The Killing Zone (1991) Reviews

• this film takes a running jump off a cliff and walks away unscathed.

  donie17982005-12-04

  The snake. As a venomous reptile, it is quite apt to show a snake sequence in the opening credits of a film, to give at least a slight indication to the evil intentions of one of the characters before the film starts. Note to the director of Killing Zone; this mind-trick you learnt in film school, will not work in a completely budget movie, for two reasons. 1) the snake looks so plastic that you can almost see the "made in Taiwan" sticker on its tail. 2) defying all that Bill Oddy has taught us about snakes, it moves in a straight line - which has to be seen to be believed. Now to the film. I love this film because its terrible. It contains quite a few memorable quotes and scenes that will keep you smiling to yourself on long train journeys. However, I'm not sure the acting legend Deron McBee would have participated in this film if he'd known some of the goof's this director decided to include. Perhaps the funniest, is also at the beginning of the film. Our Hero, "Garret Bodine", is struggling to hold onto a rope, at the end of which dangles Bodine's Uncle (over a cliff edge). Who would do such a thing? Carmen Vasquez, thats who! If you didn't know who he was before this film, you will afterwards. He is evil personified. !Spoiler! - the plot of the whole film = Carmen Vasquez has his own brother murdered in jail, so that he can avenge his brother's death by going on a killing spree. Anyway, not even Garrett Bodine can overcome physics, and his Uncle falls to a gruesome but one would assume instant death. I'm not exaggerating in comparing the fall to one into the Grand Canyon, or Ingleton Falls in North Yorkshire. At this point, I pigeon-holed the film as a badly made, but hearty attempt at an action movie. But how wrong I was. This is a ridiculously poor attempt. But it'll make you cry with laughter. Hence, the point to my whole story. Later in the film, picture a bar scene. Apparently the bar-keep is ill-tempered. Enter said bar-man. Oooh, he walks with a limp, bet there's a great anecdote behind that. Yes there is. And you've already heard it. The bar man is none other than Garrett's Uncle. the one who fell to his death. apparently, falling from such a height "messed up his knee". Once you realise the film isn't ashamed of it's plot, you can enjoy this film- honest, "i swear by my mother's eyes".

• Low budget action thriller!

  ali6969uk2003-06-24

  This film stars Deron McBee (Malibu from American Gladiators) as the nephew of a DEA agent who is crippled by a South American drugs Lord. Deron gets to do a lot of action and shows off his tall muscular frame to good advantage in the low buget offering. Lots of gun play and hand to hand make this an OK film if you want some uncomplicated viewing. There are few surprises on offer here but i still enjoyed it. The girlfriend of Deron's character was a nicely curvacious young lady for a tall girl - pretty too! Their love scene looked quite passionate and Deron's acting was convincing. It's good to be an actor!

• Cheap, even by the genre's limited standards

  Leofwine_draca2017-09-13

  THE KILLING ZONE is a VERY cheap action thriller which is a far cry below even the kind of budget action flicks being put out by PM Entertainment during the era. The hero of the piece is a dumb blond muscle guy who was apparently a participant in the TV show GLADIATORS rather than an actor. He gets involved in the hunt for a Mexican drug lord and teams up with a maverick DEA agent to bring him down. There's some low rent action here, mainly involving a few fist fights and a shoot-out at the climax, but the whole thing is limited by the lack of money. The statuesque Melissa Moore plays the hero's girlfriend and, yes, she of course has a lengthy shower scene, a requisite for this genre at the time. Fans of the kind of cheesy junk encapsulated by SAMURAI COP might get a kick out of this.

