DEATH
MACHINES(1976)Director: Paul Kyriazi
Rhino Home Video
DEATH
MACHINES(1976)It has always intrigued me how exploitation film companies produced movies beyond their respective cycles. In the case of DEATH MACHINES, the kung-fu cycle had been for the most part over by its 1976 release. I imagine that is why the poster and advertising art depict what looks like a sci-fi horror film versus what it is, a karate-assassin-mob film.
A wiseguy named "Mr. G"
is trying to knock off some associates who forgot that he is pulling their strings.
As the assassinations are about to take place, mysterious men (an Asian, African
American and a Caucasian) dressed in black gym outfits interrupt the assassinations
by killing the assassins! Its all a scam by a secretive organization who has
created these unstoppable mystery men or "Death Machines" with drugs.
Indeed bullets cannot stop them, nor can furniture or any other heavy items
thrown at them. The organization wants to be Mr. G's exclusive assassination
service, and prove their abilities by delivering the head of his driver to him
during dinner! Believing in an eye for an eye, Mr. G's promptly shoots one of
their waiters, citing t
he
need to "keep things even."
The Death Machines go after their first victim, the head of a karate school. You have not lived until you see an ENTIRE class of karate students run like scared deer when the three killers break through their dojo. I always thought martial arts were supposed to teach you confidence? Well not at this school! While some students attempt to stop the killers, most are dispatched easily as they try to beat a hasty retreat out the door. One student named Steven has his arm cut off from the elbow! He is the only survivor of the Death Machines attack.
In
the hospital under police guard (one cop at the door) Steven is recuperating
and understandably bitter about the loss of his arm. The Death Machines are
sent to silence the only survivor, the but the cop guarding his room shoots
one in the head, actually stopping him. The other two leave and the cops set
out to interrogate the injured assassin. He escapes from the police station
(in a good action sequence) and works his way back to secret headquarters.
Here things get a little slooooow...
Steven has vowed vengeance on
the Death Machines for taking his arm, and warns the police that "they
better find them first." We later find that this isn't a very credible
statement,
since Steven gets the crap kicked out of him at the bar he works at, in a completely
unrelated incident. No wonder he was taking karate.
By chance he sees the killers, and has his girlfriend call the police as he follows them for the climatic showdown. I won't give away the ending, but Steven has to hold the record for getting his butt kicked more times in one movie than any other.
Like most action films from this era, the films starts out fast paced and exciting, but really bogs in the middle, but picks up in time for the all too familiar climax.
Rhino's
presentation of "Death Machines" is full screen, with the exception
of the credits. The film element is almost flawless. You'd swear this was shot
yesterday, if it weren't for the porkchop sideburns, gratuitous nudity, loud
suits and huge Buicks on the screen. I'd given anything to see this at the drive-in
back during its original release. Interestingly, the end credits never appear
on the screen, even though there is a freeze frame of the killers and the theme
music plays in the background. Weird.
The DVD also includes the trailer, which is worth the cost of the DVD itself! It too is in perfect condition. "Where murder is no longer a crime, but a job" announces the narrator, trying to sell the film as a futuristic thriller.
I enjoyed DEATH MACHINES and applaud Rhino for their presentation of it. If only it were in widescreen too. (Mark Suggs)