‘Where can I find these people you mention, who construct?’
In the aftermath of the atomic war, only a band of fighters called the Rangers attempt to stand against the chaos. Disillusioned with the violence necessary to keep order, one of them joins a group trying to build a peaceful future…
More Post-Apocalyptic fun times from co-directors Joe D’Amato and George Eastman. Signing up for this cut-price ‘Mad Max’ workout are actors Harrison Muller and Al Cliver.
Civilisation has collapsed in the wake of an atomic war, leaving a wasteland overrun with marauding gangs and warlords. The remnants of the Texas Rangers attempt to protect the innocent, intervening when bandits attack a makeshift church. During the mayhem, one of the Rangers, Catch Dog (Daniel Stephen), attempts to rape the pretty blonde survivor, Maida (Sabrina Siani). His colleague, Nisus (Cliver), intervenes, and their commander, Jab (Muller), throws Stephen out of the group. Siani persuades Cliver to abandon his life of violence and join a permanent settlement that is generating its own energy.
Sometime later, Cliver has established himself as one of the community’s leaders. He and Siani also have a young daughter, Kezia (Isabella Rocchietta). However, the colony is in the crosshairs of The Black One (Donald O’Brien) and his private army of troops and bikers, known as the New Order. Led by ex-Ranger Stephen, they attack the settlement and take over, reducing the population to slaves. Fortunately, Muller and what remains of his Rangers are still on duty and decide to take a hand.
In the wake of the global success of ‘Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior’ (1981), several similar projects landed on the shelves of high street Video Home Rental stores, courtesy of the Italian film industry. Some were blatant knock-offs of the Mel Gibson juggernaut, but others sneaked into the frame thanks to broadly similar Post-Apocalyptic credentials and creative titles. This film is one of the latter breed, having more in common with a survivalist drama than a ride down desert highways dodging guys with Mohicans and feathers.
Indeed, there’s very little to qualify this as a science fiction film at all beyond an alleged Post-Apocalyptic setting that has left the countryside a surprisingly healthy shade of green. Stephen has a strange-looking gun that makes a bit of a funny noise, and Muller briefly drives a dune buggy that qualifies as a bit futuristic because it’s got a silver paint job. The subsequent chase with bikers in pursuit barely lasts a minute but features very early on in the film’s trailer. For anyone looking for ‘Mad Max’ comparisons, that’s about it.
Many Post-Apocalyptic action films owe a significant debt to the Western, but this one is more blatant than most. Not only does the initial attack on the settler’s community evoke memories of a cavalry fort under siege, but Muller and his band of heroes eventually ally with a tribe of Native Americans living in the woods! Of course, this is only possible after Ranger Halakron (Peter Hooten) has defeated the tribe’s leading warrior in a ritualistic knife fight lifted straight from 1950s Hollywood. Joining up with these locals proves to be the turning point in their conflict with the New Order. O’Brien’s forces have mastery in combat because they are armed with bulletproof shields, but fortunately, a letterbox was incorporated into the design, so they are not arrow-proof. Perhaps O’Brien should ask for a refund from the manufacturer.
The film’s Western roots are further betrayed by a scene where Muller and Hooten penetrate O’Brien’s camp, and find themselves in the local watering hole. This is nothing less than an old-style frontier saloon, the only difference being that the game here is not poker, but Russian Roulette. In scenes obviously inspired by ‘The Deer Hunter’ (1978), Muller joins the game, only to provoke a fight. The subsequent arrests are made by, you guessed it, an older guy wearing a Tin Star. It’s nice to know that there are still job openings for a reliable Sheriff after the apocalypse.
The action is mainly restricted to gun battles, spiced up with some hand-to-hand combat, and it’s all staged competently enough, with Ranger Red Wolfe (Hal Yamanouchi) demonstrating a few good moves. The production’s only real surprise is a story development around the half-hour mark, which is unusual enough to prompt the notion that it may have been necessitated by some practical issue rather than being a creative choice on the part of the filmmakers. The film is far bloodier than most of its contemporaries, with many a stuntman wired with a squib as he bites the dust. There’s also more casual nudity than usual, with a good number of topless shots reflecting director D’Amato’s parallel career in the adult entertainment industry. He had more directorial pseudonyms than the most committed of identity thieves, running up almost 200 credits in a career of just over a quarter of a century.
The results of his labours are serviceable here if you’re not too critical, but it’s fair to say that the film has more than its share of flaws. When there has to be dialogue, it’s often awkward and clunky, and the script does feel as if it’s been assembled without due care or attention. The narrative makes a couple of time jumps, which aren’t sufficiently demonstrated, and the early scenes in the settlement are likely to raise the odd giggle. Cliver has become its de facto leader, and no one else is remotely capable of doing anything without him. When their mysterious energy source is on the verge of exploding, only Cliver knows what to do, and only he can enter the room with ‘the switches that must be turned off’ to save the day. Honestly, I don’t know how they managed to last a day before he joined them.
D’Amato’s partner in crime here was George Eastman, real name Luigi Montefiori, who also worked on the script. To lovers of cult cinema, the 6′ 6¾″ giant is likely far more familiar for his work in front of the camera than behind it. Although he only directed one other film, ‘Metamorphosis’ (1990), he has writing credit on more than 40 films. Beginning in Spaghetti Westerns, including ‘Keoma’ (1976) starring Franco Nero, his work ranged from Sergio Martino’s ‘The Great Alligator/Il fiume del grande caimano’ (1979) to ‘Porno Holocaust (1981), in which he starred with an uncredited D’Amato in support, to disposable action flicks like Duccio Tessari’s ‘Beyond Justice’ (1991). As an actor, he brought his physicality and charisma to witchcraft horror ‘Baba Yaga’ (1973) with Carroll Baker and Mario Bava’s kidnap drama ‘Rabid Dogs/Cani arrabbiati’ (1974), among many other titles. But he’s probably best remembered for his Post-Apocalytic adventures as Big Ape in ‘2019: After the Fall of New York’ (1983) and as the psychotic One in ‘The New Barbarians/I nuovi barbari/Warriors of the Wasteland (1983).
If you keep your expectations pretty low, you might not be disappointed.
Mark David Welsh 