You know, I know, everybody knows that Jack Palance is at his very best when depicting bona-fide evil villains, or - at the bare minimum - chauvinist scumbag characters with utmost nasty personalities. So, when you read the premise of a 70s exploitation/thriller in which Palance stars as a tough and frustrated LAPD homicide officer, you can rest assured that he'll be the type who resolve cases in the most unorthodox ways imaginable. Heck, he'll probably use more violence than the murderers, rapists, and armed robbers that he chases! That's our Jack!
And indeed, Lieutenant Wade is much more of a Paul Kersey (from "Death Wish") than a Harry Callahan (from "Dirty Harry"). Excessively enraged because the criminals he brings in are repeatedly acquitted due to insignificant procedural errors, Lt. Wade gradually turns into judge, jury, and executioner in one. Notably for his latest case, a vicious rapist and serial killer known in the media as The Slasher, Wade will not permit the culprit lives long enough to see the inside of the courtroom. Of course, this forces him to make deals with the dangerous criminals he's normally supposed to arrest and cover up bloody vigilante-acts from his own colleagues.
There were dozens of movies like "One Man Jury" during the seventies, and personally I love watching every single one of them! Most of these movies were modeled after the above-mentioned milestones, so please don't expect any original storylines, or deeply elaborated character portraits here. What you may certainly expect, however, is Jack Palance in top-shape! He shoots sleazy thugs in the face at close range, laughs at his girlfriend's pleas for reintegrating criminals into society, and drinks cheap wine with Los Angeles' biggest hustler. There's plenty of extreme and gratuitous violence on display, as well nudity and crazy stunt work. It's a very woman-unfriendly movie, but sadly this was more rule than exception during the late 70s. Marvelous supportive cast also, including Christopher Mitchum, Pamela Susan Shoop, Alexandra Hay, Angel Tompkins, and the almighty Joe Spinell from "Maniac".
