Trackdown (1976)

Trackdown (1976)- * * *

Directed by: Richard T. Heffron

Starring: James Mitchum, Karen Lamm, Erik Estrada, Anne Archer, Vince Cannon, and Cathy Lee Crosby











Jim Calhoun (Mitchum) is a Montana cattle rancher who doesn't take any guff. When his sister Betsy (Lamm) decides to follow in the footsteps of so many that came before her and moves to L.A. seeking fame and fortune, tragedy befalls her. The wide-eyed and innocent Betsy falls afoul of an evil gang and is forced into prostitution. A guy named Chucho (Estrada) falls for Betsy, and while initially associated with the gang, severs ties when Betsy goes missing. 

Soon Jim Calhoun is in the big city, a big, burly fish out of water, also searching for his beloved sister. Joining the search party is social worker Lynn (Crosby). But super-evil baddie Johnny Dee (Cannon) is going to make life especially hard for the well-meaning trio, who, despite all their social differences, have banded together to save Betsy from a life of squalor. Will Calhoun and his friends succeed in their TRACKDOWN?

Trackdown is a quality example of the "disgruntled man searching for his wife/sister/daughter" movie exemplified by the likes of Hardcore (1979), Broken Angel (1988), and, most recently, Taken (2008). While there are other examples, Trackdown predates the aforementioned three titles, and, as you might expect, is dripping with 70's style. Thank goodness for movies like Trackdown, which show L.A. back in the day in all its gritty glory. While the surface is loaded with rotary phones, wide ties, and bellbottoms, the underlying message seems to be that the city is filled with harsh realities and uncaring people, and scavengers will take advantage of you if you don't have a support system of people who care.

One of those people happens to be Erik Estrada. His youthful energy pours through in this early role, and he has some stylish shirts and a killer van to boot. He even takes Betsy to a very interesting dance club with a live band at one point. Director Heffron was going for realism for the most part, which pays off today in the sense of it being a fascinating time capsule. But the true reward of this realistic approach is that there is no treacly sentimentalism or preachy messages, just Jim Mitchum with a shotgun dispensing Montana justice. Now that's a trackdown we can get behind.

It's hard to pick a favorite Mitchum: Jim, Chris or Robert. Each time we think we have a fave, along comes a Code Name: Zebra (1987) or a mega-winner like the awesome Final Score (1986). But for the purposes of today's review, Jim is in the driver's seat, and we couldn't be happier. Jim Calhoun brings a dose of reality to those L.A. airheads, in the form of some good beat-em-ups and an extremely well-directed action setpiece in an elevator shaft. While Cathy Lee Crosby and Anne Archer provide nice cast additions, Mitchum makes you root for Calhoun. Featuring the end credits song "Runaway Girl" by none other than Kenny Rogers, we feel Trackdown is worth tracking down.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Also check out write-ups by our buddies, The Video Vacuum and The Unknown Movies!

The Last Riders (1992)

The Last Riders (1992)- *1\2

Directed by: Joesph Merhi

Starring: Erik Estrada, William Smith, Minnie Madden, Mindy Martin, Mimi Lesseos, and Kathrin Middleton













Johnny Wilson (Estrada) is a member of the Slavers biker gang, but after a botched escapade involving money and drugs, some people die, including a cop. After this, Johnny decides he’s had enough, and departs the Slavers for good. Or so he thinks. He ends up in a dusty ol’ Nevada town, working as a mechanic with his old friend Hammer (Smith). He soon meets a woman, Anna (Middleton) and her young daughter, Sammi (Mindy Martin), and he begins to rebuild his life. 

But his past soon comes back to haunt him, as the Slavers feel he betrayed them, and they’re out for his blood. And law enforcement feel similarly, blaming Johnny for the death of the law enforcement officer. Now, as both sides of the law are gunning for him, Johnny must make his final stand. Will he truly be one of the...LAST RIDERS?

We felt that The Last Riders was a rare misstep for the normally-solid PM. It has a weirdly disjointed feel, with a lot of airy, empty space when there should be more forward drive. It essentially becomes a romantic drama at one point, which wouldn’t be so bad, but the filmmakers somehow managed to screw up what should have been a slam-dunk ending. 

