Deron "Malibu" McBee was blessed with a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger, the good looks of Lorenzo Lamas, and a mullet so breathtaking it makes me fall to my knees, but his career as an action hero is predominantly limited to supporting roles and the odd vehicle like this. Disappointingly, this particular moment in the spotlight is not his finest. THE KILLING ZONE is a "bad" movie that has a chance of attracting cheese-lovers, but if you're looking for good action and a satisfying story, this one probably won't deliver.
The story: An imprisoned convict (McBee) is recruited from a chain gang to resume his quest of vengeance against a vicious drug lord raining terror upon Los Angeles (James Dalesandro).
The DVD cover bills cult actors Michael Easton and Wally K. Berns over McBee, when in fact they only play supporting and bit parts, respectively. You'd think the questionable marketing would stop there, but it turns out that Deron is hardly even the star of the picture. McBee's character does not start actively seeking revenge until the final 30 minutes, up until which James Dalesandro holds center stage. His antics are mildly compelling, especially the part wherein he's briefly apprehended and jailed, but with the protagonist too busy having arm wrestling matches and showering with women to be proactive, it all feels rather unimportant.
The opening titles and relatively weak production values initially instilled the impression of a made-for-TV movie, but the film turns out to be much more amateurish than that. The screenplay is riddled with rough, elementary dialogue and an odd affinity for characters unrelated to the plot, like the bickering accident victims and the homeless man highlighted during the car chase. There are plenty of parts wherein the writing is so bad and the acting so hammy that it'll make you laugh, but the fact that the story isn't nearly as enthusiastic as the people acting it out makes for very short-lived amusement.
The action content does not redeem the picture at any point. For the most part it's a lot of shooting, a few explosions, and a modest helping of hand-to-hand fighting, but none of it's very good. There are some surprises, like when the Dalesandro character's revealed to be a competent fighter in the middle of an assassination attempt, but a lack of genuine talent keeps this one from delivering anything but the barest of thrills. Altogether, it's a movie best viewed as an experiment or after-hours exercise – that makes it easier to forgive, but not easier to enjoy. Forget about this one.
