FILM REVIEW OF ''OPERATION: DUNKIRK" (2017)

Apart from some vintage, black & white, newsreel footage of the historic British retreat from France in 1940, director Nick Lyon’s “Operation Dunkirk” (** OUT OF ****) has nothing to do with that landmark event aside from the setting. “Operation Dunkirk” reminded me of an earlier World War II epic, director Walter Grauman’s “The Last Escape” (1971) starring Stuart Whitman. These two Second War World sagas chronicled the Allied rescue of important German scientists.  Whitman reached his scientist before the Russians. Similarly, a squad of British soldiers under Lieutenant Galloway (Ifan Meredith of “Metroland”) are ordered to find a German scientist (newcomer Eddie Curry) whose expertise in algorithms may significantly enhance radar technology.  Historically, radar saved England from the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain in 1940.  This critical technology enabled the English to detect German warplanes when they entered Allied airspace and alert Sir Hugh Dowding’s Fighter Command about them.  Furthermore, radar meant that the heavily outnumbered RAF would not have to maintain constant full-scale aerial surveillance.  This meant their pilots could grab some much-needed sack time between dogfights.  Consequently, the premise that a German scientist would possess valuable technological information about radar which would aid the British seems unlikely.  Meantime, this stubborn scientist has refused adamantly to share his algorithms with Hitler.  Now, historical accuracy doesn’t always make a movie more entertaining.  Consequently, Hollywood often plays fast and loose with the facts to heighten dramatic impact.

Anyway, back to the plot.  When one of several, hand-picked commandos asks Colonel Plummer (Gerard Pauwels of “Resurrection”) about their evacuation, Plummer barks, “Pull your balls out of your throat and be a soldier.” Later, Galloway and his five men cruise off in a jeep to a rendezvous with the French Resistance.  Armed with American .50 caliber Thompson submachine guns, they leave the jeep and cross a cornfield.  They don’t behave like battlefield veterans because they walk too closely together without a scout either at point or on drag.  When they arrive at a huge lumber storage facility, a member of the French Resistance challenges them.  By this time, the villainous Nazi officer, Strasser (Michael Wouters of “Sins of the Guilty”) has shot the unfortunate scientist to death. Galloway reacts with incredulity when the Resistance explains that they have a woman, Angelique (Kimberley Hews of “The Other Wife”), for him to escort back to headquarters. Not only is Angelique the late scientist’s daughter, but also she has memorized the algorithm.  Not long after the British show up at the lumber yard, the Germans arrive.  The fact the villains are hot on the heels of our heroes and stay one step behind them is a positive point in favor of Lyon and his writers.  Later, the same French Resistance member who challenged Galloway is captured, questioned, and then shot in the back by the Nazis.  Meantime, Galloway refuses to turn Angelique over to the Germans. A firefight erupts.  The Germans refuse to take cover.  Instead, they stand in the open and blaze away at the British hidden in a brick building.  The arrogant Strasser stands with his men as if he were bulletproof.  The Germans riddle the building with a hail of gunfire, and then they discover to their chagrin that the British and Angelique have fled.  All of this occurs during the first 30 minutes of this 95-minute epic. Happily, Lyon keeps the action moving forward at a steady pace.  Ultimately, he brings the action right down to the wire with a last-minute appearance of the Royal Air Force as the air force routes the Germans.

