Six-String Samurai

Dir: Lance Mungia
Starring: Jeffrey Falcon, Justin McGuire, Kim De Angelo, Stephane Gauger

This low-budget blend of elements from Mad Max, spaghetti westerns and...The Wizard of Oz, sees Buddy Holly-lookalike Falcon (veteran of many an HK film, such as Outlaw Brothers) working his way through a post-apocalyptic landscape peopled by bizarre groups and pursued by Death himself (Gauger), in a heavy-metal incarnation. Donald G. Jackson has tried this kind of thing several times, but never managed more than unwatchable crap; Mungia comes close to hitting a home-run in his first at-bat, simply through having enough ideas to keep you interested for the great majority of the movie. The irritating small kid (McGuire) with whom 'Buddy' teams up is largely superfluous, save for giving our hero someone to rescue repeatedly, and the last third loses its way a bit. However, with psychotic bald bowlers, a cannibalistic family, extremely slow car-chases, etc. you'll be keen to see what the hell will appear next! And the story of its making is an epic in itself, albeit one beyond our scope here...

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