Firecracker

(1981) Firecracker ACTION

Co-written and directed by Cirio H. Santiago (also credited as co-executive producer) and Allan Holzman that has martial artist, Susanne Carter Susie for short (Jillian Kesner) coming to the Philippines from LA. For the intention of finding her sister, Bonnie who was a photo journalist and has suddenly disappeared. And it is like, by the time Susie arrives and almost immediately, two thieves attempt to break into her apartment and rob her while she is half naked in a hotel room, and of course she beats both of them down. And then, by the time she goes to a bar where her sister "was" staying, both the big bar server, Pete (Pete Cooper) and his server Rey (Reymond King) are then being attacked by Philippine customers and they are beating them down, with Susie joining in the fight. And after that brawl had settled down, Pete and Rey then inform her that the last time Susie's sister was last seen was with club owner, Erik Stallard (Ken Metcalfe). And what is unusual about this particular club is that the stage itself is actually used for one on one fights. Except that as soon as she entered into the club, Erik's #1 fighter Chuck Donner already knew who she was, and that Susie is not just any kind of martial artist, we soon find out that she happens to be a six time black belt karate expert who owns her own dojo back in LA. And by getting Chuck to discourage her, he then offers her 500 bucks to get in the ring with the current winner, and when she does beat him, Chuck does not even pay her. As the movie continues, and is predicted, we find out Susie's sister, Bonnie stumbled onto an illegal dope racket happening with Erik's number one fighter Chuck double crossing his boss to intercept those exchanges by stealing them from his boss, Erik's supplier Grip (Vic Diaz) for the intention of enriching himself.

Acting is bad, the fights are bad, where almost all of them looked fake when people are clearly are not even touched, and react as if they are, as well as the few shoot outs shown when the characters are just waving the guns and the sound effects does the rest. And yes, even king of low budget movies, Roger Cormon is shown on the credits here uncredited as executive producer. From what I've seen I'd give the film two stars for the effort, but because the led actress, Jillian Kesner is very voluptuous, it did motivate me to check out other work she has done Speaking as a heterosexual male it's one of those movies when if the actress is attractive enough, you can some times perhaps look at her all day, regardless how bad her acting and the action is, there are times a persons presence can be sufficient enough.

Jillian Kesner is a standout in this fast-moving action film set in the Philippines. She's radiantly beautiful, with her fit figure unabashedly displayed several times. Also, she is the action star of the movie, frequently mixing it up with the bad guys and winning out.

We get a good amount of well-shot locations; the film, on the dvd-three pack, looks crisp and the colors are vibrant. It's definitely a B film, but so what? It's highly entertaining all the way through. A few times the violence gets quite gory, but it isn't a gore-fest by any means. Because of the setting, it works fine that the majority of the cast is from the Philippines; it fits with the story.

Watching this movie, I wish that Jillian Kesner had starred in a good many more films of this type. She's very likeable, and that comes through to the viewer; that quality she has, combined with her beauty, makes one more willing to overlook cheesy aspects of the movie. Recommended.

This is goofy '80s exploitation/martial arts fun at its best. Horrible fight scenes, yet hilarious. Cornball fight choreography-which includes one of the funniest fight/chase scenes involving our heroine(a very attractive Jillian Kessner) . And, a sex scene that will leave you cracking up! Check out this movie but only if you want to laugh at how ridiculous it is from beginning to the abrupt ending. SO BAD THAT IT'S GOOD👍🏾.

Filmed in the Philippines I assume because it was cheaper. Kesner was a pretty good fighter, good looking, not much of an actor but who cares. I've seen a lot of martial arts flicks, Chan and Lee but you cannot compare this one to those obviously. The details. Like the music for one, are just strange. Watch it, just keep your finger on the fast forward button!

This movie was probably singularly responsible for my interest in B-grade martial arts movies. I saw it when I was very young (before cable - eeeeek!) on late-night "Kung-fu Theater". The local station had obviously made a mistake and aired the movie uncut - violence, nudity, and all! The epic final fight scene finds the heroine steadily losing pieces of her clothing one item at a time until she finishes the battle wearing nothing but her panties. The sight of her fighting in such a condition forever made me a fan of the genre! See it if you have a chance.