“Operation Dunkirk” doesn’t rank as your average Asylum quickie, knock-off.  “Rise of the Zombies” director Lyon takes and scenarists Geoff Mead of “I Am Omega,” and Stephen Meier of “Re-Generator” take themselves somewhat seriously.  Unlike most straight-to-video Asylum outings, the action is depicted in a largely straightforward manner, with the unsavory Strasser relentlessly pursuing the British.  Mind you, this is the same Nazi officer who not only derived sadistic glee in torturing, but also in murdering the scientist.  Strasser enjoys burning the hand of Resistance member with a clothes iron and then impales it with a screwdriver so he can induce the Frenchman to squeal.  At the same time, “Operation: Dunkirk” is a compilation of World War II clichés. First, Galloway and company must endure their commanding officer’s standard-issue speech: “This mission could not only save lives but win the war.”  Second, a seriously wounded British soldier insists on being left behind by his fellow soldiers.  When two Germans stumble onto him, he brandishes a hand grenade and blows them to smithereens.  Third, another British soldier steps on a cleverly hidden German booby trap by a tree.  Actually, these two scenes demonstrate Lyon’s dramatic strength as a director.  He generates suspense and tension in both instances.  My quibble with the hand grenade scene is that the soldier doesn’t know when to shut up.  The ironic thing about the booby trap scene is that the British commander saves his soldier’s life, but a shattered tree branch skewers his thigh like shrapnel and lodges perilously close to his femoral artery.  Meantime, it is interesting to note that Lyon provides subtitles so the nasty German officer can speak in German.  Since I am not fluent in German, I cannot comment on the accuracy of both the translation or the German language.  The appearance of Sherman tanks is a plus.  Blood is spilled in most of the combat scenes, too.

Clearly, Asylum produced “Operation: Dunkirk” to cash in on writer & director Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming “Dunkirk.” Typically, Asylum cranks out knock-off movies that exploit bigger studio releases.  Although “Operation: Dunkirk” is routine and often unrealistic, director Nick Lyon’s World War II thriller amounts to a better-than-average Asylum release.

FILM REVIEW OF "RED TAILS" (2012)

Anybody who has seen enough World War II movies knows that Hollywood has to resort to elaborate artifice to conjure up equipment which no longer exists in vast quantities. Each year attrition depletes the number of Allied planes, tanks, and war ships used in combat. Worse, most of the Axis equipment has been destroyed. The Spanish Air Force furnished the filmmakers of “Battle of Britain” (1969) with scores of vintage Nazi-era aircraft. Most moviemakers aren’t that fortunate. Now, every time that you see a World War II relic fly, you wonder if they haven’t matted in additional models, or relied entirely on miniatures. Virtually no World War II movie since the 1950s has used a Sherman tank. They rely on either the Pentagon for Cold War era equipment or mock up something that resembles a Sherman.

Freshman director Anthony Hemingway’s aerial epic “Red Tails” (** out of ****) qualifies more as a showcase for the digital computer generated imagery which can forge greater authenticity than a salute to the famous Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group. This is the kind of movie that gives history a bad name. Clocking in at a torturous 125 minutes, “Red Tails” shows flair when it’s in the air but crashes and burns on the ground. The biggest stars in its gallery—Terence Howard and Cuba Gooding, Jr.,--ride desks, while a flock of relative newcomers wing it. Of course, any movie that involves historical racism in our enlightened era has to fly in circles. For the record, “Three Kings” scenarist John Ridley and “The Boondocks” scribe Aaron McGruder deploy the dreaded N-word once and then fall back on clichés as creaky as a period World War II combat actioneer. Worse, they make the Tuskegee Airmen behave like stock characters. Occasionally, Hemingway and his writers go off on tangents which weren’t necessary, such as a “Great Escape” subplot. Indeed, most of what happens here is a predictable as any second-rate war film. Essentially, “Red Tails” is “Gettysburg” with wings. Nevertheless, whenever they show the aircraft and the settings, you have to admire the extraordinary CGI that producer George Lucas’ special effects outfit, Industrial Light and Magic, has wrought. Now, if they’d only made the melodrama look as genuine as the aircraft and other equipment. Mind you, the train that gets blown up looks terrific!

