Fireback (1983) / Blood Debts (1985)
2-Disc DVD set
DIRECTOR: Teddy Page (both films) (Ninja Force, Black Fire)
STARS: Fireback: Richard Harrison (Revenge of the Godfather), Bruce Baron, Jim Gaines, Mike Monty / Blood Debts: Richard Harrison, Mike Monty, Jim Gaines, Bruce Baron (Powerforce)
SYNOPSIS: If you love over-the-top 80’s action this Richard Harrison double feature is for you.
Fireback: Richard Harrison stars as “Jack Kaplan“, a tough soldier in Vietnam who gets captured and held in a POW camp. Thought to be lost or dead he finally gets rescued in an explosion filled escape. Back home his girlfriend pines over him and pushes away advances by a mysterious creep named “Duffy Collins” (Baron). Fed up, the stalker decides to kidnap and imprison her. When Kaplan returns home he learns about his girlfriend’s disappearance and starts asking lots of questions in sleazy bars and strip joints to find some leads. The kidnapper learns about Kaplan’s return and begins sending goons to kill him. They all end up beaten, shot, strangled or blown up. There’s a 20 minute section near the end where the film turns into First Blood as Kaplan is pursued into the woods by a large posse of cops and locals. He kills countless people with extreme prejudice. Finally he gets to Collins house for the final showdown and even dons a classic ninja suit (as Harrison would do for most of his career). An entertaining action packed winner.
Blood Debts: The film kicks off with a group of shotgun-toting men prowling through the woods looking for trouble. They find a young couple having a picnic and decide to scare them. The girl ends up raped and both are killed in cold blood. The girl’s father (Harrison) tries to intervene and gets shot as well… but he survives. This begins the Death Wish portion of the film as Harrison methodically tracks down and kills all the men responsible. When he‘s done we’re only 30 minutes into the film! Then, just for laughs, he continues to wander the streets late at night looking for bad guys to kill. Meanwhile a group of shadowy men, including the leader Mike Monty, have been watching Harrison’s exploits. They see how efficient he is at killing the criminal scum and hatch a plan. They provide a list of names they want him to eliminate and, just to be sure he complies, they kidnap his wife (see Blood Debts above for how good this move is). The group even teams him up with a sexy blonde ex-mob killer-for-hire to help him out. At first Harrison goes along with the plan but eventually he realizes he must find out who this shadow group is and why they want all these people dead. There is SO much violence and bloodshed in this one: beatings, shootings, stabbings, rape, torture, etc. Harrison even gets to use that giant bazooka / grenade launcher thingy (shown in the poster art). You’ll also love how he tends to favor a cool red tracksuit top unzipped down to his belly button with no shirt underneath for much of the film (!). Both of these films end with hilarious postscripts about the main character as if any of this madness were somehow real.
Fullscreen / Color (both films)
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R
2-Disc DVD set
DIRECTOR: Teddy Page (both films) (Ninja Force, Black Fire)
STARS: Fireback: Richard Harrison (Revenge of the Godfather), Bruce Baron, Jim Gaines, Mike Monty / Blood Debts: Richard Harrison, Mike Monty, Jim Gaines, Bruce Baron (Powerforce)
SYNOPSIS: If you love over-the-top 80’s action this Richard Harrison double feature is for you.
Fireback: Richard Harrison stars as “Jack Kaplan“, a tough soldier in Vietnam who gets captured and held in a POW camp. Thought to be lost or dead he finally gets rescued in an explosion filled escape. Back home his girlfriend pines over him and pushes away advances by a mysterious creep named “Duffy Collins” (Baron). Fed up, the stalker decides to kidnap and imprison her. When Kaplan returns home he learns about his girlfriend’s disappearance and starts asking lots of questions in sleazy bars and strip joints to find some leads. The kidnapper learns about Kaplan’s return and begins sending goons to kill him. They all end up beaten, shot, strangled or blown up. There’s a 20 minute section near the end where the film turns into First Blood as Kaplan is pursued into the woods by a large posse of cops and locals. He kills countless people with extreme prejudice. Finally he gets to Collins house for the final showdown and even dons a classic ninja suit (as Harrison would do for most of his career). An entertaining action packed winner.
