Navigation

Death Promise (1977)

Dir: Robert Warmflash

A typical slice of groovy 70's funk plays over the credits and leads us into a voiceover that informs us of all those greedy and crooked tenement landlords that rip people off with high rents to live in dirty firetraps and intimidate those that won't move out, when they want to sell the tenements for their land value, by switching the gas and electricity off!
It's a disgrace man!

Two such put upon tenants are a Karate student Charley Roman (Charles Bonet, who looks like a slightly taller, pumped up Paul Simon!) and his Father Louis (Bob O'Connell) who, pushed to the limit, fight back! "Those money grubbing landlords! We ain't movin' and nobody's moving! Over my dead body" declares Louis. OOPS!
As anyone who has seen at least one cheesy action film knows…you should never, ever, utter a phrase like that!
And sure enough Louis buys the farm when he refuses a bride to move from the tenement by the 'Iguana Realty Company', a mysterious front organisation (with an unknown boss), which owns the building.

Charley vows bloody revenge for his Pop's murder and, after getting some 'extra special' Karate training from a wise Kung Fu Master, rounds up his best Karate friend (big Black super kicker Speedy Leacock, who seems to be playing himself!) to help him in his mission.
Together they set out to teach 'Iguana Realty', and its suited bully boys, a lesson in street justice!…

This sadly obscure slice of funky, urban Martial Arts mayhem is a trash treat for fans of such flicks and is packed with violent fun.

Despite all the usual 70's inner city clichés of the poor people (normally ethnic minorities) struggling against rich and powerful corporations, the film does make one of the rich bad guys (and a few of the lower rank minions) Black. True, he's the only one in a group of typical White creeps, but it adds a nice edge and shows that it's actually corruption and illegality that's the enemy…not just 'Whitey'.
A wonderfully mad moment involving the bad guys is when we first see the mysterious boss of 'Iguana Realty' as, in true James Bond villain style, he sits just out of frame stroking a black cat in a sinister fashion!

As was hugely popular at the time, "Death Promise" gives us a Martial Arts school where all the cool cats hang out and delivers various Karate practice sessions.
It's all essential material to this kind of film and the rough 'n' tough Martial Arts in general is nicely effective, with some great sound effects dubbed over.

The film also uses the more traditional Eastern Kung Fu movie plot line of the inexperienced avenger taking time out to be trained by an old master.
And in "Death Promise" the Sifu comes in the form of Master Ying (Tony Liu, from Chang Cheh's "Shaolin Temple", in dubious old age make-up) who puts the angry and cocky Charley through his paces. And again it's all good cliché stuff with Charley getting tough treatment and learning the essentials like "the Panther sleep with one eye open" by getting hit with a big stick while trying to have a nap!

Damn! This whole film is full of clichés in fact. The rich bad guys (including a High Court Judge) are all arrogant and think of nothing but power and money and go on about how the lower class animals have no damn respect anymore.
And the good guys are all honest, hard working Joe's who preach on about how 'the man' is always putting them down and how the greedy rich guys corrupt society. Great stuff!
This is 70's, American, Grindhouse action film making in its purest form and it brings a tear to the eye.
We are even given a sneaky plot twist, in Norbert Albertson Jr's screenplay, just to round the whole lovely package off!

A bit of nudity is thrown into the mix (essential to the plot of course) in the form of a pair of pendulous, saucer nipple, breasts and a dash of romance is added to the scene when these sweet, sweet words of love are uttered,…"you can leave anytime bitch"

The wonderfully monikered Director Robert Warmflash sadly never directed another film (though he still works today in Post-Production including work on Abel Ferrara's ill-fated "New Rose Hotel") and it's a real shame as he delivers everything you could hope for here…
Groovy street dialogue, comic strip villains and good guys, nudity, violence, funky songs, authentic and rough location shooting, cheesy stunts, bad fashions, loads of screaming, suitably nasty revenge deaths (including a great use of rats), throwing stars, chain sticks, samurai swords and bone crunching Kung Fu slapdowns!

Wonderful entertainment the like of which they just don't make anymore.
Now where's that re-mastered DVD sucka?!