• The Killing Zone represents a golden time in DTV - see this movie if you get the chance.

  tarbosh220002012-11-05

  Carmen Vasquez (Dalesandro) is one of the meanest and most notorious Mexican drug gangsters around. Sam Bodine (Silvestre), in a bizarre incident, was crippled by him while trying to stop him. His nephew Garret (McBee) was sentenced to hard labor for assault on Vasquez. One day while Garrett is shirtlessly breaking rocks in the hot sun, DEA agent Jack Slade (Sullivan) approaches him and tells him he can go free if he tracks down Vasquez in an off the books kind of situation. Garret agrees, probably mainly to see old girlfriend Tracy (Moore). But Vasquez is using all his connections to go around L.A. killing everyone who he believes wronged him or his brother Pablo, who was murdered in prison, thus turning the place into some sort of Killing Zone. It's going to take one serious dude to stop him...and clearly no one else but Garret will fit the bill! Oh Malibu, we hardly knew ye. Deron McBee can, without a doubt, enter the runnings for the meatheadiest meathead of all time. It's truly a shame he wasn't in more movies. One can only submit in awe at his square jaw, long blonde hair, torn muscle shirts, tight acid washed jeans, dangling earring and super-cool sunglasses. He's one seriously bad dude with an attitude, in true 90's fashion. He more than carries this movie, and, despite all odds, is a joy to watch. As if this god among men was not enough, there are plenty of other worthwhile characters in this movie as well: Jack Slade (of course his name is Jack Slade) is the no-nonsense, by-the-book agent who strongly resembles Charles Grodin. It's about time Grodin got tough and starred in a movie like this. The beautiful Melissa Moore seemingly has no qualms about appearing in some of the most ridiculous movies ever, as just a few years earlier she was in the immortal classic Samurai Cop (1989). Because this was an early PM, they were still working out all the bugs and kinks of their now-famous formula, and, from today's perspective, that's very interesting to watch. There's even an early attempt at their famous "car flipping over in the street and exploding" stunt. For a low-budget crime drama like this, it's surprisingly coherent (if completely silly) and the fact that it made it to video stores across the land should be applauded. So while Malibu mangles the murderous menaces in this movie (when not at Miller's Gym), once we reach the climax it slows to a crawl. It's almost like they realized they were running short on time and had to put in some last minute filler. But it's okay, like we said, it's a low-budget early PM, so all sins are forgiven. Plus, who could stay mad at Malibu? The Killing Zone represents a golden time in DTV - see this movie if you get the chance. For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

• "All right, you Miami Vice rejects..."

  The_Phantom_Projectionist2016-01-25

  Deron "Malibu" McBee was blessed with a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger, the good looks of Lorenzo Lamas, and a mullet so breathtaking it makes me fall to my knees, but his career as an action hero is predominantly limited to supporting roles and the odd vehicle like this. Disappointingly, this particular moment in the spotlight is not his finest. THE KILLING ZONE is a "bad" movie that has a chance of attracting cheese-lovers, but if you're looking for good action and a satisfying story, this one probably won't deliver. The story: An imprisoned convict (McBee) is recruited from a chain gang to resume his quest of vengeance against a vicious drug lord raining terror upon Los Angeles (James Dalesandro). The DVD cover bills cult actors Michael Easton and Wally K. Berns over McBee, when in fact they only play supporting and bit parts, respectively. You'd think the questionable marketing would stop there, but it turns out that Deron is hardly even the star of the picture. McBee's character does not start actively seeking revenge until the final 30 minutes, up until which James Dalesandro holds center stage. His antics are mildly compelling, especially the part wherein he's briefly apprehended and jailed, but with the protagonist too busy having arm wrestling matches and showering with women to be proactive, it all feels rather unimportant. The opening titles and relatively weak production values initially instilled the impression of a made-for-TV movie, but the film turns out to be much more amateurish than that. The screenplay is riddled with rough, elementary dialogue and an odd affinity for characters unrelated to the plot, like the bickering accident victims and the homeless man highlighted during the car chase. There are plenty of parts wherein the writing is so bad and the acting so hammy that it'll make you laugh, but the fact that the story isn't nearly as enthusiastic as the people acting it out makes for very short-lived amusement. The action content does not redeem the picture at any point. For the most part it's a lot of shooting, a few explosions, and a modest helping of hand-to-hand fighting, but none of it's very good. There are some surprises, like when the Dalesandro character's revealed to be a competent fighter in the middle of an assassination attempt, but a lack of genuine talent keeps this one from delivering anything but the barest of thrills. Altogether, it's a movie best viewed as an experiment or after-hours exercise – that makes it easier to forgive, but not easier to enjoy. Forget about this one.