“Red Tails” opens in Italy in 1944 as the black aviators, who prefer to be called ‘Negros’ rather than ‘coloreds,’ are flying antiquated P-40 Tomahawks on behind the lines missions. The Pentagon doesn’t believe that African-Americans are courageous enough for the task at hand. In fact, the film quotes a racist excerpt from 1925 Army War College study that said blacks were not brainy enough, ambitious enough, or audacious enough to survive in combat. Consequently, our heroes fly custodial missions, literally mopping up what the Army has bypassed on the way to the front. If these guys are lucky, they get to shoot up a Nazi truck, and these fellows are itching to see some real action. Indeed, one of the pilots, reckless Lieutenant Joe 'Lightning' Little (David Oyelowo of “The Help”), disobeys his squadron leader, Captain Marty 'Easy' Julian (Nate Parker of “Pride”), when they strafe a Nazi transport train. Everybody else swoops in from the rear and riddles the train while the Germans gunners unleash a barrage of flak. Miraculously, nobody is wounded. Lightning decides to attack the train from the front, however, before it can enter the safety of a tunnel, and he blasts it to hell and gone. Watching the locomotive and freight cars buckle and explode makes you think that “Red Tails” is going to be a fiery ride.

Unfortunately, nothing really happens until the second hour when the Tuskegee Airmen join the fighting over Northern Europe. Interestingly enough, it seems that the white American fighter pilots who fly escort for the B-17 bombers on raids have a tendency to abandon them when they spot German fighters. What the American fighter pilots fail to recognize is the wily Germans are luring them off when the bulk of their fighters shoot the bombers to ribbons. USAAF Major General Luntz (Gerald McRaney of CBS-TV’s “Simon & Simon”) asks Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terence Howard of “Iron Man”) about using his men to fly escort. Primarily, Luntz wants them to protect his heavy bombers rather than leave them in an aerial lurch. When Luntz promises that he will put the Tuskegee Airmen into brand, spanking-new P-51 Mustangs, Bullard takes him up on it. Initially, the white American bomber pilots don’t have much faith when they see their first black pilot fly alongside them. Things change drastically when the Tuskegee guys stick to them and thwart the Germans.

Sadly, “Red Tails” seems designed for kids rather than armchair historians who have cut their teeth on History Channel documentaries. The subplots about an African-American pilot who wines and dines an Italian babe, while another struggles with his alcoholism are the embarrassing fluff of a soap opera. Mind you, these are dullest bunch of guys in uniform that you’ve ever seen. Not one single character stands out, and the Tuskegee Airmen were pretty outstanding individuals. Despite its glossy $58 million budget, “Red Tails” doesn’t muster the dramatic clout of the Golden Globe-nominated HBO made-for-cable movie “The Tuskegee Airman” (1995) with Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Moreover, Terence Blanchard’s orchestral theme music keeps everything in snooze control for the duration. Not only the Tuskegee Airmen but also the audiences deserve best than “Red Tails” delivers.

FILM REVIEW OF ''BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL" (1956)

“Violent Saturday” director Richard Fleischer’s explosive, bullet-riddled epic “Between Heaven & Hell” combines the plot about clashes between subordinates and their superior officers set against the backdrop of World War II combat in the Pacific with the problem melodrama about Old and New South social consciousness. Robert Wagner starts out as an elitist, bourbon & branch water swilling, Southern cotton gin operator who displays no sympathy for his poor sharecroppers. Before this sturdy 94-minute, Cinemascope movie fades out, the protagonist turns over a new leaf and becomes a more considerate individual who is concerned about the welfare of his workers. The clash between officers in Fleischer’s film reached the screen a mere six days before director Robert Aldritch’s cynical wartime thriller “Attack.” “Between Heaven and Hell” came out October 11, 1956, while “Attack” debuted October 17, 1956. Nevertheless, “Attack” ranks as a more compelling outing because Robert Wagner’s NCO doesn’t kill the pusillanimous officer, while Lt. Harold 'Harry' Woodruff (William Smithers) in “Attack” kills a cowardly officer. Interestingly enough, Buddy Ebsen appeared in both movies as a G.I. Unlike “Attack,” “Between Heaven and Hell” confronts the issue of inequity between poor whites and affluent whites in the Old South. Actually, “Attack” surpasses “Between Heaven and Hell,” but the latter picture adds weight to the trend in American World War II movies about clashes between commanders and subordinates. Like the Aldritch film, “Between Heaven and Hell” painted an unsavory portrait of life in the military that showed American soldiers with feet of clay that films such as “The Naked and the Dead,” “Tarawa Beachhead” and “The Victors” would build on in later years.

