Low Blow (1986) Reviews

• Fun 80s Action Trash!

  Crap_Connoisseur2005-12-12

  This movie reeks of 1980s, straight-to-video action: zero budget special effects, "filler" action sequences and some utterly loony acting. It may sound bizarre, but those are also the very reasons why I enjoy this film so much. In comparison the action movies of today, Low Blow seems positively wholesome. There is not much blood, no sex and the emphasis is more on fist fighting than high-tech weaponry. However, the film is never boring. The action is fairly constant and there are occasional touches of humour along the way. Leo Fong plays private detective, Joe Wong. Joe is hired to find a missing rich girl, Karen. Karen not only has a very unattractive hairstyle but is also completely moronic, as evidenced by her falling in with one of the most ridiculous cults ever depicted on film - complete with a black sheet wearing blind guru and a crazy woman played by real life Ghanian princess Akosua Busia. Leo Fong's dead-pan delivery and no frills martial arts style suit his character perfectly. A special mention must be given to Akosua who turns in the most ludicrous performance of her career. After having his butt kicked trying to infiltrate the compound, Joe realises that he needs assistance taking out the wackos and naturally enough, decides to hold a tough man contest to find some extra muscle. The scenes of the contest are some of my favourite in the movie. The fights are brief but varied and amusing. I particularly liked the wrestlers and the bizarre iron lady with the blond mullet. The film then comes to its rather predictable climax with some fun action and a good dose of humour.

• mumble the blessed mumble mumble

  Bezenby2013-08-13

  Cameron Mitchell's career is varied to say the least. One minute he's Minessota Clay, next he's a crazed gangster in Medusa, or a cop in The Nightmare Never Ends. If it was possible to speak to him today, I'd set myself down next to him at a bar, slide him a beer and say "Hey Cam, what was the easiest gig you ever did?" Unfortunately he can't answer, but I'm sure he would have said: "Probably that martial arts film where I didn't even need to get out of a seat, wore sunglasses, mumbled a lot, and groped a young actress." That film would be Low Blow, an action film starring Mitchell (who was an ex-special forces bar man in Codename Vengeance), Leo Fong, with an appearance by Stack Pierce (of Pyshic Killer 'fame'). Fong is an ex-cop turned PI, who seems to spend his time dealing with endemic street crime in San Francisco. While he's out kicking the heads in of two bag snatchers, he's spotted and hired by businessman John Templeton, in order to rescue his daughter from a cheesy new age cult (led by Mitchell (who played a crap cop in The Demon), but run with an iron fist by his daughter/wife!). Mitchell (who was a slick businessman in Memorial Valley Massacre), who wears sunglasses, a hooded robe, and a star on his cheek, seems oblivious to all the armed guards and beating and rambles on about the meek and says 'Blessed' a lot. Fong pays a visit to the cult's plantation and immediately gets into bother with hired goons hanging around the place. He ends up rescuing a dude but reckons he's gonna need back up to get the businessman's daughter back, and you know what that means, right? Correct: A fairly pointless fighting competition, complete with Stack Pierce, ninjas, and a strong woman. Gang assembled, they all head off for a final showdown at the plantation (which involves needlessly killing hired goons whom, up until that point, had hardly hurt anyone. You won't get much in the way of gore in this film (except for the bit where Fong stamps his foot right through a guy's face!) as Low Blow is played more for laughs than anything. This is just as well, as some of the acting is dodgy to say the least (especially Fong's secretary). Mitchell as usual just falls into the roll smoothly (he always seems to be enjoying himself, which is why I enjoy most films he's in), put I wouldn't put this high up on your list of films to see. It's good enough, but no classic, that Low Brow film.

• Hello ladies, Leo Fong is back and he is pulling no punches!!

  evanbrowner2004-12-11

  Low Blow, the piece d'resistance for legendary Hollywood heavyweight, actor/director/screenwriter and cinematographer Leo Fong, sees Fong reprise his crowd pleasing role as ex-cop Joe Wong. In this installment, Wong is commissioned by capitalist tycoon (Troy Donahue in a standout performance) to rescue his daughter from a dangerous and mind warping cult. Set in the seedy underbelly of the outer areas of San Francisco, Wong must use all his guile as a street smart private investigator to penetrate the fortress of cult leader Yarakunda's compound and rescue the life of the movie's young heroine. A life held desperately in the balance, it is truly a race against time. Realising the limitations of a one man attack, Wong brings together a crack force of street fighting soldiers of fortune, much in the style of Hannibal's A-Team, with the promise great rewards. Wong and his salty mercenaries set in place a sophisticated plan that can't possibly fail. But is it too late? It is set against this seedy and powerful background that Fong sets about fully exploring the socio-economic imbalance and segregation in modern society, as well as the resultant effect on the innate human need for inclusion and interpersonal relations. Fong craftily using extreme physical violence as a metaphor for self-actualisation and positive external affirmations of inter-conceptual self discipline. In so doing, he demonstrates that while verbalisation of interpersonal conflict can be at times a useful tool in the subtle art of open ended dispute resolution focused dialogue, where concepts cannot be expressed using excessive and unnecessary force they are often not worthy of expressing at all. Further, in so doing, Fong furnishes the viewer with a useful forum for discussing the usefulness of ruthless and relentless violence in their own lives. In light of the currently repressive attitude of society toward aggression and hostility, in presenting this film, Fong bravely champions the cause of antagonism not only as a form of potentially hilarious entertainment, but as a most useful tool to be utilised in everyone's day to day existence. And in closing, while this movie contains vast offerings for a wide range of cultures, creeds and beliefs, is true to say that the underlying message of this film, as it should be, is that the deadliest weapon is still your fist. Fong – we can only say thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

