enough lights. Tip to the filmmakers -- if you have to cut some things for budget reasons, start with a couple of the terrible actors before you start cutting things like lighting. Hey, it would have reduced the amount of plot and made your film shorter to boot. That's a win for everybody!

Grade: D-

Brick Bardo is on a revenge mission to take out the four fighters who set up his brother. The lead has no charisma or maybe he's not really the lead. The overall acting skill level is bad. There are plenty of fights but I couldn't tell you who's who. All I know is four forgettable names in the kill list. Everything else is a confused blur. This is a bad B-movie. It runs out of steam by the thirty minutes mark if not sooner. The movie should start with getting the four kidnapped and then Brick can give his exposition. The acting remains bad but the story gets a bit clearer if not more reasonable.

What's to say except it's garbage. The sound effects on the kicks and punches was generic and off. The plot is ridiculous and overused. There is nothing new or impressive out this movie. I love Mathews in Friday the 13th Jason lives but the dialogue was atrocious. Skip it.

Now I do recall seeing this film a long time ago, but I was beginning to forget the absolute awesome cheese this flick brought to my eyes, so of course, like any action junkie, I watched this film again. Bloodmatch (released a couple years after Cyborg) stars Thom Mathews as Brick Bardo, a man on a mission to avenge his dead brother.

In my eyes this is a strange mix of Kickboxer and Bloodfist, with an additional revenge plot that comes along for the ride. Despite the obvious budget and not-so-competent dialogue, Bloodmatch is definitely full of action scenes from start to finish. (Remember those "repeat hits" in films where a punch for example is shown three times, with three different angles? Pyun takes this and turns it up to 11.)

Besides the action, the rest of the cast has some notable action stars alongside the main star- this includes Andy Sidaris regular Hope Marie Carlton, legend Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, Thunderwolf, Dale Jacoby, and even Michel Qissi.

In conclusion, is this Bloodsport? No. Is it a truly good movie? No. But does it hold itself up with true 90s cheese that can't be replicated? Hell yes.

Final rating is a 6/10.. I recommend watching if you're into cheesy or crappy movies, and don't act like a wannabe Roger Ebert.

With Benny "The Jet" Urquidez filming the fight scenes and playing a part in the movie, I expected more. I've seen him do some great things in other films, but this one left me wondering. It's a revenge film filled with great martial artists, but it sure didn't turn out to be a great film. Very few of the actors/actresses could actually act and the fighting left a lot to be desired. There were a few good fight scenes, but overall this strange, low-budget effort fell short. See it only if you can't sleep. Rating 5/10