The Fleischer film opens with two soldiers escorting Private Sam Francis Gifford (Robert Wagner of “Titanic”) to see Lieutenant Colonel Miles (Frank Gerstle of “D.O.A”) about a disciplinary problem. The military authorities have arrested Sam for attempting to kill a superior officer, Lieutenant Ray Mosby (Tod Andrews of “In Harm’s Way”), who ironically was one of his closest drinking buddies before the war broke out. Matters are complicated somewhat because Sam has received a Silver Star for dangling himself off the side of a cliff to sling explosives into a Japanese machine gun emplacement in a cave, a setting that suggests that this exploit occurred on Guadalcanal. Since Sam has won the medal, Miles prefers to send him to serve with George Company rather than imprison him in Leavenworth. The grim dialogue between Sam and the driver of the jeep, Private Willie Crawford (Buddy Ebsen of “Parachute Battalion”) suggests that prison would be preferable. Crawford observes as he hands his M-1 rifle to Sam. “Go ahead and kill someone, I don't care. How did you get in this outfit?" Sam replies without enthusiasm, "It was that or Leavenworth." Crawford shrugs, "Shoulda taken Leavenworth."

Sam meets his new superior officer, Captain 'Waco' Grimes, Commanding Officer, who stipulates that nobody can call him by his rank. Waco dreads that a Japanese sniper will kill him, so he insists that nobody refer to him by his rank. Waco keeps two Thompson machine-gun wielding soldiers at his sides at all times, Private. Swanson (Skip Homeier of “The Gunfighter”) and Private Millard (Frank Gorshin of “Batman”), and they wear only t-shirts on this upper chests rather than proper combat fatigues. Waco makes Sam his radio operator and Sam leaves to wander the new camp. He stretches out on the ground after Waco dismisses him and stares into a mud hole. The surface of the mud hole ripples when Sam tosses a pebble in it and the film shifts into flashback mode some 15 minutes into the action to take us back before Pearl Harbor to the South when Sam was a heartless but well-heeled cotton gin operator who had married Jenny (Terry Moore of “Mighty Joe Young”) and they were living high off the hog. We learn that Jenny’s father, Colonel Cousins (Robert Keith of “Branded”), commands Sam’s National Guard outfit and organizes it to mobilize overseas.

Before his call to duty after Pearl Harbor, Sam reprimands the laziness of his sharecroppers and treats them like dirt. Sam becomes buddies up with several G.I.s, and they become fast friends, foremost a down-to-earth country boy named Private Crawford. They really bond when Pvt. Bernard "Bernie" Meleski (Harvey Lembeck of “Stalag 17”) pretends that he is an officer to obtain two case of beer. Lieutenant Mosby sends Sam and his friends in to check out a village. The sight of a snake sends a chill down Mosby’s spine. Caught up short by a case of frayed nerves, Mosby accidentally fires the machine gun after Meleski knocks down a porch awning. The sight of watching Meleski and his friends getting mowed down propels Sam headlong toward Mosby. He clobbers the lieutenant with his rifle butt and ends up behind the stockade.