• Wacky, dumb fun!

  tarbosh220002011-01-28

  Joe Wong (Fong) is a private investigator, and he has a unique way of doing his job. He's behind on all his bills, his office is a pig sty, and all he really wants to do is go to his favorite eatery and have some chicken feet soup. He and his perky partner Diane (Stevenett) are barely staying afloat. One day John Templeton (Donahue), not to be confused with The Protector (1999), (who could surely handle this problem on his own), walks into Wong's office and hires him to find his daughter Karen (Bowling) who has gone missing. Despite Wong's warning that he "is expensive", much like Rod Armstrong, Donahue gives him the money and Wong is on his way. It turns out Karen has been brainwashed by the Universal Enlightenment cult and is spending most days farming at their compound called Unity Village. The leader of this mysterious cult is one Yarakunda (Mitchell) and his "sister-wife" Karma (Busia). Since this secretive organization doesn't take kindly to outsiders, meaning there are plenty of armed guards, Wong hits the local punchfighting (or in this case, pit fighting) circuit to hire some recruits to help him invade the cult and save Karen. Of all the ninjas, women, Chicanos and fat guys that all fight each other, he chooses Fuzzy (Farmer) and some others and then they all go to complete the mission. Using just their martial arts abilities and their wiles, will they succeed? Here the usual gang of troublemakers (Fong, Pierce, Mitchell and director Frank Harris, among others) reunite once more for another round of wacky, dumb fun. Despite the common low-budget pitfalls of bad film quality, choppy editing, and major issues with what must have been a script at one point, Low Blow remains "Low Brow" entertainment. Fong plays the goofy P.I. with some serious car troubles with nothing but flatly delivered catchphrases. The main issue of Low Blow is you can't hear anything. The sound quality is so amazingly bad, the entire movie is unhearable. It doesn't help that Fong never speaks above a whisper, and he has an accent. But what we could hear is funny. And when he's attacking the bad guys' car with a chainsaw, he always remembers his safety goggles. Cameron Mitchell, as the Jonestown-inspired guru, wearing a black hooded cloak and sunglasses, never stands up in the movie and appears drunk. It's a more laid-back Cam performance, especially in comparison to his bad guy role in Killpoint. Also as counterpoint to Killpoint, Stack Pierce here is fairly underused as Corky. Yes, his name is Corky. But we can't forget an early appearance of Billy Blanks as a camp guard that fights Joe Wong. Unfortunately, the climax of the movie takes place at night and the filmmakers forgot to turn on any lights, so we can't see what transpires very well. The introduction of the punch/pit fighting adds a lot of color and flavor to the proceedings, and the addition of Fuzzy to the national consciousness was surely a good thing, though he lacks the joie de vivre of a Jack S. Daniels or a Bear. Also of note is the U.S. Vestron video VHS box art (seen at top of page). While a pretty cool piece of artwork in its own right, this person you see is not in the film. They invented him for the box art. What, was a picture of Leo Fong not good enough? That's shameful. But at least we can now see what it would look like if your fist was basically the size of your head. Yes, the movie is inept on almost every level, and the attempts at humor are...attempts at humor, but Low Blow proves ineptness isn't always a bad thing - it can be pretty entertaining if you are in the right mood. 'Blow isn't as bad as some say it is (although some technical aspects certainly are, but so what). If you need more Fong in your life, a good place to continue your obsession would be Low Blow.

• Hilarious

  Bails4542005-07-28

  I came across this movie in a $3 bin. It was fantastic. That's not to say the acting was good; it was terrible. The one thing that makes this movie great is Leo Fong. If the lead actor was, say, Chuck Norris, you'd be groaning at the cheap lameness of it all. Leo Fong, however, goes about the movie with a cheerful suaveness that makes him likable, albeit a little laughable. If you don't like these sorts of movies though, there is still one scene that makes the $3 all worthwhile: The face mashing scene. After Leo manages to down an opponent with a flurry of kung-fu excellence, he, with genius that is unsurpassed to this day, stomps on his victims head. The baddies face promptly explodes as Fongs shoe sinks into his face. Medically unplausible but hilarious. Apon playing the scene in slow motion it is revealed that the head is actually a plate of some sort of pudding. Gold. The perpetual presence of eighties keyboard music, awful plot, terrible acting, and, of course, Leo Fong, makes this movie enjoyable. It also teaches us valuable modus operandi: Always wear safety goggles when slicing up a car.