Feisty ace martial artist Pastor Debra (a flat performance by the lovely Sherlee Knudson) gets fed up with the corrupt city officials and scummy dope pushers who are selling junk to the kids in the city of Westgate. So Debra, along with help from the Fist (the wooden Leo Fong), the Hammer (a pudgy Fred Williamson), the pressure point guy (tubby wonder George Dilman), and reformed drug dealer Cholo (decently played by Ken Moreno), decides to clean up the town by opening up a king-sized barrel of chopsocky ferocity on the no-count slimeballs. While the premise certainly has promise, alas said promise is severely undermined by Fong's heavy-handed (mis)direction, the sluggish pace, the talky script, a complete lack of any hardcore sleaze and graphic violence, hit or miss acting from the variable cast (only the always reliable Stack Pierce manages to rise above the general mediocrity with his smooth portrayal of the crooked mayor), the meandering narrative, and the insipid score. Granted, this movie delivers the sporadic unintentionally hilarious moment (Pastor Debra's rough'n'tumble fight scenes in particular are absolutely sidesplitting!) and some cool rousing bust 'em up martial arts action in the last reel, but overall this pretty dull and underwhelming wash-out is strictly humdrum stuff.
2 Reviews
CHRISTIAN NINJA FILM?
nogodnomasters23 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This film is high in camp value. The city is selling drugs to pre-teen kids in their community. Apparently the drugs are from the CIA who need money to fund secret wars, although this aspect is background to the street scene.
Pastor Debra (Shirlee Knudson) is on a crusade to clean up the streets. With well choreographed moves we haven't seen since Pamela Grier and Teresa Graves braved them, she becomes a focal point for laughter. She is aided by the mysterious "Fist" (Leo Fong) who can stealthy moved through the city unnoticed due his slow motion swagger music and Father Guido Sarducci disguise. Fred Williamson helps out later as soon as his gig in the Philippines (camp martial arts movie capital) is completed.
The film is packed with plenty of unintentional laughs as a martial arts drug dealing film is toned down to a "Christian" message movie. And just when you think the acting can't get any worse stunt man Ken Moreno appears on the screen reading lines.
Parental Guide: No F-bombs, sex, or nudity.
Pastor Debra (Shirlee Knudson) is on a crusade to clean up the streets. With well choreographed moves we haven't seen since Pamela Grier and Teresa Graves braved them, she becomes a focal point for laughter. She is aided by the mysterious "Fist" (Leo Fong) who can stealthy moved through the city unnoticed due his slow motion swagger music and Father Guido Sarducci disguise. Fred Williamson helps out later as soon as his gig in the Philippines (camp martial arts movie capital) is completed.
The film is packed with plenty of unintentional laughs as a martial arts drug dealing film is toned down to a "Christian" message movie. And just when you think the acting can't get any worse stunt man Ken Moreno appears on the screen reading lines.
Parental Guide: No F-bombs, sex, or nudity.
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