Shotgun

Two cops…two different cops…one white, one black…one officious and one who doesn't play by the rules. Playing by the rules can get you killed.

You may have encountered the above scenario a few times before. Shotgun is without doubt a cliché-fest and I love it for it. It's central character is called Ian 'Shotgun' Jones and he is on the hunt for a sadistic misogynistic maniac in a gimp suit. Stuart Chapin plays the title character perfectly with zero irony and humour; this makes him all the funnier of course. This is the joy of Shotgun in general, in that everything is played deadly seriously while at the same time being quite magnificently ridiculous. Take the scenes near the end where Jones and his buddy more or less build a tank out of scrap metal – pure hokum but oh so much fun. This extends to the music too. The soundtrack consists of many guitar solos and a theme song about the title hero. It's pure 80's cheese. Add to this a shot of a man being thrown into a pile of cardboard boxes from three separate angles, a badge handing-in scene, an angry chief, an arrogant lawyer villain, lots of prostitutes, people dancing in suits, a man being set on fire and then run over by a car, etc etc…you get the general idea.

As you might have guessed already, Shotgun is essentially a Lethal Weapon rip-off. It follows the basic template quite closely but obviously with hugely lower production values. Oddly enough, this doesn't effect the enjoyment level of the film very much at all, as it's not especially expensive to make an action thriller if you do it without any star names. And I might actually prefer Stuart Chapin and Rif Hutton to Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. I mean did Gibson and Glover ever appear in a drunk scene quite like the one here? In this one, Chapin and Hutton meet for a few beers at the latter's house and all I can say is it looks like they have had their drinks spiked as their acting suggests that they are tripping on acid as opposed to being ripped on alcohol. This is one of the funniest attempts at drunk acting I have ever seen. Another classic moment to look out for is in the corridor of the police station where the film-makers have decided to try and make the small number of extras they hired seem like a much larger group of people – watch characters walk off screen only to return a few seconds later in the opposite direction wearing shades etc. Great stuff.

Shotgun is a terrifically entertaining bad movie. It has an agreeable smattering of action, sleaze and unintended hilarity. Definitely a hidden gem of a movie for bad movie buffs. A very entertaining flick overall.

(1989) Shotgun CRIME DRAMA

Written and directed by Addison Randall with Ian "Shotgun" Jones (Stuart Chapin) seeking retribution against the crooked lawyer Rocker (David Marriott) responsible after his sister's murder.

All those very high positive ratings on here I am noticing must be the result of both friends and family putting their two cents into supporting a less than mediocre movie. Which despite the positive reviews posted by the few still can't ignore the low 4.4 rating score. It's super duper low budget with the worse type of lighting for a film ever. Even Steven Siegel cheapies have a higher budget than this garbage.

To anybody who has not seen SHOTGUN I urge you to find a copy ASAP! The standard of acting and scriptwriting is so appalling that this film is easily the worst ever made BUT that is exactly why it is also the best! Anybody with a sense of humour will be unable to contain themselves after just one minute of this flick. It is outrageously funny. The pumping 80s rock soundtrack oozes cheese and adds to the film immensely. The characters all reflect one cliché or another, especially Stuart Chapin as Ian Jones, the star of the film. Watch out for his legendary cowboy hat and excessively long coat, real gems. The wordplay is so laboured and stereotypical that no sane person could ever take the film seriously. The way it is filmed also reminds me of 80s style American daytime soaps, very cheap indeed! It will only be available to buy in the cheapest of shops, no more than 50p at most, even on DVD! Go and buy this film NOW! It will provide you with a lifetime of comedy!

Cowboy charlatan Ian Jones (Stuart Chapin) and his stern cop partner Max Billings (Rif Hutton) must track down a fiendish sex maniac with a lovely penchant for vulnerable whores. Believe it or not...he beats up his victims, who comprise mostly of prostitutes and hookers...to death!

This "Basher" is out for a taste of blood. He revels every second in the pleasure of inflicting pain on others. Among the Basher's victims include...Ian's sister. Yes, one of the hookers happens to be Ian's sister. What a big mistake for the masked murderer! Now, Ian has a dead sister to avenge...

Unfortunately for those two detectives, they must overcome their problems with alcoholism before they can take their jobs seriously. To make matters worse, when Ian's methods have gone too far, he gets suspended from the force for six months. Ian than takes a second job as a "Skip Tracer." This hot tempered ex-cop turned bounty hunter is enjoying every minute of his new occupation.