According to the American Film Institute, John Sturges was scheduled to helm it. Guy Madison was up for the Robert Wagner role and Twentieth Century Fox contract actress Joan Collins was considered for the role that Terry Moore inherited. “Between Heaven and Hell” suffers minimally from the usual idiocy that afflicts many Hollywood World War II movies. Specifically, American officers wear their rank on the front of their helmets—rather than the rear--making him easy for vigilant Japanese snipers. Unlike most World War II movies, an officer here who dons his helmet with his rank prominently on show dies from a sharpshooting enemy marksman. Top-notch photography by “The Day the Earth Stood Still” lenser Leo Tover gives “Between Heaven and Hell” a sprawling, virile appearance, that belies its actual location at the Twentieth Century-Fox ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains, while “Dead Reckoning” composer Hugo Friedhofer received an Academy Award nomination for his orchestral score. Fleischer conjures up commendable suspense and excitement primarily with the standard theme of friendship; soldiers who buddy up suddenly have to confront the loss of their new-found friends. Meanwhile, this above-average combat opus boasts a cast of first-class thespians that includes Broderick Crawford, Buddy Ebsen, Brad Dexter, Ken Clark, Frank Gorshin, Skip Homeier, and Harvey Lembeck. Fleischer and “D-Day, The Sixth of June” & “A Walk in the Sun” scenarist Harry Brown, who adapted Arkansas-born novelist Francis Gwaltney’s 1955 fiction book “The Day the Century Ended,” give their military fans more than enough firefights to past muster. Interestingly, Rod Serling tried without success to adapt the Gwaltney novel. Moreover, Gwaltney was a Pacific campaign veteran. Fleischer refrains from demonizing the Japanese and presents them as an impersonal but dangerous enemy.

FILM REVIEW OF ''COMMANDOS'' (ITALIAN-1968)

"Autopsy" director Armando Crispino's historically inaccurate but nevertheless gripping World War II behind-enemy-lines, secret-mission thriller "Commandos" (***1/2 out of ****) qualifies as a rugged, gritty, suspenseful combat epic. This cynical Italian produced melodrama about a group of Italian-Americans masquerading as Royal Italian infantry so they can capture an oasis on the eve of the North African campaign in early 1942 removes any traces of glamour about war. Crispino and fellow scenarists Lucio Battistrada of "Crime Boss," Stefano Strucchi, and Dario Argento of "Suspiria" drew their robust screenplay from a short story by Israel filmmaker Menahem Golan as well as a story by Don Martin of "The Storm Rider" and Teutonic producer Arthur Brauner. Brauner is a landmark German filmmaker who refurbished the "Dr. Mabuse" franchise in the early 1960s. Lee Van Cleef of “For A Few Dollars More” delivers a riveting performance as a belligerent, battle-scarred Bataan hero who survived, along with two other companions, a death-defying ordeal. He relives the horror of the experience throughout “Commandos.” Van Cleef has a lot to sink his teeth into and he dominates the action.

The supporting cast is good, particularly Joachim Fuchsberger as Oberleutnant Heitzel Agen, nicknamed the professor because he studied insects at the university. Götz George shines as Oberleutnant Rudi, the type who could have excelled as dedicated Hitler Youth. The most unusual role—as it says something about the difference between the Allied armies and the Axis foe—belongs to actress Marilù Tolo who plays a prostitute named Adriana. Although she doesn't play a major part, she poses an interesting complication for our heroes. Interestingly, she points out that she canearn more money in the army camp than back home. The two characters who triumph over adversity at the conclusion were well known character actors. Giovanni Scratuglia played in many Spaghetti westerns, while Heinz Reincke played one of the two German pilots that strafed the beaches in “The Longest Day.”

The conceit of "Commandos" is that our heroes are descendents of genuine Italians, and Sergeant Sullivan and his right-hand man Dino (Romano Puppo of "Death Rides A Horse") have spent a month training them for the mission. Sullivan has little regard for most of them, but he has nothing but sheer contempt for his superior officer, Captain Valli (Jack Kelly of "To Hell & Back") who has never baptized in combat. Sullivan and Valli get off to a bad start when Sullivan describes their objective as “some harebrained mission you made up yourself.” Valli defends the mission and his knowledge. “I know this operation exactly, right down to the last detail.” Sullivan criticizes Valli’s shortage of experience. “You got a lot of bright ideas, Captain, but do you know what killing is—exactly—with these (makes gestures with his hands) and (brandishing a bayonet) this?”

