Wit's End

Dave Dearborn (Tom Keena) Vietnam veteran, free-lance journalist, and mercenary, is operating a discotheque aboard a ramshackle junk plying Singapore's harbor, when he receives an offer to investigate a probable defection of a scientist from Communist China. An overly complicated storyline depicts Dave taking the assignment because Chinese "businessman" Mr. Lim may have his claws into the defector in order to vend his expertise to the highest bidder, assisted by Lim's mistress Mai Lee (Vicki Racimo) for whom Dave carries a torch from their former affair. In the course of searching for the missing researcher, Dave becomes entangled with and beds several avidly willing females, while other bodies of the deceased sort pile up following a string of shootings, and we are given a surfeit of material detailing Dearborn's past as a cocaine addict, murderer for hire, and undercover homosexual! Filming is in Singapore, completed in 1971, but the piece was not released until Troma, a company specializing in exploitation features, offered it in 1984; there is, therefore, some interest within the production for its footage along the city's Orchid Road, Sago Lane and, in particular, Bugis Street with its swarms of transvestites, all given the kindness of being cleaned by the regime of Lee Yuan Lew subsequent to the movie's completion. Aside from this historic significance, little remains of value as the picture suffers from pronounced flaws in continuity and logic, in addition to generally shabby production values under the direction of schlockmeister Joel Reed, with a cast of largely, and thankfully, unknowns. Racimo is an able actress but here is wasted, as during one rather fantastic scene when, after her character dispatches her current squire by shooting him to death, including a close range finishing shot to the head, she then gives in to the demands of lust with Keena's character, the pair thrashing about amid four recently slain evildoers; there is precious little by way of interpretation that can be provided in such an instance.

I only saw this movie because of the alternate title, "Wild Dragon Lady". Well, there is one character referred to at one point as Dragon Lady, but she's not nearly wild enough. Apparently the film was picked up and distributed by the (in)famous Troma company, but you have to wonder why: even the few attempts at camp (the gay villain) are dull. It's pointlessly talky, the "plot" makes no sense, and there is hardly any action or excitement to be found. The only "redeeming" features of the film are the location shooting in Singapore, and the brief but high-quality female nudity. In fact, the only reason "Wild Dragon Lady" will remain in my collection is because it contains a scene of a nude woman shooting a gun. 0.5 out of 4 stars.

Dave Dearborn (Tom Keena, the most improbable action hero if ever there was one) is a journalist in Singapore on a assignment on a crime boss. He's soon awash with dealings with strippers, nuclear scientists, CIA operatives, and large-toothed mobsters (among others). The acting all around is atrocious, the plot, for lack of a better term, is a mess, the "hero" throughly unconvincing by any stretch of the imagination, and Janet Wood is the extremely unwanted love smitten girl who hangs on to Dave, all are rancid ingredients that torpedo this movie to the lower regions of cinema where all the other unwatchable turds dwell. Oh and if one were to edit out all the padding that the movie has it would be half an hour shorter at the least.

My Grade: D-

Eye Candy: Janet Wood shows her breasts; Angelique Pettyjohn provides the T&A; and Victoria Racimo shows everything

My review was written in February 1985 after a screening at Selwyn theater on Manhattan's 42nd St.

Though purportedly in its New York debut (hence this review for the record), "The G. I. Executioner" is actually an entertaining low-budget vault item, having been rated by the MPAA way back in 1971 under the title "Wit's End" (that tille is retained in a theme song played twice). Picture was previously handled under the title "Dragon Lady" by Joseph Green Pictures for distribution, apparently quite limited, and is now a Troma pickup with new moniker.

Falling comfortably within the Far East, Soldier of Fortune format, pic toplines Tom Keena as Dave Dearborn, an ex-Marine who later excelled at undercover journalistic assignments in the 1960s in Saigon and elsewhere. Now running a restaurant aboard a junk in Singapore, he is tapped to track down a defecting Red Chinese nuclear scientist (experimenting with antimatter) who may have been kidnapped by the Triad Tong. Key suspect is gangster Lim Tok Sing whose current Chinese concubine Foon Mai Lee (Victoria Racimo, is a ex-girlfriend of Dearborn's. Also helping out on the case is sexy stripper Bonnie (Angelique Pettyjohn), while the oversexed Dearborn dallies with his current main squeeze (Janet Wood) whom he calls his "niece".

Nutty foreign intrigue plot (sue enough, the bd guy turns out to be Deaborn's old nemesis from Saigon) is hampered by use of stiff, nonactors in minor roles, but "Executioner" develops a certain charm with its old-fashioned B-film cliches, to which modern ultra-violence and sex have been added. Weird plot turns and melodramatic elements in later reels prove to be entertaining in campy fashion, though dance scenes, hairstyles, etc., have become dated.

Keena, who combines John Garfeld's chip-on-shoulder attitude with a voice resembling that of Gene Kelly, is an interesting, tortured film noir hero, though he hams up his injured and death scenes laughably in the final reel. The cast's leading ladies are beautiful, in and out of clothing, but Victoria Racimo is not in the least bit Chinese in a role played straight ahead with no makeup. In an odd coincidence, statuesque costar Angelique Pettyjohn has a new film of hers "The Lost Empire" open the same day as this one on 42nd St. In New York, nearly bookending a career which ranges from guest starring on "Star Trek" to hardcore porn.

Location lensing in Singapore ofers plentiful local color, but tech credits are subpar.

GI Executioner is a low budget, pretty boring and forgettable action movie shot on location in Singapore. The director is Joel Reed, who directed one of my favorite cult horror films( Bloodsucking Freaks). While still a pretty sleazy movie, this movie is mostly a snooze fest, low on action with a convoluted plot that's all over the place. GI Executioner later got picked up by Troma for the home video market and I am sure only because this is a Joel Reed film. The overall quality of the film is low, the leading actor is alright, but there is little in the way of excitement. I would not say that this is unwatchable, but I wish I chose a better movie to end my day.