We won’t give away any spoilers, we’ll just say it’s edited and paced...unusually, and where there should have been full-throttle revenge, it lacks a powerful momentum. In our world, botching what should have been an appropriate revenge is an inexcusable mistake. As much as it saddens us, we can’t give The Last Riders a very high rating. We love Merhi, Randall and PM, and we love Smith, Lesseos and  Estrada, but something went awry here. It’s unfortunate.

The movie is truly Mimi Lesseos at her best. She has a great look, and as a female wrestler (which she also portrayed in the same year’s Pushed To The Limit) she gets to show off some of her moves both in and out of the ring. She’s only in the first part of the movie, unfortunately, and after she departs, the movie suffers immensely. 

The whole “romance” sub-plot is pretty typical: Middleton plays your classic “annoying woman” who doesn’t get along with Estrada, and they butt heads over disputes like food, but, after a whirlwind courtship, they end up marrying after only knowing each other a few days (?). 

But Sammi, the young tot of a daughter, basically steals the movie. She’s a realistic-looking child, not an overly-cute “movie kid”. She has a Bart Simpson shirt, pajamas that say “KID” on them, and other classic early-90’s clothing. Her facial expressions and line deliveries are priceless.  It’s casting decisions like this (and Lesseos) that make you think...Okay, this movie isn’t bad, but it’s not great, either. But the lame ending puts a deciding nail into this coffin of a movie.

While there is the time-honored barfight, the movie could have used some more action in the middle instead of romance. Or just more of a threat from the Slavers. Slowing the pace even more are two live performances from an all-female band called The Sheilas (which seems to be misspelled in the end credits). Their songs are catchy and professional-sounding, but why are we spending so much time with them? They add nothing to the plot and we don’t know them personally. 

Adding to the confusion, Hammer’s wife in the movie is named Sheila (Madden), but she’s NOT in the band, but they keyboard player looks exactly like Mimi Lesseos, who’s not in the band either. Of the non-Sheilas music, the opening song is very Cameo-like, and William Smith’s voice, which sounds like he gargles with razor blades, is like sweet music to our ears, anyway.

As a biker, perhaps it was thought that Estrada could make an easy job transition from CHiPS to SLAVERS. But regardless, The Last Riders is a disappointment.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

The Divine Enforcer (1992)

The Divine Enforcer (1992)-* *

Directed by: Robert Rundle

Starring: Erik Estrada, Jan-Michael Vincent, Michael Foley, Jim Brown, Judy Landers, Hiroko, Don Stroud, and Robert Z'Dar












The Monsignor (Estrada), Father Thomas (Vincent) and their helpful assistant Merna (Landers) live and work at a church in a “bad part” of L.A. One day, a man named Father Daniel (Foley) comes to join their parish. The only thing about Father Daniel is, he’s a Martial Arts expert who uses his Cross-emblazoned gun, knives and even throwing stars to take out the trash of the city. He even uses the confessional for tips on where to go. But if the parishioners don’t give him enough info, he uses his psychic powers to find out more. 

While trying to keep his double life secret, he meets a fellow psychic, Kim (Chambers), who he takes a liking to. Meanwhile, there’s a sadistic serial killer stalking the city named Otis (Stroud), who drains his victims of blood and saves their skulls. But Father Daniel saves people’s souls, so the two men are mortal enemies. When Otis kidnaps Kim, the ultimate showdown ensues. Or something like that.

You would think a movie about a psychic priest who kills his enemies with throwing stars with the Cross on them would be a surefire hit. But in the hands of director/co-writer Rundle, this one idea is not enough to sustain a 90 minute movie. Thus there is plenty of filler which dilutes this killer idea. A wise man once said “you cannot intentionally make a cult film” and that seems to be the case here. 

Sure, the movie is loaded up with quality B-movie names, but it could definitely be argued that they are not used to their full potential. Add to that some muddy, muffled sound where the music is louder than the dialogue and a lot of repetitive scenes (such as the oft-repeated “Breakfast” scene) and, far from a unique winner, we’re bordering dangerously on dud.

The credits of the movie misspell Erik Estrada’s name (crediting him as “Eric” with a C), while the VHS box (released by Prism) has it correctly. He does more-or-less a “sit-down” role, as does Jan-Michael Vincent, who does an out-and-out sit-down. Vincent just sits at the breakfast table with his newspaper and slurs a few lines. Sure, there’s something endearing about it, but he’s so under-used. And speaking of under-used, Jim Brown and Robert Z’Dar are on screen for literally seconds as incidental drug-dealers. More should have been made of them. Don Stroud plays the deranged killer with aplomb, but his scenes contain the most filler.