Blood Debts: The film kicks off with a group of shotgun-toting men prowling through the woods looking for trouble. They find a young couple having a picnic and decide to scare them. The girl ends up raped and both are killed in cold blood. The girl’s father (Harrison) tries to intervene and gets shot as well… but he survives. This begins the Death Wish portion of the film as Harrison methodically tracks down and kills all the men responsible. When he‘s done we’re only 30 minutes into the film! Then, just for laughs, he continues to wander the streets late at night looking for bad guys to kill. Meanwhile a group of shadowy men, including the leader Mike Monty, have been watching Harrison’s exploits. They see how efficient he is at killing the criminal scum and hatch a plan. They provide a list of names they want him to eliminate and, just to be sure he complies, they kidnap his wife (see Blood Debts above for how good this move is). The group even teams him up with a sexy blonde ex-mob killer-for-hire to help him out. At first Harrison goes along with the plan but eventually he realizes he must find out who this shadow group is and why they want all these people dead. There is SO much violence and bloodshed in this one: beatings, shootings, stabbings, rape, torture, etc. Harrison even gets to use that giant bazooka / grenade launcher thingy (shown in the poster art). You’ll also love how he tends to favor a cool red tracksuit top unzipped down to his belly button with no shirt underneath for much of the film (!). Both of these films end with hilarious postscripts about the main character as if any of this madness were somehow real.
Fullscreen / Color (both films)
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R
2-Disc DVD set
DIRECTOR: Teddy Page (both films) (Ninja Force, Black Fire)
STARS: Fireback: Richard Harrison (Revenge of the Godfather), Bruce Baron, Jim Gaines, Mike Monty / Blood Debts: Richard Harrison, Mike Monty, Jim Gaines, Bruce Baron (Powerforce)
SYNOPSIS: If you love over-the-top 80’s action this Richard Harrison double feature is for you.
Fireback: Richard Harrison stars as “Jack Kaplan“, a tough soldier in Vietnam who gets captured and held in a POW camp. Thought to be lost or dead he finally gets rescued in an explosion filled escape. Back home his girlfriend pines over him and pushes away advances by a mysterious creep named “Duffy Collins” (Baron). Fed up, the stalker decides to kidnap and imprison her. When Kaplan returns home he learns about his girlfriend’s disappearance and starts asking lots of questions in sleazy bars and strip joints to find some leads. The kidnapper learns about Kaplan’s return and begins sending goons to kill him. They all end up beaten, shot, strangled or blown up. There’s a 20 minute section near the end where the film turns into First Blood as Kaplan is pursued into the woods by a large posse of cops and locals. He kills countless people with extreme prejudice. Finally he gets to Collins house for the final showdown and even dons a classic ninja suit (as Harrison would do for most of his career). An entertaining action packed winner.
Blood Debts: The film kicks off with a group of shotgun-toting men prowling through the woods looking for trouble. They find a young couple having a picnic and decide to scare them. The girl ends up raped and both are killed in cold blood. The girl’s father (Harrison) tries to intervene and gets shot as well… but he survives. This begins the Death Wish portion of the film as Harrison methodically tracks down and kills all the men responsible. When he‘s done we’re only 30 minutes into the film! Then, just for laughs, he continues to wander the streets late at night looking for bad guys to kill. Meanwhile a group of shadowy men, including the leader Mike Monty, have been watching Harrison’s exploits. They see how efficient he is at killing the criminal scum and hatch a plan. They provide a list of names they want him to eliminate and, just to be sure he complies, they kidnap his wife (see Blood Debts above for how good this move is). The group even teams him up with a sexy blonde ex-mob killer-for-hire to help him out. At first Harrison goes along with the plan but eventually he realizes he must find out who this shadow group is and why they want all these people dead. There is SO much violence and bloodshed in this one: beatings, shootings, stabbings, rape, torture, etc. Harrison even gets to use that giant bazooka / grenade launcher thingy (shown in the poster art). You’ll also love how he tends to favor a cool red tracksuit top unzipped down to his belly button with no shirt underneath for much of the film (!). Both of these films end with hilarious postscripts about the main character as if any of this madness were somehow real.
Fullscreen / Color (both films)
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R