The Ransom

"The Ransom" has a great basic premise, about a lone (wannabe?) native American who kills random rich people with his crossbow and threatens to continue until the corrupt landowners in his county pay him $3,000,000. "The Ransom" also has an ensemble cast that is every B-movie fanatic's dream come true, including Oliver Reed, John Ireland, Paul Kelso, James Mitchum, and Stuart Whitman. Put two and two together and you've got an unhinged 70s action/exploitation classic, you'd think, but somehow this film is only mediocre. Not great, certainly not bad, ...just mediocre.

None of the characters are particularly memorable. Reed, as the hired hunter, isn't the eccentric or relentless psychopath he could have been in a role like this. Whitman, as the leader of the rich pack, is a jerk but not the loathsome creep he could - and should - have been. And something similar can be said about all characters. Deborah Raffin, the only woman in the cast, got the worst deal. Her character is docile, naïve, and redundant. The script is severely lacking as well. Reed and C° hunt for loony Kelso, but they don't really have a plan. So, the latter just hides out in the desert, or in Whitman's giant mansion, or within the crowd during the town's folk festival, and occasionally shoots a few arrows in people's stomachs. Still though, it's enjoyable 70s guff, with a handful of cool scenes and a neat soundtrack.

Paul Koslo appears to be a crossbow killing phantom, since he often shows up out of nowhere, with no obvious means of getting there other than wings. His meaningless rants about the wind, only deepens a total mystery regarding his motivation for extorting the rich. Either an awful lot of this film wound up on the cutting room floor, or this is one of the most underdeveloped scripts ever. Stuart Whitman and Oliver Reed are charged with ending Koslo's mayhem, but to no avail as they seem to be constantly chasing smoke that simply disappears. Throw in the fastest seduction on film between Reed and Deborah Raffin, car chases for the sake of car chases, and you pretty much get the idea. The movie is watchable, because the desert scenery magnificent, but believability is nowhere to be found. MERK

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!

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.

An American Indian named Victor (Paul Koslo, "The Stone Killer") is running around an Arizona town picking off people with his trusty crossbow. What he wants is for all the local fat cats to pay him a million to make him stop the killings. The richest jerk in the area, William Whitaker (Stuart Whitman, "The Comancheros"), hires a mercenary, Nick McCormick (Oliver Reed, "The Devils") to work on behalf of him and his peers. Since these particular fat cats are by and large a corrupt bunch, they would rather not use the regular legal channels. John Ireland ("I Saw What You Did") is the rather useless sheriff, Jim Mitchum ("Trackdown") a local hired for his tracking skills, and Deborah Raffin ("Death Wish 3") the reporter who takes a shine to gruff stranger-in-town Reed.

Directed by the late cult filmmaker Richard Compton ("Macon County Line"), "The Ransom" (also known as "Maniac!" and "Assault on Paradise") is decent entertainment, as far as it goes. There's nothing particularly interesting or different about it, it just tells a passable, routine story in capable fashion. It does have some good set pieces, whether they be vehicular chases or a stalking / suspense sequence set at Whitakers' estate. It is rather amusing, and ridiculous, how Victor is almost always way ahead of everybody else. He seems to have little trouble infiltrating defences and acquiring excellent vantage points. Nicely photographed (by Charles Correll) in scope, and scored (by Don Ellis), it moves along pretty well, but never gives us much info about, or insight into, the characters. Most of them are ciphers. And very little is done with many of the plot details.

Still, it's a treat to see Reed do just about anything, and here he gets to be moderately badass and try out an American accent. Raffins' reporter is a largely useless character, but Whitman is fun as the cranky moneybags who becomes increasingly frustrated over Victors' success and McCormicks' insistence on doing things his way.

Overall, a reasonable way to kill an hour and a half, with a fairly high body count but not much in the way of gore.

Six out of 10.