And who is this Michael Foley, who plays the main role of Father Daniel, you ask? He was in Lionheart (1990), Karate Cop (1991) and Intent To Kill (1992) - but he’s still kind of an odd choice for a leading role. 

Some of the better moments in The Divine Enforcer comes from the random scenes - plenty of parts have no explanation, and that combined with the amateurish acting usually provides the VHS gold we’re always looking for. But it’s a battle against filler. Ken Davitian shows up in an uncredited role as a club owner watching the singer Hiroko (and her stellar backup dancers) do a performance. Her song “My Love’s Waiting” temporarily livens things up, but this movie is still fairly disappointing.

In all, the idea of the Father Daniel character is excellent, but, sadly, the movie as a whole is mishandled, not getting the maximum bang for the buck from the idea.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

The Lost Idol (1990)

The Lost Idol (1990)-* *1\2

Directed by: P. Chalong

Starring: Erik Estrada and Christoph Kluppel













In the jungles of Kampuchea in 1975, 19 soldiers were left behind. While trying to get to Thailand in the hopes of being found, they come upon a cave with a golden statue. Instead of taking it with them, they decide to hide it in the cave and come back to get it later. This whole initiative is spearheaded by the interestingly-named Lt. Oliver Reed (not the actual Oliver Reed, though that would have been interesting). 

Many years after the end of the war, Reed decides to go and find the idol, and while he’s assembling the team to do so, he realizes he needs the help of Sgt. Kurt (Estrada), now a civilian living with his wife and daughter on a farm in Thailand. Kurt wants no part of the operation, so Reed kidnaps his daughter and forces him to take part. Now strongarmed into Reed’s expedition, the whole gang is captured by the local army and tortured (in the time-honored Prerequisite Torture sequence). Now everyone is fighting to retrieve the “golden idol” - who will actually get it?

Ah, P. Chalong. We hardly knew ye. He had a great streak as director going in the 80’s with this, Gold Raiders (1984) and In Gold We Trust (1991). The dude really liked gold, apparently. Like Gold Raiders, this is an overlong jungle slog. Sure, the climax of the movie is cool, with all the exploding huts, guard towers, shooting and tanks you could hope for, but by that point it’s too little too late. 

But despite the movie’s length, it’s not all THAT bad: for instance, on the bright side it has characters such as Won Ton Gool (?) and Christoph (Kluppel). The line readings/dubbing are great, and there are silly musical stings on the soundtrack. But all in all this movie needed to be sillier even than what it was, and shorter.

Speaking of Christoph, this hulking, mustachioed brute helps things along nicely. He gets not one, but two great entrances in the movie. Before the prerequisite barfight, Christoph emerges with an especially tiny midget, like a Nelson De La Rosa type. Then again he re-emerges later on in spectacular fashion, but we won’t spoil how he does it here. 

And let’s not forget about fan favorite Erik Estrada. Sure, he’s a genre mainstay, but it seems Won Ton and Christoph outshined him here. This movie does have some bright spots, but the length of the movie and uninspired plot work against those better moments like when you push both of your hands together in resistance training.

We presume the rural Thai audiences that saw this movie weren’t as sophisticated as today’s modern viewers, that’s why Chalong included plenty of unmatched day-for-night shots, stock footage and laughable, primitive green screen effects. But we don’t fault him for this, his country most likely just didn’t have the resources and budget for it to be otherwise, and we actually applaud him for getting his movies off the ground despite the odds against him.

Interestingly, The Lost Idol was released on a stand-alone VHS release (on Shapiro-Glickenhaus) and as a double feature tape with the Danny Aiello and Lyle Alzado movie Shock Troop (1990). The “two-fer” tape is much rarer so if you see it anywhere, grab it.

In all, The Lost Idol is decent enough, but really, Erik Estrada is a name that usually stands for better.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Night Of The Wilding (1990)

Night Of The Wilding (1990)-* *

Directed by: Joseph Merhi

Starring: Erik Estrada, Joey Travolta, Kathrin Middleton, Isaac Allen, Kimberly Spiess, Joe Verroca, Charlie Ganis, Pamela Dixon, Robert Dickey, and Raymond Martino

PM goes for something different here, taking a break from out-and-out action movies and delivering a courtroom drama inspired by the then-new show, Law & Order.

