24 Hours To Midnight [1985]

After our enjoyment of "Low Blow," Adam discovered that Leo Fong, the star, is also a film maker and was specifically responsible for an early Cynthia Rothrock film called "24 Hours To Midnight." Or at least it's technically a Rothrock film. Her character spends most of the movie in a full ninja costume and it's definitely not her. A big giveaway is the fact that she doesn't actually fight, but she still is here to kill. Apparently, she pulled out of the film, so a "Plan 9" Bela Lugosi tactic was used instead.

The plot is your standard "Kill Bill" concept. Her husband is killed within the first few minutes of the film and she spends the rest of the movie killing off the frugal mob gang responsible for his death with a new weapon each time. Fairly frequently we get flashbacks that are often just the scene of Rothrock crying in her car unconvincingly and we get some voice over from her to try to conceal her lack of presence in the film. In the b-plot meant to pad out the film, we have two cops, a guy who looks about 17 and a woman with fried hair and face, and they are investigating gang activity in the area and trying to find the source of these deaths. They are really incompetent and not convincing as cops and were maybe added into the film to pad it out when they couldn't have Rothrock kicking butt.

Overall, this movie was pretty dry. There was a little comedy, bad acting, and a boom mic in a shot, but ultimately it didn't really pay off. You can do better and you can especially do better if you want Cynthia Rothrock.

Quote: He whipped on them people like they was his stepchildren.

Spoon Rating: 3