FORMAT: BLU-RAY
Gary Conway makes a great entrance in The Farmer. He’s riding on a passenger train and goes to get a drink at the bar. When a black soldier is denied service, he intervenes. A guy stands up and compares him to Shirley Temple, which leads Conway to say, “You made two mistakes. One was standing up and two was making fun of Shirley Temple!” before starting an all-out brawl.
The farmer returns home after World War II to the prospect of losing the family farm. One night, he saves the life of a low-level gangster named Johnny (Michael Dante) who crashes his car on his property. He repays the farmer’s kindness with a big wad of dough. Later, when a top Mob boss blinds Johnny, he turns to the farmer to get revenge by promising him enough money to save his land. When the gangsters rape his girlfriend, kill his best friend, and burn down his barn, the farmer finally goes out for revenge.
The Farmer is a solid, tough, and mean revenge flick. It kind of reminded me of a folksier version of Rolling Thunder. While it’s not as over the top as some of the best genre entries (aside from the acid in the eyes scene), it’s effective, nevertheless.
Conway (who made his debut playing the monster in I Was a Teenage Frankenstein) looks like the love child of Ross Hagen and Stacy Keach. He makes for an intimidating presence in his aviators and fedora. (He later went on to write Over the Top.) Angel Tompkins is also quite good as his gangster moll turned love interest.
Long considered potentially lost, The Farmer was MIA on home video for decades. It was well worth the wait. Scorpion Releasing’s Blu-Ray looks and sounds great and will make a fine addition to your collection if you’re a fan of revenge flicks.
AKA: Blazing Revenge.
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