Joseph Gainer (Estrada) is a high-powered Beverly Hills defense attorney who has never lost a case. Constantly defending scumbags and releasing them back out into society seems to be getting under his skin, however. Three teenage psychopaths, led by Carl Sloan (Allan) - the other two being the token “weak link” who has somewhat of a conscience about their evil deeds, Alan (Dickey) and Carl’s right-hand man, Martin (Ganis) break into a house and assault and rape Betty Truesky (Austin) and Doris (Kimberly Spiess, better known to adult film fans as Carol Cummings). They also attack another member of the family, a man named Bill Paxton! (Verroca, sadly not Bill Paxton). Gainer ends up as one of the lawyers defending the little jerks, and the prosecutor is his former wife Marion (Kathrin Lautner AKA Middleton). They still have a rapport, and issues of law and justice are continually coming up. What will be the fate of Betty, Doris, Carl, Martin, Alan, Joseph and Marion?

Like the aforementioned Law & Order, PM and director Joseph Merhi do a “ripped from the headlines” type of story about the incidents of “Wilding” in the late 80’s/early 90’s. The title “Night of the Wilding” is somewhat misleading for a courtroom movie like this. It’s not exactly in the same league as Night of the Kickfighters (1988). Plus, is a home invasion /attack really wilding? No one is sure exactly what “wilding” is, but we’re pretty sure it’s out in public. Not in private. This movie brings up questions like that. Can you “wild” in the privacy of your own home?

Estrada, who is perfect for a role like this, does reasonably well. Some of his clothing, especially his out-of-the-courtroom casual wear, is quite something. Sure, he has a mullet, but you know he’s one of the good guys because the evildoers have longer, eviller mullets.  It’s weird - at times the film seems to go as close to an authentic legal drama as it can - and other times what happens plot-wise is utterly absurd.  Add some odd clarinet music on the soundtrack, and Joey Travolta for some reason, and the result is Night of the Wilding. For more Joey\Wilding action see: Wilding: The Children Of Violence (1991).

The obvious highlight of the film occurs right towards the end and involves a  baseball field. That’s all we’ll say. Watch out for it.

While not what you’d call a classic or a typical PM, we give them points for not simply churning out another blow-em-up movie, but we’re not sure this more dramatic approach reached its target audience. After all, PM makes the BEST blow-em-ups, and that’s what fans want. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Fans of TV-movie style courtroom dramas probably never found this movie in the first place, while PM aficionados (I assume they’re out there) more than likely won’t be adding this to their top 10 list of favorite PM’s.

While there is some clunkiness, especially in the acting department, Night of the Wilding is really not that bad (especially considering some of the unintentional laughs), but don’t go in expecting fireworks.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Hour Of The Assassin (1987)

Hour Of The Assassin (1987)-* *

Directed by: Luis Llosa

Starring: Erik Estrada, Francisco Giraldo, and Robert Vaughn

Martin Fierro (Estrada) is hired by some generals to assassinate the new president of the South American country of San Pedro, Roberto Villaverde (Giraldo). They convince him to do this by playing to his sympathies regarding his father, a man assassinated by these very same generals, although Fierro doesn’t know that. According to them, his father was “leftist scum” (which they say behind Fierro’s back, of course). Fierro has his work cut out for him, except for one thing: ex-CIA operative Sam Merrick (Vaughn), who is tracking Fierro and intent on stopping the assassination. It’s a race against time - who will come out victorious?

It’s yet another “El Presidente” movie - A South America-set film about rebels in the streets versus the political establishment. This plotline was more prevalent in video stores than you might think - Cocaine Wars (1985), McBain (1991), Perfect Target (1997) and the latest example, The Expendables (2010). The plot is extremely simple - it’s Vaughn chasing Estrada for over 90 minutes - so after an exciting opening chase sequence and the setup of the plot, the middle section drags heavily. It’s natural that this would happen with such minimal plot. A few interestingly-lit sequences are not enough to solve this problem.

The movie does deliver some standard chases and shooting, but the roles for both Estrada and Vaughn are a little different than usual. The tone is downbeat, serious and low-key. Estrada doesn’t play bad-guy assassin roles too often, and how often do you see “Control 5” himself, Robert Vaughn, at least at the age he was when he shot this movie, running around South America playing the action star?  Of course, Vaughn’s “hair” is odd and is constantly changing from scene to scene, and, like Chris Lemmon in Firehead (1991), whose catchphrase was the ever-present “Jesus Christ!”, here Robert Vaughn utters the word “Bastard!” every other scene. 