Later, during the inevitable briefing session,Valli explains they will parachute near their destination. They will drop two or three miles from the objective and then take an hour to march to the Italian garrison and occupy it. Arriving after dark, they encounter soon opposition and have to resort to their machine guns instead of knives. Captain Valli refuses to watch Sullivan turn the raid into a massacre and he spares the lives of Italian Lt. Tomassini (Marino Mase of "The Five Man Army") and many of his troops. Valli warns Tomassini that the lives of his men depend on his cooperation with Sullivan and him. “I mean exactly what I say so you better get that through your head.” Germans from a nearby base show up for spaghetti and our heroes struggle to suppress any suspicious behavior, especially from Rudi who wants to locate his missing engineers. Sullivan kills the surviving German engineer, but during the struggle the German fires Sullivan's pistol. Everybody stops what they are doing and disperses into the open with guns drawn. A soldier apologizes for shooting at a jackal. No sooner do the Germans leave than the Italian hatch a plan of escape.

They rig up a hook that enables them to shut off the electricity in the barracks where they are being held. They jump the guards, disarm them, disable a couple of transports and take off in another truck to the German camp. Early the next day, Valli and Sullivan cut them off and gun them down. Meanwhile, the Germans are about to pull out and the German commanding officer lets Oberleutnant Heitzel Agen inform the Italians to blow up the wells before they leave. Initially, Agen believes that he is just going to visit an old friend. After Agen leaves, one of the wounded Italians makes it to the German lines and informs them that the Italians are impostors. Agen is wearing the headset and talking to his commandant when he learns this alarming news. Eventually, the Germans arrive and it turns into a pitched battle. Only one Italian and one German survive the firefight and they throw away their guns and march off into the desert at fade-out

The themes of "Commandos" include the inhumanity of war, experienced versus inexperienced combatants, battlefield shock, and the duty that an officer has both to his men and the mission. The irony is that the Germans and the Italians are depicted with greater sympathy than the tough guy Americans. The German soldiers get along with each other as do the Italians, but the Americans clash, principally Sullivan and Valli. Other instances of irony occur that heighten the philosophical mindset of “Commandos.” The ending summarizes the madness of war as depicted here. Allied command scrubs the mission that Captain Valli has carefully orchestrated and he cannot accept this change of mind. Surprisingly, Sergeant Sullivan refuses to obey higher authority. Consequently, "Commandos" concludes with the Americans exploding the water holes and fighting the Germans with tragic results for both Sullivan and Valli.

Mind you, the authenticity of the action doesn't bear close scrutiny. Most military
enthusiasts will recognize the flaws immediately. For example, the Afrika Korps tanks are not the genuine vehicles. Instead, they are repainted U.S. Army Chaffee and Walker Bulldog tanks with German insignia, and the M3A1 submachine guns that the Americans tote weren't available for another year. Allowances must be made, however, and the Cold War tanks overlooked since the German tanks were long since kaput, while the "Dirty Dozen" machine guns look cool. Incidentally, the first American commandos were the U.S. Rangers as portrayed in the James Garner World War II movie "Darby's Rangers."

The sun-scorched widescreen photography of "Taste of Death" lenser Benito Frattari makes this desert-locked minor war film look sprawling and the nocturnal actions scenes have a perilous, primitive quality. The strident music of composer Mario Nascimbene enhances the suspense, especially when Sullivan and his men search for a wounded German engineer who remains at large in the compound. Nascimbene makes superb use of classical music from composer Edvard Grieg, specifically "In the Hall of the Mountain King." Whatever the case, “Commandos” neither glorifies nor glamorizes combat. Fighting is a hard sweaty business. Sergeant Sullivan summarizes it succinctly to Captain Valli in an earlier scene. “Do you know what blood smells like, Captain? It’s a hot smell, and it can get things messed up, too, because most men die hard.”

