Low Blow (1986)

Pretty Good

Don't Believe the Hype

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Leo Fong play Joe Wong a detective who is hired by a rich man to rescue his daughter from a religious cult headed by Cameron Mitchell. Somewhere just past silly this is a film with not very good action. There are times when you'll be laughing too hard at the alleged fight scenes that you may bang your head on the chair in front of you. The film opens with Fong thwarting a robbery in a local diner because he's bored. After killing all the bad guys he saunters out saying that the cook should forget his sandwich. I don't know what to say this is a really silly movie. If you want a silly action film give it a try, otherwise there are better ways to spend your time. (It should be pointed out that action stalwart and work out guru Billy Blanks who is listed in the promotional material on some of the DVD cases and is toward the top of the cast list here on IMDb, has little more than a glorified walk on as a camp guard.)

This movie reeks of 1980s, straight-to-video action: zero budget special effects, "filler" action sequences and some utterly loony acting. It may sound bizarre, but those are also the very reasons why I enjoy this film so much.In comparison the action movies of today, Low Blow seems positively wholesome. There is not much blood, no sex and the emphasis is more on fist fighting than high-tech weaponry. However, the film is never boring. The action is fairly constant and there are occasional touches of humour along the way.Leo Fong plays private detective, Joe Wong. Joe is hired to find a missing rich girl, Karen. Karen not only has a very unattractive hairstyle but is also completely moronic, as evidenced by her falling in with one of the most ridiculous cults ever depicted on film - complete with a black sheet wearing blind guru and a crazy woman played by real life Ghanian princess Akosua Busia. Leo Fong's dead-pan delivery and no frills martial arts style suit his character perfectly. A special mention must be given to Akosua who turns in the most ludicrous performance of her career.After having his butt kicked trying to infiltrate the compound, Joe realises that he needs assistance taking out the wackos and naturally enough, decides to hold a tough man contest to find some extra muscle. The scenes of the contest are some of my favourite in the movie. The fights are brief but varied and amusing. I particularly liked the wrestlers and the bizarre iron lady with the blond mullet. The film then comes to its rather predictable climax with some fun action and a good dose of humour.

On the box this movie reads "Hit hard, hit first and hit with a LOW Blow". Well, after watching this movie I felt that I had been hit with a low blow. This movie is shocking. The acting is truly abominable and the attempts at humour really are pathetic. The absolute worst part of the movie however, has to be the soundtrack. There is constant soloing guitars playing in the background and there is no relief from it. I felt like my head was going to explode from all the pent up pressure before the movie finally finished.Unless you're into bizarre forms of torture, don't watch this movie. I watched it when I was drunk and it was still bad. I'd shudder to think what it would have been like if I was sober...

I own a collection of Beta videotapes with recordings I made back in the mid- to late-1980s. I've been watching through them and I came upon a volume that led off with something called "Low Blow". For the life of me I couldn't remember anything about this movie. Why did I record it? The third name listed on the opening credits told me. I had a thing for Akosua Busia back in the day.The first name listed, Leo Fong, told me to expect some sort of chopsocky effort. Sorry for the stereotype. The first scene proved me wrong of sorts. It is an unintentional comedy.Leo's character, Joe Wong, notices something amiss at the local greasy spoon. Three perps, armed with shotguns and the like, are holding up the joint. Joe, like any sane person, tucks his handgun in the back of his pants, strides in there and proclaims "Where's my ham sandwich?!". Naturally after that he soon gets the drop on all three and bang! bang! bang! problem solved.Next scene is the obligatory chewing out by the brass at the police station. Here is a prime example of "Low Blow"'s greatest weakness of which there are many. Mr. Fong's total lack of screen writing skill. I'd be hard pressed to think of any scene with dialogue lasting more than a minute of two. Here the cops make their empty threats. Joe responds with the excruciatingly wrong-headed "I save a couple of lives in there.", takes back his gun and heads out the door.It turns out Joe is not even a rogue cop but a private eye! To describe him, he's got a hang-dog expression that Mr. Fong steadfastly refuses to change throughout the movie. The lone exception is when he splays a malevolent grin while whacking the baddies' Mercedes with a 2x4. He's built more like a truck driver than an athlete. And he's old. I pegged to be in his 40s but Mr. Fong is 10 years older. His office is a pig sty as is his home that from all appearances is located near the municipal dump.One day on the mean streets of San Francisco, wealthy businessman John Templeton (alright Troy Donahue!) witnesses Joe handily dispatch a couple of yahoos who had mugged a purse off an old lady. Then and there Mr. Templeton decides that Joe is his man to rescue his daughter from a religious cult.It seems she has given up all her worldly possessions to follow the word of Yarakunda (you think I'm making this up?) played by a heavily-sedated Cameron Mitchell. But the real power is held by Yarakunda's right-hand girl, Karma (Busia). She holds the flock in a compound surrounded by armed guards led by Billy Blanks of "Tai-Bo" fame to keep them in and strangers out. Busia gives the most over-the-top performance I have seen. She chews scenery like the bag of candy she always carrying.After visiting, and escaping from the compound, Joe decides on a plan. Put together a motley crew to infiltrate the compound. The switch-blade fighter from the barrio, Sticks the numchuck expert, a huge mound of lumpenflesch named Fuzzy, a boxer even older than Joe, etc. Together they'll take on machine gun-wielding men. Of course, in these types of movies the enemy is always utterly incompetent. There's even a showdown between Blanks and Fong that almost reaches the absurdity of John Cusack vs. Benny "the Jet" Urquidez in "Grosse Pointe Blank".Well now I know why Akosua Busia flamed out after the Color Purple. That always brings me tears, "Low Blow" brought me tears of laughter.