Now, without having to play by the rules, Ian must continue his pursuit of the Basher. What Ian uncovers though is more egregious... He learns of an underground drug ring operating in Mexico. The drug ring is lead by a wealthy lawyer. He is this twisted lawyer by day...and an evil villain who commands a well-armed fortress South of the Border.

Ian's mission is to terminate this drug emperor and destroy his empire and associates...but could this one antagonistic man be working in conjunction with the Basher?

Admittedly, when I first saw SHOTGUN, I was anticipating a high adrenaline thriller. Of course, I was crestfallen once again. The most distinct problem with SHOTGUN is that it never holds the viewer's interest. Though the film tries to be sleazy, it teases the viewer more than draws them into the story. The film quality stinks too! Expect lots of laughs in this movie though. There is occasional, unintentional hilarity in this film to keep connoisseurs mildly satisfied. One of the most amusing scenes was the depiction of police brutality. I mean, come on, the actors were not even touching let alone hitting each other. The dancing and party club scenes also evoked a reminder of how the decade of the 80s seemed so...Eighties. Who could forget the irritating rock music, especially the gratuitous heavy metal guitar, which began to get on my nerves?! Also notice how the same damn helicopter keeps appearing in virtually every other PM Entertainment motion picture!

Chapin (who kind of resembles Italian exploitation actor Al Cliver) looks and acts like the typically bland, hackneyed ex-policeman with a passion for vengeance. I also saw that actor who played Ian's sidekick somewhere else on TV...I just cannot remember where...

Well, I guess that this movie was not all too deplorable. The ending was half-decent even though it seemed to be too derivative of TANGO & CASH (1989). There was also one fast paced car chase. Otherwise, the action scenes were sloppily directed.

SHOTGUN does not have the capabilities to be either a thrilling or entertaining movie. It also lacks the drive to keep the momentum going. This is just another forgetful B-movie. I will say no more except to warn action fans to RUN AWAY as soon as they catch sight of this movie.

RATING: NO STARS out of ****.

There are bad films and there are 'so-bad-they're-good' films. 'Shotgun' falls – weirdly – somewhere between the two. Part of me wants to say that it was truly the worst film I've ever seen. But then I am I charge of the remote control. I could have turned it off any time I wanted, yet I didn't – I stuck with it until the end. I guess that means I took some strange form of enjoyment out of it? I guess if I had to describe 'Shotgun' I'd call it a 'Lethal Weapon' clone, only filmed on the budget of £1.59. It's about two (mismatched) cops (one black, one white) on the trail of a brutal serial killer (as opposed to the kind and gentle serial killers, of course!).

Now, normally this is the point in the review where I say something like 'So… if you're a fan of 'buddy-cop' movies then you'll probably get something out of it.' I know it's not the most original premise, but it can't be THAT bad, can it? The answer to that question is 'Yes.' The problem with this film isn't its lack of originality, it's the budget. You could almost mistake this film as some sort of 'student' effort. Seriously, I made a few short films at college and some of them look more professionally-done than this! Almost every scene is a set. Yes, I know most Hollywood films are made on sound stages for ease of production. However, here, you can almost see the boom mic hanging down – it's that obvious. Then there are the actors. Or should I say 'actors?' They can't act. Again, I get the impression that if you grabbed the nearest guy at the pub and stuck him in front of a camera, he'd pull of a more convincing 'cop in crisis' performance that the lead actor (plus he'd probably look less like a hobo-Beegee). And don't get me started on the action. There's the odd squib full of blood that just about looks passable, but when it comes to anything involving cars they just film the 'chase' at normal speed then fast forward the footage, giving off some sort of 'Benny Hill' vibe to the scene.

Overall, it's really hard to recommend this film to anyone. I only continued to sit through it just to see how bad it actually got. By the time the credits rolled, the major emotion this film invoked in me was pity. I actually felt sorry for the cast and crew who made this mess. They must have known that the budget and talent wasn't really there in order to make something that would compete with the proper Hollywood blockbusters. They could have played this to their strengths and turned it into a parody (it worked for 'Loaded Weapon!'). Unfortunately, they seemed to act (and I use the word 'act' loosely) like the truly believed this was some sort of gritty epic action movie that would stand the test of time. Sadly, it's an awful movie. If you're looking for an action movie, there are better. If you're looking for a buddy-cop movie, there are better. If you're looking for a serial killer movie, there are better. The only reason you'd want to watch this is if you're a huge fan of bad movies and just want to say that you've watched what possibly could be one of the worst films ever made, just so you can win an argument in the pub at a later date.