Killing American Style is the unmistakable work of Amir
Shervan, director of Samurai Cop and Young Rebels. It features all his trademarks: Cheap action scenes, gratuitous nudity, and Robert
Z’Dar acting like a madman. As a bonus,
we have none other than Jim Brown as the detective out to bust Z’Dar.
Hardened criminal Z’Dar is on a bus bound for
prison. His buddies try to bust him out,
and during the escape, one of his crew is shot.
Z’Dar breaks into a house and forces the bikini-clad inhabitants to call
for a doctor. When the kickboxing man of
the house (Harold Diamond) comes home early, he must find a way to save his
family.
The opening holds a lot of promise. There’s a long scene where bad guy John Lynch
auditions some prospective dancers. After a lot of spandex-clad gyrating, Delia
Sheppard (also in Young Rebels) gets the job when she balls him in the bathroom.
A Chorus Line eat your heart out!
For a little while, it’s your typical Shervan tits-and-action
romp. The fun pretty much dries up though
once Z’Dar and his goons take control of the house. It’s here where the film devolves into a kind
of half-assed Desperate Hours. The home
invasion scenes are sluggishly paced and become quickly monotonous due to their
repetitive nature. Seeing Jim Brown
trying to maintain his dignity in such schlocky surroundings certainly is
worthy of a few chuckles, but not nearly enough to put Killing American Style
into the win column.
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