The Farmer

A passion project for producer / star Gary Conway ("I Was a Teenage Frankenstein", 'Burkes' Law'), "The Farmer" casts him as the title character, otherwise known as Kyle Martin. Kyle is a WWII hero, just returned home, who intends to run the family farm, which is not seen as profitable by the local bank. They would rather foreclose. Then one night, a gambler named Johnny O'Neal (Michael Dante, "Winterhawk") has a car accident on the road, and Kyle saves his life. Johnny sends his gal pal Betty (gorgeous Angel Tompkins, "The Teacher") to gift Kyle with $1,500 for the good deed, but of course it's not enough for the bank. Johnny subsequently gets blinded by vindictive mobsters, and he gives Kyle a proposal: rub out the mobsters, and he can walk away with a cool $50 thousand. Kyle initially refuses, but inevitably changes his mind.

A "lost" film for many years, this only debuted on home video this year. So, was the wait to see this flick worth it? Well, this viewer wouldn't really consider it a *classic* of its genre, but it serves as good, straightforward entertainment - albeit with a nasty edge to it. One thing is for sure: the bad guys / intended victims in this saga do have it coming to them. Although the main mobster is a guy named Passini (George Memmoli ("Phantom of the Paradise"), looking relatively svelte), the worst of the bunch is a dude appropriately named Weasel. Played by the late, great Timothy Scott ("The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez"), Weasel is as despicable as they come.

Conway is just okay as a rather stoic, unemotional character, although the opening sequence sets him up well as a man of honor, who doesn't want to see a black fellow serviceman get disrespected. Still, he makes for a memorable image here, with his hat, shades, and stogie almost constantly clamped between his teeth. Tompkins and Dante are good in support; Memmoli makes the most of his one big scene. Sonny Shroyer ('The Dukes of Hazzard'), Johnny Popwell ('Deliverance'), and Eric Weston (the future director of the horror film "Evilspeak") co-star.

Granted, some of the dialogue is pretty lame, even if four credited people worked on this script, including story author George Fargo. And the music score was inconsistent - sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. At least the songs are pretty nice. And the script *does* work in an amusing surprise near the end, so it wasn't *entirely* predictable.

If you love exploitation cinema of the 70s, or a decent, no-nonsense revenge feature, you'll likely have a good time with this one.

Seven out of 10.

Ever since I started with a must-see tracking list, which must have been in 2005 already, "The Farmer" is on spot #1 there. Other titles came and went, based on how easily they were available, but this one always remained. I searched endlessly and around the world for a half-decent copy on VHS, because it didn't seem as if it was ever getting released on DVD or BluRay, but even those quests were fruitless. I must have watched the trailer a hundred times via YouTube, and suddenly now - and quite unexpectedly - the film that over time became my ultimate Holy Grail of exploitation cinema is available in near-perfect picture and sound quality. What a fabulous momentum!

Now, my enthusiasm and ginormous expectations shouldn't influence my review and rating, right? Well, duh... of course it does! In my heart, I already gave this film a flawless 10/10 rating before I even pressed the play-button, so you probably shouldn't look for an objective review here. And yet, in all sincerity, "The Farmer" truly and genuinely is a fantastic drama/thriller. I would say it's one of the best in its kind, but the film is very different to categorize. Most logical would be to label "The Farmer" as a typically raw and gritty '70s revengeploitation/Vietsploitation thriller, kind of like "Rolling Thunder" or "The Zebra Force", except this one takes place after World World II.

Veteran Kyle Martin returns home from the war with a Silver Medal for bravery, but he doesn't have any reason to be joyful. While he was away, his father fell ill and died, and the family farm is in so much debt that the bank puts it up for sale. Kyle saves the life of a sly gambler, but the reward isn't enough to pay the debt. The gambler then offers him a change to earn $50,000 by wiping out a local crime organization. He initially refuses, but when the gangsters rape Kyle's new girlfriend and set fire to his barn, it becomes personal.

Admittedly the first hour of "The Farmer" is a bit slow-paced, but nonetheless very atmospheric and oozing with foreboding suspense. The film steadily builds up towards an extremely violent and harsh last half hour, as well as a totally unexpected but brilliant end-twist. Honestly, the climax is so awesome and something you really don't expect in a type of story like this. The performances are great, notably by Gary Conway and Angel Tompkins, there's a great crooner soundtrack, and a few shockingly bloody moments. Fantastic film, now that I've seen it I can die a happy man (although preferably just in fifty years, or so...)