FILM REVIEW OF ''A TASTE OF HELL'' (1973)

"A Taste of Hell" (* out of ****)has little taste and is hell to watch. This thoroughly ordinary World War II melodrama takes place in the Philippines during 1942after General Douglas MacArthur had left the country to the Japanese and their usual sadistic skullduggery. Mind you, the Japanese are portrayed as treacherous dastards. The military action that occurs here is not part of a coordinated overall campaign. The heroes find themselves in the position that they might have to relocate if the enemy brings in reinforcements. In other words, "A Taste of Hell" is about low stakes. The action, the romance, and the battles constitute nothing memorable either in their impact or depiction. The most interesting performance is given by Victor Diaz as the villain who has many opportunities to throw back his head and laugh insanely like a bandit.

The first scene sets the stage for a vendetta between the hero and the villain. Major Kuromoto (Victor Diaz of "Project: Kill")catches They catches U.S. Army Lieutenant Barry Mann (John Garwood of "Nam's Angels") and his guerrilla army of natives in the open and get the drop on them. Kuromoto wants Mann alive and vows to kill all his men if the American refuses to surrender. Mann demands the Kuromoto let his men live and he will surrender. Kuromoto promises Mann that his men will receive "the proper treatment" and then massacres them when they do surrender. Mann is wounded in the arm and crippled for life. An explosion hurls him into a river that carries him downstream. Kuromoto is convinced that Mann is dead.

Unable to speak coherently, Mann wanders around in the jungle for the bulk of the
movie's 90-minutes in civilian attire with a battered hat to conceal his hideous features. "A Taste of Hell" is not a conventional World War II adventure opus like "Ambush Bay," "The Walls of Hell," or "Once Before I Die." You don't see any military equipment like tanks, planes, battleships, or even jeeps and it doesn't contain a standard-issue briefing scene with a map and superior officer describing the mission as suicidal. Indeed, there are no scenes with a radio operator calling
in a request for air support or a supply drop. Essentially, "A Taste of
Hell" is a behind-enemy-lines actioneer with tame heroics. There is also a subplot about a hunched-back adolescent and his friendship with the disfigured Mann. Another problem is that "A Taste of Hell" boasts no sympathetic characters.

Later, savage Japanese soldiers raid a village, murder a patriotic resistance leader, and abduct ten of the most beautiful women. Maria (Lisa Lorena of "Black Belt Avengers") is one of the women taken. She was once Lieutenant Mann's girlfriend. She keeps pictures of Mann around and lights candle to his memory. Jack Lowell (William Smith of "Conan the Barbarian") shows up in civilian clothes with an Army issue .45 caliber automatic pistol and a grease gun to help coordinate a
guerrilla attack against the Japanese. Kuramoto anticipates that the guerrillas will launch their attack at night, but they decide to catch the Japanese by surprise with a dawn attack. The heroes don't arrive in time, however, to prevent the Japanese from raping the women. We are shown soldiers manhandling the helpless, screaming native girls in a hut.

Meanwhile, Mann infiltrates the Japanese camp and starts knocking off soldiers. He hacks off Kuramoto's head with a huge knife when he catches him trying to rape Maria. The decapitation scene is passable. In the end, nobody of prominence survives the action-packed attack. Jack shoots Mann as Mann is helping Maria escape, and Maria takes a bullet in the stomach. The Japanese gun down Lowell before the battle concludes and he dies without firing a shot. Nobody wins.

Believe it or not, this low-budget, B-movie monstrosity was produced by notorious porno producer Harry H. Novak, better known for soft T&A features like "The Dirty Mind of Young Sally," "Midnight Plowboy," and"The Exotic Dreams of Casanova." No, freshman co-directors Basil Bradbury and Neil Yarema drum up neither suspense nor tension. The only thing that they do well is hide the hero's face until we have to see it. "A Taste of Hell" lacks any nudity, but contains modest amounts of blood & gore. Diaz chews the scenery like a Spaghetti western bandit. None of the characters change or show any depth. The film concludes with the phrase ". . . and Satan smiled." The firearms look authentic as do the Japanese uniforms, but there is nothing noteworthy about this pathetic potboiler. The sole virture of "A Taste of Hell" is that it appears to have been lensed entirely on location without any visual effects or obvious backdrops. William Smith looks glum throughout the action.