Coeur d'acier

Stars Bruce Davison (X-men), David Naughton (An American Werewolf In London), and Claire Wren as the rape victim/suicide turned killer cyborg. The story is rather unsettling, especially the way it careens back and forth between the dark revenge scenes, over to some fascinating comic bits (such as the forensic scientist who starts to enjoy the creativity of the murders), to dealing with Davison's character, who seems more like a robot than the robot. Perhaps it is unsettling because juxtapositions like that are so often a hallmark of real life as it is lived. The viewer really is kept in suspense about how the next victim will be claimed, and I defy anyone to guess all the deaths correctly beforehand. The dialogue verges on self-parody at times, and elements of several other flicks from Blade Runner to Robocop are borrowed with little attempt at disguise. Yet it all hangs together somehow, perhaps it is the thread of bad romance. A quirky gem.

I went into Steel and Lace (original title "Lady Lazarus" more creative if less of a good sell for VHS) expecting to make a hackneyed "well, how about that Promising Young Cyborg! Huyuck" line, and quickly realized that with Bruce Davison as really the one pulling much of the Sordid and Ultra-Violent Revenge strings this could actually be on a double feature with Ben (1971), which was his breakout role also out for payback (I saw that pretty recently so it's still on my mind). This would likely make the bottom half of the bill, however, as, aside from Davison being in too little of the movie to be we'll defined past basic lines, when the movie isn't having our hard cheekboned blonde badass Wren slaughtering these late 80s-cum-early 90s wannabe Patrick Bateman West coast jerks all but tearing them new a-holes (at least one of the effects sequences comes close to that), we have too much time with (sadly) dull Detective David Naughton not stopping the determined young former Courtroom sketch artist Alison (Haiduk) getting too close to the 5 years gone comeuppance crimes.

That part of the movie isn't entirely bad persay, but it feels draggy and the filmmakers don't do much to make us interested in these two and the very vague sense that they may have a relationship. The real meat of the movie is this vendetta with Davison as the brother of this woman who leaped to her death only to resurrect her and robo-Frankenstein a way for her to not only go in and completely and (believably) all too easily seduce these chodes to their gruesome ends, even as the how of Davison's character managing to... *do* all of this is meant to be explained away by "hey, five years," albeit a soggy exposition dump not being here is kind of nice. Who needs an explanation when good time can be spent with a this Femme Fatale model 001 dispensing justice?;

I think a slightly balsier movie would've had more moral wrangling with the court sketch woman, and Haiduk decent enough in the part she could probably do it. I don't think the director and writers are that interested in depth so much as moving things along so we can get from one set piece to another. In that sense it's also inevitable to compare this to I Spit on Your Grave, though thank God this is more exciting than that. It doesn't do a whole lot to distinguish itself as far as most technical scope aside from the special effects (though director Farino comes from that background), and even in a restored blu ray it looks fairly cheap and drab, but... look it - sometimes seeing a head coming bloodily off a body with what's left of the spine acting as a flailing decrepit member (intentionally? Not? I dunno my Freudian reading of it) is enough for me to give a solid recommendation.

Coming hot off the heels of The Terminator and RoboCop. Steel and Lace is another B-Grade cyborg film. This time with a twist it is a female killer getting revenge on yuppie rapists.

The plot is ridiculous, but at least it is original. Clare Wren puts in a great and surprisingly nasty performance. Mainly B-Movie veteran David Naughton is also class. Drawing influence from slasher films there are some gory deaths, but nothing you haven't seen before.

This film is hampered by its budget. Sparse uninspiring sets, dodgy special effects and boring action scenes. The real letdown is an insipid script with workman like dialogue that just drives the plot forward. There's no pizzazz or sparkle like in a Walter Hill script.

The unfortunate thing is I have seen elements of the same thing done better elsewhere. In Hong Kong action cinema you have B-Movie, Black Cat (1991) about a cyborg female assassin while not a masterpiece it delivers on action or the delerious and sexy, Robotrix. Loads of much better Rape & Revenge films Ms. 45, A Gun For Jennifer, even Dirty Weekend is more fun.

The Blu-ray has a slightly subdued colour palette, but is as good as it gets. Also gains a point for great cover art.

I've seen quite a few good b-type horror movies - unfortunately, this isn't one of them. In fact, if it wasn't for Stacy Haiduk, this film would be a complete waste of time. The plot as you've probably guessed is pretty simple: a fairly attractive concert pianist gets gang-rapped in a dark alley, the bad guys get acquitted in court and the victim kills herself in effect. Her brother, a scientist and specialist in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, brings his sister back to "life" five years later, turns her into a deadly cyborg - programmed on revenge. The story line hasn't got any exciting twists to it - the rapists go down one by one and even the splatter scenes are hardly imaginative. The performances of most actors involved are average at best, yet some are well below. Especially Clare Wren in her role as Final Exterminator (German title) isn't able to carry the movie. However, there is a ray of light: Alison (played by the gorgeous and most talented Stacy Haiduk), the sketch artist who was present at the trial, turns out to be an interesting character that is fun to watch as she gets involved in the investigation of the strange killings when she reviews her former work for a new book. She's the reason why I enjoyed watching this movie after all.

I first saw this movie in 1991...pretty much the same time it was released to video store. It was a little too violent for me back then and made me a bit uncomfortable (I was just a kid). I just watched it again (I bought the tape through Amazon)...and I have to admit that it has stood up pretty well. It is a rather dark story but it has some rather interesting and creative kill scenes. Also watch for the forensic detective...he has some pretty funny comments about the murders. It is a pretty original movie...definitely B grade but worth a look.

7/10