Lethal Cowboy (1995) User Reviews

He didn't come back from hell but from the desert

[unclehugo · 2/10 · 17 September 2008]

In the first two minutes of this terrible movie, a long haired, half naked man named Cody is beaten, whipped and shot by Mr. Malone and his right hand Frank (played by Frank Stallone) because he owed them some money. Two Malone's men then take Cody out to the desert and dump him into a hole in the ground. A spirit of an Indian warrior turns up and plays the flute. After a while, Cody gets out of the hole and asks the spirit where he is. The spirit informs him they stand on a sacred burial ground and tells Cody he must stop the evil represented by Malone. Cody isn't too enthusiastic about the idea and says he doesn't want to feel the pain again. The Indian spirit replies: "Without pain, there can be no life." It's hard to argue with that, so Cody washes his bloodied face in the river and heads back to town. A lady named Elizabeth (Dana Plato) offers Cody a lift in her red sports-car and warns him that the townspeople aren't exactly friendly. This proves to be true when a bunch of hoodlums ask Cody for a cigarette. Cody tells them smoking's bad for health, the criminals take offense to that and a fist-fight begins. Lethal Cowboy beats the hell out of those punks. He then meets a homeless character wearing an eye-patch. This gentleman called Ratz gives Cody some information about Mr. Malone (who seems to control every illegal activity in the town ) and receives a few sandwiches as a reward. When Cody sits down at the bar and starts to ask too many questions, two goons promptly notify Malone of the unwanted visitor. Malone, who is usually busy lying by the swimming pool or mistreating women, sends out Frank and some other thugs to take care of Lethal Cowboy. Cody accidentally runs into Elizabeth, who happens to be Malone's personal property, and thanks to mutual sympathy, they start to make out in the desert. Cody is later captured, almost sliced up with a samurai sword and locked in a storage-house. During a party that gives Malone the opportunity to murder a rivaling mafia boss (Chris Mitchum), Elizabeth sets Cody free and they both escape. Malone finds Ratz and demands information concerning Cody's whereabouts. When Ratz isn't able to answer his questions, Malone calls him a liar, rips his eyeball out and makes one of his henchmen swallow it. Malone's behavior gets too much to take for other gangsters. Frank decides to keep some money from a drug deal for himself and blame the deed on somebody else. Cody discovers a corpse of his homeless friend in the hotel room, faces Malone while riding a horse like a true cowboy, reveals Frank's secret, breaks Frank's neck and finally uses kung-fu on Malone who winds up being scalped by the Indian spirit in a symbolic act of retribution... This movie contains many instances of violent behavior, especially the character of Mr. Malone shows distinct sadistic tendencies. On the other hand, aside from the dead body with one eye plucked out and a shot of blood dripping on an animal skull, very little bloodshed is actually shown. One would have a hard time finding a single enjoyable action scene or likable character in the whole film. It gets weird in parts but it never entertains.