If action packed violent movies is your thing then this movie is the one for you, unfortunately it was never released in video or dvd or even beta format. Yes the originals are still locked up in Columbia pics movie vaults. I saw this movie in the theatres in 1977 when I was 17 years old, and loved it. Kyle Martin played by Gary Conway is a retired war veteran turned Farmer, who finds out that money is short to pay the mortage on the farm. He turns to the mafia boss,Michael Dante, I believe, who pays Conway money to rid himself of a few rival enemies. Which Conway does just that with plenty of bullets blood and gore. The fact that this movie just missed an X rating from all the graphic violence is not odd, but that of the one liners that Conway spits out each time he offs a bad guy. One seen Conway is under a car waiting for a bad guy and when he walks up to get in has his feet blown completly off by a sawed-off shot gun. Conway comments "you won't be going any where soon" as he wastes him yet again at point blank range sending the body flying across the parking garage. Every thing is rare about this movie, from the movie posters to the LP sound track. It probably won't ever be released in video due to the graphic violent content contained therein. America is just not ready for such action as this one dishes out. David Berlatsky directs and Gary Conway helped produced. It make me wonder where they thought this film would eventually go to as obscure as it is. Still is and always will be one of my favorite action in its genre of all time. Write me if you know of where a copy may exist! ;^)

I saw The Farmer (Aka "Blazing Revenge") at a theater in Tokyo, Japan with my Japanese girlfriend back then. I was stationed at NAF Atsugi. The movie was great. I remember the beginning of the movie with the returning WWII hero (Kiel Martin) on a train. There was a black soldier who was being given a hard time over a drink because of his race. Kiel Marin stepped in, big fight, etc....from that point you knew he was an honorable, courageous and no nonsense kind of guy. After they take his land, burn his house, attack his girlfriend, killed his friend...it is time to go kick some ass. And he does big time. I have searched high and low for this movie the better part of 30 years. Still searching. I imagine if I got to see it today...it would possibly appear corny by today's standards for revenge flicks. Not sure, but maybe I am better off with the memories. Lastly, the star, Mr. Gary Conway is still going strong at 80 plus and owns a winery in CA. Why this movie is locked away is beyond me.

I recently watched The Farmer after it was, very briefly, posted on YouTube. I had been wanting to see the film since I read a negative review for it twenty some years ago. The print was rather poor, but beggars can't be choosy.

I have seen all six Death Wish movies, both Exterminator films, both Get Carter movies, plus about a dozen other revenge films. My favorites are Rolling Thunder and the original Get Carter, the ending of which The Farmer borrows (with admittedly a slightly different outcome). I like revenge movies, but The Farmer was just so-so.

The plot has Kyle Martin (Gary Conway), a Silver Star winning WWII veteran, returning from the war to find his family farm about to be auctioned. He needs money fast. The farmer's life changes after he rescues a gambler (Michael Dante) from a car wreck. The two men take a shine to each other. Later, when the gambler is blinded by the local (Atlanta?) criminal machine, the gambler offers the farmer a deal. He will give Martin enough money to save his farm if the farmer kills the goons.

The shootouts and revenge scenes were grim, bloody, and exciting, but those were almost all in the last half-hour. What wore me down was the first half of the movie with its arty montages of farm life as Gene Clark plays in the background. Plus, in spite of having four writers, the film did not do that good of job at setting things up. All the bonding time the farmer and the gambler apparently had to justify the latter calling on the former to become a hitman is not in the film. Also missing is all of the set-up for the romance between the farmer and the gangster's moll (the lovely Angel Thompkins), who seems all too happy to give up her fast life to chase chickens around a farmyard.

The filmmakers seem unsure of what kind of movie they are making. The Gene Clark songs and much of the opening suggests a period rural drama. It is also a gangster film and, at the end, a revenge film. Its odd structure reminds me a little of another film, Framed with Joe Don Baker, which begins as a movie about gamblers, becomes a prison flick, and also ends a revenge movie. However, the structure of Framed seems deliberate while The Farmer feels a bit confused about what it wants to be.

Is The Farmer worth watching? Yes, providing one has reasonable expectations. However, had the film been released on VHS tape by Columbia in the early 1980's, I don't think its cult would have been as strong. Had I saw The Farmer as a young man, around the same time I saw Young Warriors (a revenge film I champion), I might have more nostalgia for it, but I think I still would have preferred Young Warriors. Regardless, The Farmer has come a little late in my film viewing life for it to stand out.