The Ransom

This is a silly flick, but hell, I just love Oliver Reed. Here he's a badass called Nick, a mercenary whose main fighting skills are his steel glance and incredible poker face. These alone are worth your time. All the rest is bonus: Paul Koslo's unbelievable turn as the Native American assassin named Victor, the okay chase scene half way through (with a cowboy chasing Victor in a convertible, shooting him and yeehawing), Jim Mitchum's deadpan role as a tracker, a hip jazzy soundtrack, a Roger McQuinn song about maniac Victor, a couple of bloody killings by crossbow, one weirdo pre-credit sequence in which the killer shoots a couple of lovebirds Zodiac-style and one particularly effective sequence in which Victor stalks an arrogant millionaire played by Stuart Whitman in his mansion. Not a great flick by any means, but it's got a good pace and it's never boring. And hey, Oliver ff-ing Reed!

Of all the films that have been graced with the title "Maniac" over the years, this one is probably the most boring. That's not for lack of potential. The idea of a Native American man stalking and murdering millionaire townsfolk sounds like exploitation gold. And Assault in Paradise even opens strong, with a classic car-makeout-session double murder, rapidly followed by some crossbow police executions. Not the highest quality 70s film kills to be sure, but it's something we could have worked with at least. Unfortunately though, it's only downhill from there.

It turns out that the real goal of our villain (aka, "The Wind *whooshing sounds*") is to blackmail a brilliantly mustachioed fellow who we'll call Mr. Rich. Of course Mr. Rich is a big man around town and won't be having any of that, so he hires Mr. Tough to take care of the problem. A pretty classic setup all things considered.

Mr. Tough is one of those tough guys who says tough guy things like (paraphrased), "I do things two ways: my way, or my way." He also picks up a woman by sticking a loaded gun in her face over cocktails. I guess back in the 1970s that was considered quite the move because in the next scene they are having rather bland sex. The whole deal would be hilariously stupid if I didn't get the sense the filmmakers were not entirely in on the joke.

The rest of the film is a series of increasingly dull action scenes interspersed with people you don't care about talking about things you don't care about. All the characters act exactly as you expect them to when you first meet them. The action itself is fine for low budget 1970s stuff but lacks any real charm and just doesn't hold up today. There are lots of long shots with helicopters hovering but never any real suspense.

The biggest problem I have with the film is that all of the characters besides Mr. Tough and Mr. Rich are completely forgettable. The tracker character who ends up working with Mr. Tough is never developed. Most of the time, I forgot he was even in the film. Even the evil, faux Native American villain is amazingly boring. He wears face paint that looks like something you'd see at a kindergarten play retelling the first Thanksgiving and his motivation only seems to be money. Money! Not revenge, or ancient Indian spiritual possession, or even just because he's completely nuts, but instead boring old cash. How pedestrian.

Overall, this is just a very forgettable film. I watched it two days ago and literally had to look up what it was about so that I could write this review. There are far better action and exploitation films from the time period. This isn't even the best film that had the alt title "Maniac" from the time period. Compared to "Maniac" (1980), "Assault in Paradise" is a total snoozefest.

Assault on Paradise (1977)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A small town full of rich people find themselves being terrorized by an Indian who is shooting and killing people with a crossbow. He offers to stop the killing in exchange for one million dollars. The rich people decide to bring in Nick McCormick (Oliver Reed), an expert in tracking down people like the killer.

ASSAULT ON PARADISE was also released under the title MANIAC but no matter what you call it the film itself is fairly entertaining if a bit brain dead. I say that it's a bit brain dead because it's not quite clear what the killings are for and it's not quite clear what all the rich people are hiding. Everything is pretty much being done in secret yet there's really no explanation of what is happened and why.

The film's strongest point are the cast members who turn in very fun performances. Reed could play a role like this in his sleep and I'm sure this was just a paycheck to him but he still manages to turn in a good performance. I thought he was quite believable in the part and he made for a good lead. Veterans Stuart Whitman and John Ireland add some nice support as does James Mitchum in his role as a tracker. Deborah Raffin plays a somewhat love interest but her character and the motivations are about as strange as the killers. Paul Koslo plays the killer.

The film's biggest problem, other than the screenplay, is the fact that the direction by Richard Compton doesn't really get any suspense from the material. I would have liked a bit more tension but that's just not to be found anywhere. The film also shows some signs of tinkering as the opening sequence was thrown on for no real reason and it sticks out like a sore thumb. With all of that said, if you're a fan of the cast then there's some entertainment to be found here.

A group of shady businessmen in a wealthy Arizona town find themselves extorted by a man who wants $1 million dollars. Ringleader William Whitaker (Stuart Whitman) decides the best course of action is to hire mercenary Nick McCormick (Oliver Reed) to eliminate the killer. Wow! This was a nice surprise from director Richard Compton (the Macon County movies). It has two great chase scenes, fantastic location work in the desert, and a cast to die for. Seriously, as the opening credits unfold you get like 6 greats in a row - Oliver Reed, Deborah Raffin, Stuart Whitman, John Irleand, Jim Mitchum, and Paul Koslo. Okay, 5 greats and Jim Mitchum. The Code Red blu-ray is definitely the way to see the film. It is presented in the 2.35 aspect ratio and includes a pre-credit sequence that Roger Corman's New World shot for it. Also, there is a longer TV cut which has extra scenes and a voice over by Reed. There is also an incredible 44-minute interview with Koslo. He spends the first 15 minutes talking about his role in this film and then the rest of it is talking about his career. He has great anecdotes about working with Charles Bronson, Charlton Heston, John Wayne, Paul Newman, Shelly Winters, and many more.

This was one of the b-thrillers of the '70s released when there was the craze of the ''Dirty Harry'' movies (until the mid-1980s), and it has an unusual plot.

A sniper (Victor) hops around in a town where he kills people and demands that he wants money so he can stop his killing spree! So a tough law enforcer tries to stop the killer with every possible solution.

This thriller is very tame in comparison to flicks like ''Mitchell''; there is no blood, no sex scenes, and not much bad words. The problem is the script full of holes; Victor is a sniper (and former swimmer) that has a bone to pick with the USA because of his Vietnam war experience. His motives are explained in the end credits song, and to complete the weird stuff, he dresses as a native American and kills his victims with a jagged crossbow! So the city folks hire macho detective McCormick, and then the movie unfolds in a slow pace, with cheesy action sequences and subplots about the characters. But the ending it's a bit surprising, and the hero ends his killing spree with clean hands and with the money. It seemed to me that they compensated the plot holes with some nice shots of the Phoenix mountains in Arizona!

The actors are the true high-lights of the movie: Oliver Reed steals the scene with his bombastic appearence, but his only flaw is that his drunkness has the first focus on the movie instead of the plot, and in certain scenes talks like growling. By the way, Oliver Reed even here gives a great performance, and it's also funny to look at in some scenes. It's supported by few famous actors of those years: John Ireland, James Mitchum as a tracker, and Stuart Whitman as an arrogant milionaire are very good in their roles.

If you want to look some '70s thrillers of the Dirty Harry type, pick this one. It's a decent time-passer for an hour and a half.