Veteran Ross Hagen is star, co-writer, and director of this reasonably diverting B movie with a good (if not terribly original) premise. He plays Buck Cassidy, an amiable cowboy who sees his three kids snatched off the street in front of his eyes. They're taken away in a speeding ambulance to become some of the latest victims in a scheme to cut up healthy people as unwilling organ donors; said organs are then sold on the black market for a hefty price by ice queen villainess Liz (P.J. Soles). Fortunately, Buck has his old buddy Charlie Stack (Hoke Howell), an ex-cop, on his side, and they immediately start the process of tracking the girls down.
You know that with a cast like this that the movie has to have some value, if mainly as a curio. Big bad William Smith plays the evil surgeon, Russ Tamblyn is a volatile thug, Amanda Blake is the kindly Rosie, and both Rance *and* Clint Howard turn up, as a crooked detective and a creepy orderly, respectively. Hagens' wife Claire plays his wife in the movie. Hagen and Howell (with whom Hagen wrote the movie) are a good team, and it's interesting to see the dynamic between them. Charlie is a cynical grump given to saying things like, "The world's a stinking toilet waiting to be flushed." Soles is fun to watch in the antagonist role, as is Smith, who's as scary a surgeon as you're apt to see, and Tamblyn, who really looks like he's enjoying himself.
The movie itself isn't as satisfying. It's a bit of a wait to get to the best stuff. Still, there are good moments, such as the shock when we see just how demented Tamblyn is. He'll kill *anybody*. Things truly get exciting for the final third when Hagen finally kicks the action into high gear. There's one effective car chase and *tons* of gunfire to keep the audiences' attention from wandering too much. The whole thing is nicely shot by the legendary, extremely prolific Gary Graver, and the music by Peter Meisner and William Belote is good. Ultimately, though, the wrap-up just doesn't have as much punch as one would like.
The title stands for Body Organ Replacement Network; the movie is alternatively known as "Merchants of Death". Claire Hagen served as producer, and Howell and Soles take associate producer credits.
Seven out of 10.