This was a Corman production, released in the U.S. in the always cool MGM/UA big-box. Director Luis Llosa shot the film in his native Peru and there are some nice locations. He later had some mainstream hits with Anaconda (1997), the Stallone vehicle The Specialist (1994) and the classic Tom Berenger Sniper (1993). He’s also responsible for the Corman David Carradine film Crime Zone (1989). This was his first cinematic foray, and it’s not bad, it’s just standard, and even tends toward boring at times.

This is the perfect example of video store shelf-filler that, yes, has cool box art and all, but will underwhelm you. It makes true gems like Deadly Prey (1987) stand out all the more.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Twisted Justice (1990)

Twisted Justice (1990)-* *1\2

Directed by: David Heavener

Starring: David Heavener, Erik Estrada, Don Stroud, Shannon Tweed, Julie Austin, Jim Brown, James Van Patten, and Karen Black












In the year 2020, guns are outlawed, so as the saying goes, only outlaws have guns...one of which is L.A. cop James Tucker (Heavener), a cop on the edge who plays by his own rules - but, by his own admission, “I always follow orders”. Cops instead use a gun-like device called a “stinger”, which shoots tranquilizer darts. When a new drug hits the streets called “Umbra”, which negates the effects of the stinger, criminals run wild. One of which is a psychopathic serial killer/rapist called “The Bullseye Murderer”. Taking heat from all sides, will Tucker be able to neutralize this jerk?

Once again David Heavener is tracking down a serial killer (this seems to be the plot of most of his movies), but this time it’s in the future. You can tell it’s the future because of the wacky vests the heroes wear and the futuristic font used for some of the lettering in the movie. He wrote, directed, starred and did the music for this film. His charm goes a long way, and he assembled an excellent B-movie star-filled cast. Erik Estrada puts in a pleasantly-surprising amount of effort into a role he easily could have slagged off. Jim Brown is unintelligible as he mumbles/whispers all his lines. Karen Black is literally wasted in a nothing role that a much less talented actress could have done.  Shannon Tweed takes a break from her “erotic thrillers”, which is a nice change, but she’s under-used as well (she keeps her clothes on). Julie Austin, last seen in Night Of the Wilding (1990), appears here as well, alongside a bunch of other names such as James Van Patten (which they misspell in the credits) and Don Stroud.

The interplay between Estrada and Heavener is a highlight, and Estrada gets arguably the best line of the movie when he describes The Bullseye Murderer as “A turbocharged Fruit Loop”. Clearly David Heavener proves his writing prowess with such a bizarre image. However, he shows some of his weaknesses as well with his blatant imitations of the great Stallone movie Cobra (1986). There are many lifts from Cobra on show here, not least of which is that Heavener is a quirky cop who drives a car and wears shades like Marion Cobretti. And there are also some apparent nods to Future Force (1989), of all things, as well: A loner law-enforcement dude of the future named Tucker that has a futuristic communications device in his car. So in the final analysis, Twisted Justice is like a cross between Cobra and Future Force, but neither of those movies have Freud (also spelled wrong in the credits) the Rat, in his only credited performance to date, sharing a donut with David Heavener.

While the movie could have used some more energy towards the end, especially needing another action scene or two in the final third instead of some talking, with a few minor tweaks, the movie could have been better, while still retaining its low-budget qualities. Unfortunately, this, as well as other Heavener DVD’s, were released by Troma. So the colors are washed out and it adds another layer of cheapness/junkiness where it REALLY isn’t needed. Troma DVD’s tend to suck, let’s face it, and a bunch of self-serving “extras” aren’t what the fans want. Not that I need to say it, but in case any potential DVD companies are reading this, we want as pristine a print of the original movie as possible, in its original aspect ratio, uncut. That’s all we really want. And maybe a trailer for the film. Thanks for reading this.

Heavener fans (there HAVE to be Heavener fans out there) will really enjoy this, as will fans of any of the stars involved. People with a low tolerance for junky-looking so-called “crud” movies won’t be so forgiving, but those people are lame anyway. Go Heavener!

