Charlie’s Death Wish


Title: Charlie’s Death Wish (2005)
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Action
Starring: Phoebe Dollar, Ron Jeremy, Randal Malone
Director: Jeff Leroy

After her sister was murdered by thugs in a jail cell, gun saleswoman Charlie (Phoebe Dollar) spends every waking moment investigating the culprits and plotting her violent revenge. What turns out behind her sister’s murder is a large criminal organization led by a drug lord (Randal Malone) that has Hollywood in the palm of his hand. Left to deal with all this mayhem is good cop Rosenberg (Ron Jeremy), who is sympathetic to Charlie’s vendetta but isn’t exactly crooked enough to allow her a pardon. If that wasn’t enough, an eccentric documentary filmmaker does his best to expose the corruption of the LAPD and the 2nd Amendment as he incidentally gets himself in the middle of what he dubs the “Deadly Dixie Chick Killer” murders. These characters and events all lead to nothing but action and carnage… and there can only be one winner.

Before I start raving about this little flick, let me tackle the unbelievably cool cast. This film is the brainchild of writer/producer/actress Phoebe Dollar (my personally favorite scream queen) and writer/director Jeff Leroy. Not only being viciously independent filmmakers, these two have a long and continuously developing history together with collaborations including the shot-on-video classic Hell’s Highway, Alien 3000, and Werewolf in a Women’s Prison, to name but a few. Also on the roster is legendary adult film star Ron Jeremy, who is no stranger to low-budget, non-adult films (Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger Part IV, Andre the Butcher, Slaughter Party). To up the ante for underground credibility is the involvement of Randal Malone who’s credits also include Evil in the Bayou, The Curse of Lizzie Borden, and this year’s (2011) epic showdown Dahmer Vs. Gacy. If you haven’t already passed out from all this awesomeness, prepare yourself for special appearances by Guns ‘N Roses’ Dizzy Reed, LA Guns’ Tracii Guns, and Motorhead frontman Lemmy. Yes, you read correctly, LEMMY!

With that out of the way, let me just say that I have always been a huge fan of low- to no-budget horror films. I love the spirit and the ingenuity that are always passionately put into these movies. But I never once conceived that this same DIY passion could be generalized to action movies. Charlie’s Death Wish completely blew me away. It’s got gory gunfights, car chases, and priceless humor; but what really sets this movie apart from others that share such a low budget, and what really got me cheering at my screen, were the exploding miniatures. I mean, c’mon. When was the last time anyone saw miniatures put to such good use recently in B-movies? Director Leroy has a knack for these things, and there is no better way to get action fans going than with explosions. However, fans of Dollar’s and Leroy’s horror stuff are not left in the dust, as this movie provides an ample supply of red goo from start to finish.

Charlie’s Death Wish also has some very creative elements that are a bit more subtle. For instance, set design isn’t particularly something B-filmmakers are altogether concerned with (unless you count bloodied walls and cobwebs); but the interiors of the drug lord’s mansion are impressively dressed, though not entirely convincing (this IS a small-time flick, after all). And along with the violence, the soundtrack gives this movie a jolt of energy, including the haunting and tastefully used Charles Manson ballad “Look at Your Game Girl” that definitely compliments the mood of CDW. The no-so-well-known supporting cast does a decent job of filling out the rest of the characters, and the story itself is engaging and exciting.

Charlie’s Death Wish is a criminally underrated and little seen B-movie that literally gives a big “fuck you” to the Hollywood film industry. If you don’t mind films that operate on low production value, CDW may just be a cult nerd’s “wish” come true.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Female Prisoner: Scorpion

Image
Title: Female Prisoner: Scorpion Rating: 4/5 Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime Starring: Meiko Kaji, Rie Yokoyama, Isao Natsuyagi Director: Shunya Ito Language: Japanese It was the 70s that saw the rise in Japanese grindhouse cinema (also known as ‘Pinky Violence); tired of the very ‘traditional’ style of many local films, and with the rise in success of Hollywood titles such as ‘Dirty Harry’ and ‘The Great Escape,’ a new wave of daring and experimental directors came to light. Armed with a low budget and all the influences of the early Western grindhouse cheap gore flicks, they combined it with traditional Japanese film-making sensibilities to create a style that somehow succeeded in being both artistic in style whilst retaining those cheap traditions such as gratuitous nudity and violence to result in something rather unique. And it was with this, the first instalment in the ‘Female Prisoner’ series, that would influence a wave known as ‘Women in Prison’ films; with a strong the...
Read more

Slasher Hunter

Image
Title: Slasher Hunter (2011) Rating: 3/5 Genre: Horror, Comedy Starring: Chad Phillips, Derek Rothermund, Ryan Sullivan Director: Steve Rudzinski Duration: 35 mins Four pals are planning to have a great weekend of sex and brews in an old cabin in the woods. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “this is the exact set up to every slasher movie from ‘79 to ‘99; this can’t end well.” Well our group of campers have thought of that, that’s why they brought sci-fi nerd Lee along for the ride who carries within him the so-called “survivor gene.” This special gene helps prevent him from being the unfortunate victim of any slasher maniacs that may be lurking about. Unfortunately this gene is also highly coveted by a group of the most dastardly slashers around: Frank, Larry, Jay, Charles, Pleatherface, and Puzzle (I didn’t say their names were very dastardly, did I?). It’s up to a renegade, federally-employed Slasher Hunter to thwart the slashers’ plan and save Lee and his friends before it’...
Read more

Chinese Erotic Ghost Story

Image
Title: Chinese Erotic Ghost Story Original Title: Yuk lui liu chai Genre: Comedy, Exploitation Rating: 2.5/5 Starring: Ben Ko Chu, Chun Chung, Siu Wan Hung Director: Kin-Nam Cho Language: Chinese It's always a little tricky to think how these sort of films should be rated; from the title it's apparent that they aren't perhaps the most creative when it comes to titles, though if nothing else it certainly is an accurate one, with perhaps some mention of how batshit insane the bizarre events of the actual film are being the only thing missing. It all kicks off rather normally; Chu is introduced as the debt collector working for an asshole of a King with a beautiful mistress, two beautiful daughters and an even prettier wife, whilst he's stuck with a woman who sleeps 20 hours a day and spends the remaining four awake eating. Caught in the embrace of one of the King's daughters he's punished with the task of entering Satan's Temple and stealing the statu...
Read more