Wit's End

GI Executioner is a low budget, pretty boring and forgettable action movie shot on location in Singapore. The director is Joel Reed, who directed one of my favorite cult horror films( Bloodsucking Freaks). While still a pretty sleazy movie, this movie is mostly a snooze fest, low on action with a convoluted plot that's all over the place. GI Executioner later got picked up by Troma for the home video market and I am sure only because this is a Joel Reed film. The overall quality of the film is low, the leading actor is alright, but there is little in the way of excitement. I would not say that this is unwatchable, but I wish I chose a better movie to end my day.

My review was written in February 1985 after a screening at Selwyn theater on Manhattan's 42nd St.

Though purportedly in its New York debut (hence this review for the record), "The G. I. Executioner" is actually an entertaining low-budget vault item, having been rated by the MPAA way back in 1971 under the title "Wit's End" (that tille is retained in a theme song played twice). Picture was previously handled under the title "Dragon Lady" by Joseph Green Pictures for distribution, apparently quite limited, and is now a Troma pickup with new moniker.

Falling comfortably within the Far East, Soldier of Fortune format, pic toplines Tom Keena as Dave Dearborn, an ex-Marine who later excelled at undercover journalistic assignments in the 1960s in Saigon and elsewhere. Now running a restaurant aboard a junk in Singapore, he is tapped to track down a defecting Red Chinese nuclear scientist (experimenting with antimatter) who may have been kidnapped by the Triad Tong. Key suspect is gangster Lim Tok Sing whose current Chinese concubine Foon Mai Lee (Victoria Racimo, is a ex-girlfriend of Dearborn's. Also helping out on the case is sexy stripper Bonnie (Angelique Pettyjohn), while the oversexed Dearborn dallies with his current main squeeze (Janet Wood) whom he calls his "niece".

Nutty foreign intrigue plot (sue enough, the bd guy turns out to be Deaborn's old nemesis from Saigon) is hampered by use of stiff, nonactors in minor roles, but "Executioner" develops a certain charm with its old-fashioned B-film cliches, to which modern ultra-violence and sex have been added. Weird plot turns and melodramatic elements in later reels prove to be entertaining in campy fashion, though dance scenes, hairstyles, etc., have become dated.

Keena, who combines John Garfeld's chip-on-shoulder attitude with a voice resembling that of Gene Kelly, is an interesting, tortured film noir hero, though he hams up his injured and death scenes laughably in the final reel. The cast's leading ladies are beautiful, in and out of clothing, but Victoria Racimo is not in the least bit Chinese in a role played straight ahead with no makeup. In an odd coincidence, statuesque costar Angelique Pettyjohn has a new film of hers "The Lost Empire" open the same day as this one on 42nd St. In New York, nearly bookending a career which ranges from guest starring on "Star Trek" to hardcore porn.

Location lensing in Singapore ofers plentiful local color, but tech credits are subpar.

Dave Dearborn (Tom Keena, the most improbable action hero if ever there was one) is a journalist in Singapore on a assignment on a crime boss. He's soon awash with dealings with strippers, nuclear scientists, CIA operatives, and large-toothed mobsters (among others). The acting all around is atrocious, the plot, for lack of a better term, is a mess, the "hero" throughly unconvincing by any stretch of the imagination, and Janet Wood is the extremely unwanted love smitten girl who hangs on to Dave, all are rancid ingredients that torpedo this movie to the lower regions of cinema where all the other unwatchable turds dwell. Oh and if one were to edit out all the padding that the movie has it would be half an hour shorter at the least.

My Grade: D-

Eye Candy: Janet Wood shows her breasts; Angelique Pettyjohn provides the T&A; and Victoria Racimo shows everything

There's so much wrong with this film but your enjoyment of it really depends on how bad you like your films....And i loved this one.I can't argue with the poor acting,rubbish sets,exotic but grubby locations or the cheapness of it all,but it has a certain quality that lovers of "poor" films will find in perfect viewing.Some of the situations and characters that Dave Deerborn gets involved with are pure exploitation cinema and intentional or not amusing as hell!..Throw in(a naked)gun toting Angelique Pettyjohn and that screechy soundtrack song and it's all good in my book!DVD picture quality from Troma Films could be a lot better unfortunately.

Wit's end is a 1971 action movie and made by a notorious low budget director named Joel M. Reed. It is an action movie, but the action sequences are quite rare, with the rest of the movie being mostly just talking. The action in the movie is kind of fun, but The plot of the movie is pretty incoherent, hard to follow, and sometimes slow. The main character is a good protagonist, and the rest of the characters are mostly average. It clearly had a low budget, so if you like low grade b-actioners, then this might be your thing. Overall, it was low budget, incoherent, and boring at times, but it was also sometimes a bit fun. 4/10.