Deadly Surveillance

Detective partners with a metropolitan police department, played by Michael Ironside and Vlasta Vrana in this Canadian work made for cable television, answer a burglary-in-progress call, uncovering more than a routine break-in and are tasked to return to the same apartment building for a narcotic stakeout. At the center of the scenario is a discovery by Rick Fender (Ironside) that his former partner, Eddie Nickels (Christopher Bondy), is romancing an attractive blond (Susan Almgren) who is residing in the targeted flat. The erstwhile mates, no longer friends due to a shared problem with a former girlfriend, are ordered to cooperate with each other by their supervising lieutenant (David Carradine - customarily wooden and in this film also saddled with a motheaten role). Ironside plays against type as someone with whom we may sympathize, as he attempts to conjoin the pieces of a puzzle which may implicate Rachel, the paramour of Nickels, in an apparent illegal drug syndicate. Bondy gives a nicely coloured performance as a lover lost in a sea of ambiguity, anxious that Rachel may in fact not be whom she appears, which is the idea behind Fender's growing cynicism. This is the first produced script by Hal Salwen, who later wrote and directed the remarkable DENISE CALLS UP, but there is little room here for Salwen's native wit, although what there is raises the work's appeal in several instances. Both the director and the scriptor apparently have sparse knowledge of universal law enforcement procedures, a crippling shortcoming for a film postulated upon treatment of a police investigation.

Michael Ironside stars in yet another bland, uninspired mildly erotic crime flick with unimaginative neo-noir touches (the man apparently did a lot of those during the nineties, e.g. "Black Ice" aka "A Passion For Murder", "Point Of Impact" aka "Spanish Rose", etc.). Detective Rick Fender (Ironside) & his partner Palatzo (Vlasta Vrana) are staking out the apartment of blonde femme fatale Rachel (Susan Almgren) because she's the girlfriend of crime lord Carlos Hernandez (Neil Kroetsch). Things get a little complicated when Fender finds out Rachel is also dating Nickels (Christopher Bondy), a cop and ex-friend/partner of him. "Complicated" isn't exactly the right word here, since the plot at hand is straightforward and simplistic. With an amount of heroine stashed at the apartment, can Rachel be trusted? That's basically the main question the story thrives on. Other than that, we have one shoot-out, Ms. Almgren providing some nudity and Ironside playing a good guy for a change. The final reel takes things on the road, but the film's climax isn't anything exciting either. Paul Ziller didn't exactly put things badly together, but this type of generic police thriller is strictly for fans of the genre. It simply doesn't provide anything more of interest than what you might expect from it.

Michael Ironside is the only reason to watch this tepid, television grade, action movie without much action. The plot is rather obvious, that the femme fatale is playing every man against each other. In a somewhat rare "good guy" role Ironside and his partner, Christopher Bondy, play off each other under the influence of the blonde "bombshell", Susan Almgren. Almgren does a couple nude scenes in the film'f beginning to add the required strip action. Overall, the plot is slow and straight forward with few surprises. There is a very weak attempt to inject humor, but that is so unlike Ironside's usual no nonsense character, that it fails. I would call this a "might want to see" for MIchael Ironside fans, but all others would probably be disappointed. - MERK