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Light Blast (1985)

Light Blast (1985)-* * * *

Directed by: Enzo G. Castellari

Starring: Erik Estrada, Peggy Rowe, Michael Pritchard, and Ennio Girolami















When evildoers with a fake news van and a giant super-laser threaten to blow up the city of San Francisco if their ransom of five million dollars (later upped to 20 million) is not given to them,  it's up to Inspector Ronn Warren (Estrada) and his partner Lt. Curtis (Michael Pritchard) to stop the nefarious, weight-lifting ex-college professor Dr. Yuri Soboda (Girolami). It's a race against time as Warren must put together the pieces - from a mysterious morgue to the final chase - before everyone in the city by the bay gets their faces melted off! Is he man enough...or is he just a "turkey"?

Light Blast is an incredibly fun, highly entertaining winner. From Estrada's killer entrance, to the super-laser, to the rough-and-tumble action sequences and everything on down. Estrada's never been better than here as the charismatic cop Warren, who wears a cool jacket, and like Last Man Standing's (1996) Kurt Bellmore, has a policy of only hijacking awesome high-powered cars for his chases. Pritchard is lovable as Curtis, and they have a nice camaraderie, as Warren also does with his wife Jacqueline (Rowe). It's "Light" years away from that disgrace to laser movies, No Time To Die (1984). Drench that in an awesome score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis and the confident direction of the legendary Enzo G. Castellari, and you have a comic-book-style action piece with plenty of re-watchability value.

On top of being fast-paced, funny, violent, well-shot, and consistently good with no dull bits (no mean feat in itself), 80's fanatics will get a kick out of the clothes, cool watches, phones, cars, microfiche, hats, tape players, an early form of GPS, and, of course, the infamous laser with its great effects. You know Soboda is evil because of his scarf and mustache, and like any baddie worth his salt, he has a command center. Light Blast has plenty of mystery and intrigue, and, as if all that wasn't enough, there's even a rockin' revenge sub-plot. It'a a quality production that knows its audience and delivers the goods to it in enthusiastic spades.

Light Blast truly has it all. If you're looking for an upbeat ride of a film to Blast you out of the movie-watching doldrums, this is just the ticket. It made us believe again.

Comeuppance Review by: Ty and Brett

Alien Seed (1989)

Alien Seed (1989)-*1\2

Directed By: Bob James

Starring: Erik Estrada




“They Wanted Her Body... To Save The World!”








AIP is a company that produced a treasure trove of low budget direct-to-video films that specialized in action movies, as the company name implies. Being a low-budget production company, you would think they would have been familiar with their forebear American International Pictures, the original AIP. Why they used that name is a bit puzzling. Even though they made other types of genre movies, it was with action that they hit their stride. Although they ceased production in 1994, they left behind a legacy of VHS gems such as: Kick Or Die (1987), Night Of The Kickfighters (1988), and Night Trap (1993).

If you are watching Alien Seed, there are three possibilities:

1. You are obsessed with aliens and have seen every other movie or TV show dealing with aliens ever made.

2. You are obsessed with AIP movies and have seen every other one ever made.

3. You are an Erik Estrada fanatic and you have seen every movie he's ever made.

Trying to ride the coattails of other popular alien flicks such as Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Demon Seed (1977), The Terminator (1984) and E.T. (1982), while borrowing liberally from each one, the final product has the production value of the E.T. video game for Atari, which was subsequently buried in the Nevada desert, as wags might suggest all copies of this should be.

The plot: Apparently some broad was impregnated by the Alien Seed. In the movie this is referred to as an “IBI”. It was claimed this was a term used by alien experts. That is highly doubtful. To pad out the running time there is a lot of chasing, shooting, and Erik Estradding around. It is not clear what is going on and to further pad out the running time on top of a pretty extensive pad job, there are several alien-related dream sequences.

The acting is typical AIP acting, so you know what you're in for. To the untrained eye, the acting may seem “bad”, but it is amateurish fun and you can’t help but smile. Unfortunately, the film stock is shoddy, dingy and grimy looking, making it a tough sit for your vision.

Alien Seed was directed by Bob James and it is his only directing credit to date. The writer Douglas K. Grimm was in the immortal AIP classic Elves (1989) as “Dead Santa”. Additionally he directed the awful Traci Lords vehicle Laser Moon (1993).

This desperately needed more Erik Estrada. His portrayal of Dr. Stone, the villain of the piece, livens up the otherwise dreary proceedings.

If you have seen every episode of CHiPs, Night Of The Wilding (1990), and Twisted Justice (1990), and need your Estrada fix, watch this today!