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Lethal Force. USA 2001. Directed by Alvin D. Ecarma.

A gangster's wife gets killed and his son is kidnapped by other vicious criminals. To save his son, the gangster has to betray his friend. Only that it's not a easy task to do, since his friend is a killer!

Alvin D. Ecarma's Lethal Force looks fascinating in it's own cheap way. Sometimes it is just like watching straight-faced 70's exploitation films, but twisted humor reveals that everything isn't so serious here.

Lethal Force contains a lot of likable elements, disarming the demanding exploitation fan out there. Obscure and pervert villains, fast and violent action scenes with huge squirts of blood, grindhouse dance scenes, you name it. And the movie is shot on film, which itself differs Lethal Force from numerous indie/shoestring budget/microcinema efforts using digital video. Even the shaky camera work looks cool here!

But there's also the other side. There's a plenty of action, but not much of a script. Or to put it right: there is a script, but the filmmakers often seem to forgot to possibilities. Sometimes it doesn't matter but often the repetitive kung fu fights are not the reasons to not to get bored. Luckily every now and then, the nonstop fighting & running is interrupted by funny scenes involving beforementioned obscure, perverted and sicko villains and sharp & smart dialogue.

You won't see groundbreaking performances in this film, but the personalities fit into the actors and actresses faces nicely. One that deserves to be mentioned is Cash Flagg, Jr., who proves that he's one the coolest action heros you never heard of.

DVD release by Unearthed Films contains a nice commentary of director Ecarma, few short films of the director (one of them refused to work on DVD), photo gallery, action figure(!) gallery and trailers.