Messenger of Death (1988)

Wifes and children of the Mormon Orville Beecham become victims of a massacre in his own house. The police believes the crime had a religious motive. Orville doesn't give any comment on the... See full summary »

Director:

J. Lee Thompson

Writers:

Rex Burns (novel), Paul Jarrico (screenplay)

Stars:

Charles Bronson, Trish Van Devere, Laurence Luckinbill

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charles Bronson	...	Garret Smith
Trish Van Devere	...	Jastra Watson
Laurence Luckinbill	...	Homer Foxx
Daniel Benzali	...	Chief Barney Doyle
Marilyn Hassett	...	Josephine Fabrizio (as Marilyn Hasset)
Charles Dierkop	...	Orville Beecham
Jeff Corey	...	Willis Beecham
John Ireland	...	Zenas Beecham
Penny Peyser	...	Trudy Pike
Gene Davis	...	Junior Assassin
John Solari	...	Senior Assassin
Jon Cedar	...	Saul
Tom Everett	...	Wiley
Duncan Gamble	...	Lieutenant Scully
Bert Williams	...	Sheriff Yates

Storyline

Wifes and children of the Mormon Orville Beecham become victims of a massacre in his own house. The police believes the crime had a religious motive. Orville doesn't give any comment on the case, is taken into protective custody. Journalist Smith persuades him to help him in the investigation - and finds out about economic motives for the murder.

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Plot Keywords:

mormon | murder | journalist | shootout | newspaper reporter | 

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Taglines:

What the cops can't do, he will.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1989 (Peru)

Also Known As:

Avenging Angels

Filming Locations:

Colorado National Monument, Fruita, Colorado, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$3,074,681 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golan-Globus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 86 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This picture was made and released about five years after its source Rex Burns novel 'The Avenging Angel' was first published in 1983. This movie has also been known under the similar title of 'Avenging Angels'.

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Goofs

During the car chase, Smith's car is on the inside of one of the tankers on the first corner out of the tunnel, but in the next shot it's back in the middle of both tankers.

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Quotes

Garret Smith: [threatening] You're going to give us the name, yes?
Senior Assassin: No!
[gets kicked in the face]

User Reviews

Bronson is OK

I'll watch anything with Charles Bronson, but this was definitely stretching things. Bronson is fine but the film is a mess, after a pretty solid start. Perhaps it was underbudgeted. Perhaps it was improperly edited. Who knows? I read here about the possibility of the director J. Lee Thompson falling ill, but somehow I suspect that rarely stops a movie from being finished -- by the second unit director, the director of photography and sometimes even the star. Anyhow, see it for Bronson and the first 10 minutes or so. I always like J. Lee Thompson, even when he was directing crap.