Wit's End

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.

Dave Dearborn (Tom Keena) Vietnam veteran, free-lance journalist, and mercenary, is operating a discotheque aboard a ramshackle junk plying Singapore's harbor, when he receives an offer to investigate a probable defection of a scientist from Communist China. An overly complicated storyline depicts Dave taking the assignment because Chinese "businessman" Mr. Lim may have his claws into the defector in order to vend his expertise to the highest bidder, assisted by Lim's mistress Mai Lee (Vicki Racimo) for whom Dave carries a torch from their former affair. In the course of searching for the missing researcher, Dave becomes entangled with and beds several avidly willing females, while other bodies of the deceased sort pile up following a string of shootings, and we are given a surfeit of material detailing Dearborn's past as a cocaine addict, murderer for hire, and undercover homosexual! Filming is in Singapore, completed in 1971, but the piece was not released until Troma, a company specializing in exploitation features, offered it in 1984; there is, therefore, some interest within the production for its footage along the city's Orchid Road, Sago Lane and, in particular, Bugis Street with its swarms of transvestites, all given the kindness of being cleaned by the regime of Lee Yuan Lew subsequent to the movie's completion. Aside from this historic significance, little remains of value as the picture suffers from pronounced flaws in continuity and logic, in addition to generally shabby production values under the direction of schlockmeister Joel Reed, with a cast of largely, and thankfully, unknowns. Racimo is an able actress but here is wasted, as during one rather fantastic scene when, after her character dispatches her current squire by shooting him to death, including a close range finishing shot to the head, she then gives in to the demands of lust with Keena's character, the pair thrashing about amid four recently slain evildoers; there is precious little by way of interpretation that can be provided in such an instance.

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

G.I. Executioner (1971)

1/2 (out of 4)

Awful "action" film has a journalist (Tom Keena) in Singapore getting asked to investigate a Chinese scientist and soon he runs into some dirty agents and mobsters.

This film was originally released as WIT'S END but I seriously doubt too many people saw it until Troma released it over a decade later under the current title. I'm not exactly sure why Troma bothered with it but I'm going to guess that they were trying to cash-in on director Joel M. Reed's name since he became quite infamous after BLOODSUCKING FREAKS. This movie here isn't nearly in the same league and this here can only be called a flat-out disaster from start to finish.

I'm not sure where to start but I guess we'll begin with the plot, which never makes any sense and you go from one scene to the next not really knowing what's going on. There were countless times within the first 30-minutes where I was confused so I just turned my brain off but things never got any better. The editing and performances are all rather bad as is the direction, which just lacks any flair. The worst thing is that there's really no action or fun sequences to keep you entertained. The highlight is one sequence where a nude woman shoots some bad guys and we get some hilarious slow-motion deaths.

Those wanting to check out what Reed was doing before BLOODSUCKING FREAKS might want to check this out but the rest will want to stay clear.