Killing American Style (1988)

"I'll kill them... American style." - John

Criminals get more than they bargained for when the terrorize a family.
Starring: Robert Z'Dar, Harold Diamond, Jim Brown, John Lynch, Joselito Rescober

Link to IMDB

After a robbery goes wrong for the ruthless criminal Tony Stone and his henchmen, they all get busted by the cops, but as they are being transported to prison they are able to escape into the countryside! Now fugitives, Tony and his gang are on the run, so they decide to hide at a nearby ranch where they can plan their next step.

Tony                                         John

Lt. Sunset

The man who owns the ranch is John, and although he's a trained fighter he's also outgunned and outnumbered. John needs to protect his young son and a handful of ladies he's got living with him, so he's forced into doing what Tony demands, which includes not calling the police, of course.
Speaking of cops, there is a Lt. Sunset trying to find where Tony is hiding, but he doesn't get much to do until closer to the end.

John is slowly trying to figure out how he can eliminate Tony and his thugs, but every time he tries to get control he puts the other hostages in danger, so despite there being the occasional fight most of the action is saved for the end when John and Lt. Sunset finally try to take Tony down.

"A lot more people are going to get killed." - Lt. Sunset

Lots of this

This movie was written and directed by Amir Shervan, the same man that gave us the great Samurai Cop, so I went in expecting another cult classic but was rather let down in that regard.
The main highlight is Robert Z'Dar, of course, and he delivers another classic performance even when the jumbled script doesn't know what to do with him.

Despite a few dull sections there are plenty of laughs to be found here, because of the low budget testosterone fueled cheesy chaos and remarkably nonsensical dialog, but there's only a few glimpses of that mad brilliance that Samurai Cop so easily delivers.

Be sure not to miss:
- The scene where Lt. Sunset visits the brothel.
- The most unconvincing woman disguise ever.
- John's got some wack wardrobe choices. Especially his baby pink dungaree ensemble.

Internet review:
"It's a VHS haze of incomprehensible mondo craziness." - LardZombie

Should I watch it?
Essential viewing for Z'Dar fans, but it's not a cult classic.

Where can I find it?
Links here. (openload)

Killing American Style gets...