Hit List

Loving father/ ex-army hardass Jack Collins (Jan-Michael Vincent) and mob witness Frank DeSalvo (Leo Rossi) hunt down lethal underworld shooter Chris Caleek after he mistakenly kidnapped Collins son. Jan-Michael Vincent, Lance Henriksen, Charles Napier and Rip Torn are on electric form in director 'Maniac' Lustig's gritty, action-packed, hugely underrated 80s gangster shoot 'em up 'Hit List'. Grindhouse god Lustig really delivers the grisly goods, the brutal fight scenes, bloody executions are thrillingly intense, and Henriksen's hardcore hitman Caleek is a truly memorable savage! I love a violent L. A. Action thriller, and 'Hit List' is a definite keeper!

Director William Lustig's HIT LIST opens with the most audacious, astonishing funeral scene ever filmed! The scene then switches to suburbia, where Jan-Michael Vincent stars as unassuming family man Jack Collins. After a mix-up causes a ruthless mob hitman (Lance Henriksen) to mistakenly arrive at Jack's house, tragedy ensues.

This all has to do with a certain mob boss (Rip Torn), who was trying to take care of a pair of informants. Now, Collins must rescue his son from the hitman's clutches, and avenge the loss he's suffered.

HIT LIST is a simple, but satisfying crime / revenge thriller from Mr. Lustig. While Vincent is adequate in his role, it's Henriksen's maniacal character who steals the show! The final showdown is one for the books!...

It's too bad that a solid cast of character actors working with a decent genre director can't quite improve upon, or merely disguise, their lead's mumbly, slurring performance. I remember seeing the film and wondering why so much of Jan-Michael Vincent's acting was dubbed, and why there were so many single shots of him by himself, the other actors being cut in for individual lines of dialogue, etc.

According to director William Lustig, Vincent was so inebriated they oftentimes had to just prop him up in some of the master shots and let the other actors "act around" the poor guy. One scene he's even lying down on a backyard bench.

If anything, it gives Lance Henriksen more room to chew up a lot of scenery, and then, of course, there's the stunts. Lots and lots of them. This is one movie that doesn't necessarily make you disappreciate dynamic car pursuits, but the tire squealing is enough to make you don headphones and listen to good heavy metal for the duration of the chases, especially the parking structure one.

All in all, it's a watchable movie. I especially like one of Vincent's decipherable lines (one that he repeats quite a few times) "But he's got my kid!!" because he says it with about as much despair as if he'd just ran out of cigarettes.

Hit List is an action film that has enough suspense and predictability to keep you on the edge of your seat and cheering at the same time. The story is about a mistaken identity murder and kidnapping that turns Jan-Michael Vincent from caring father, to an unstoppable killing machine. Like all action movies, there are points that are totally ridiculous, but the movie as a whole was adventurous and fun. Action film fanatics are sure to enjoy.

This hide and seek drama between the police with mob witnesses and the mob hit men who want to kill them, is played for maximum excitement and maximum stunt work in "Hit List". Even though Jan-Michael Vincent and Leo Rossi have top billing, it is Lance Henriksen and Charles Napier who carry the film. Rip Torn is the mob boss who sends an unhinged Henriksen after F.B.I. witness, Rossi. When the hit goes wrong and Vincent's son is kidnapped, all hell breaks loose. Seeing Lance Henriksen selling womens shoes is worth the ticket price by itself. Throw in some intense action, while throwing out most logic, and you pretty much have the idea. .................................. - MERK