Mr. No Legs

Screenwriter Jack Cowden came up with a great gimmick for this otherwise routine exploitation-action flick, which receives decent-enough direction from Ricou Browning, the man best known for playing the Creature from the Black Lagoon. It's full of consistently amusing stuff that makes it good entertainment for an hour and a half, including that classic cliche, the bar room brawl, and a scene where various thugs try to take out our title character and fail spectacularly.

Korean War veteran Ted Vollrath plays the role, and indeed, he was a paraplegic whose legs had to be amputated after he sustained serious wounds during the war. Fred / "Mr. No Legs" is the principal enforcer for a drug kingpin named D'Angelo (Lloyd Bochner, "The Lonely Lady"), and he has NOT let his disabilities get him down; rather, he's proficient at martial arts, and has a shotgun-equipped wheelchair, to boot. Two police detectives, played by Richard Jaeckel ("Grizzly") and wrestler Ron Slinker, in his only movie role, determine to take down D'Angelos' organization.

Other familiar faces such as Rance Howard ("Chinatown"), Luke Halpin ('Flipper'), and John Agar ("Tarantula") turn up in this agreeably silly and lively trash flick. The filmmaking is overall on the crude side, but Browning does know how to deliver a solid action climax as Jaeckel and Slinker and various incompetent cops pursue one of the antagonists. Due to the fact that we have a couple of familiar and reliable character actors in this thing, the acting is definitely a bit better than one might ordinarily have to tolerate. It's a hoot to see these guys here; Jaeckel and Slinker have a fairly good chemistry.

"Mr. No Legs" does get off to a great, hilarious start early on with a ridiculous fight scene playing out behind the opening credits. And it remains watchable throughout, with violence aplenty and some good laughs to be had.

Seven out of 10.

This is not the hilarious, silly exploitation freak-show that the distributor of this decent crime thriller would have you believe. The actual title of the film is "Gun Fighter," and not the silly "Mr. No Legs." The story involves a drug smuggling ring down in Florida, where corruption and disloyalty runs rampant. There is a guy they call 'No Legs,' who is anything but a clown being played for laughs. He is actually a sadistic assassin, who seems to derive great pleasure out of torturing and killing whoever gets in his way. He has these automatic machine guns built into the arms of his wheelchair, and the whole thing is quite surreal and over-the-top. The guy reminded me of Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth from "Blue Velvet;" yes, he was that ruthless and deranged. In fact he is kind of a sick bastard. I notice a lot of people search out this oddball film, hoping for some laughs, but it isn't nearly as silly as the packaging suggests. What you will get instead, is a mildly interesting crime thriller about a drug smuggling deal that goes wrong. Most of the acting was pretty decent, and it was nice to see the familiar faces of Lloyd Bochner and Beau Hopkins in such an obscure production. I do think it's a shame that the distributor felt the need to re-name it with such a silly title. If they used the real title, "Gun Fighter," it might have reached a larger audience. Recommended for fans of 70's crime films and oddball Grindhouse productions..

This is indeed a bizarre action film shot entirely in Florida about Richard Jaeckel and Ron Slinker as cops who investigate a drug smuggling ring that may have ties to the police department itself. The anti-villain in the film is a wheelchair-bound assassin named No Legs who actually has shotguns built onto the arms of the chair and shoots anyone that gets in his way. It's pretty silly for the most part, but we do have cameos by John Agar as the shady police captain, Lloyd Bochner as the criminal mastermind behind the operation, and Rance Howard and Luke Halpin as Bochner's flunkies. There's also a lengthy car chase to close the film courtesy of Joie Chitwood and the Danger Angels.

Let Mr. No Legs be a source of inspiration for all of us. Not because he's a relentless one-man killing squad, of course, but because he's the living proof that you can still chase your dreams and realize your ambitions even if you're physically disabled… Yeah right, enough with this rubbish! "The Amazing Mr. No Legs" is a totally demented – in idea as well as execution – exploitation feature with a premise that is unique and refreshing and production values looking so cheap and amateurish that you simply have to show admiration for the cast and crew. If you just imagine what these guys could have accomplished if they had a proper budget at their disposal. The titular anti-hero controls the complete drug-business of a major town and acts as judge, jury and especially executioner whenever someone screws up or tries to double-cross him. Although he hasn't got any legs (duh!), everyone fears and obeys Mr. No Legs because he's merciless, is an expert in martial arts and drives around in a heavily armored wheelchair. When the sister of a dedicated cop gets killed in a drug execution it means the start of a devastating war between the good cops, the bad drug deals…and everyone in between. The script is surprisingly convoluted and well written, but those are not the main reasons why this film will stick to your memory. It has girl-on-girl bar fights, wild shootouts, bad acting, sword fights, odd cars and virulent chases and much more. "The Amazing Mr. No Legs" is extremely violent, but never actually shocking since the effects and stunts aren't exactly convincing. Some people might take offense upon seeing the fighting sequences involving the handicapped lead character, but then again, I don't suppose easily offended people are likely to put "Mr. No Legs" on their Christmas list. The slow-motion sequence where actor Ted Vollrath demonstrates his genuine martial arts skills is literally jaw-dropping. Ever seen a guy with no legs kick someone repeatedly in the stomach? No legs!! The titular ought to be considered as one of the greatest cult icons ever: a truly menacing, bad to the bone and self-reliable villain. "Mr. No Legs" is not an easy movie to come across, but definitely worth the search.

'The Amazing Mr No Legs' is certainly a very interesting title and despite the low budget of this production, you would still be forgiven for thinking that you're in for a fun eight five minutes of entertaining exploitation. As the title suggests, the main focus is on a man with no legs. This double amputee is an enforcer for a drug lord who gets involved in a plot involving the murder of two people and ends up with the cops after him. The low budget is always obvious and the film is very amateur. There's not a lot of variety in what goes on and the film doesn't even make good use of its title character. He gets involved in a few fights and things and it's a strange sight because he has no legs but the novelty soon wears off. The gangland plot isn't that interesting either and it would seem that director Ricou Browning thought that his central gimmick would be enough for the film to fall back on. The Amazing Mr No Legs, like a lot of crime films, finishes with the common car chase - and the one here must surely be a contender for the most overlong car chase ever filmed, as it goes on and on. Overall, this might be worth a look for my fellow cult collectors; but I wasn't exactly impressed by it.