A Hitman in London (2015)

Skin Traffik is the love letter to the grind house era that Rodriguez and Tarantino's Grindhouse failed to send. Every element is overdone to near perfection: the corny acting, the gratuitous bloody gore, the flamboyant action scenes and choreography. Obviously, the film latches its appeal to a very specific audience and anyone familiar with the action genre will love it, leaving the rest in the dust. But for what the film planned to achieve, you can't leave without thinking that Paiaya succeeded. Skin Traffik is cult action cinema of the highest quality. With an all-star cast to die for this independent film delivers where all others fail. It's inventive and has a lot of heart considering one man 'Ara Paiaya' made it all. Remarkable!

It's very rare for me to feel genuine disgust towards the subject matter of a film. Skin Traffik provoked this feeling out of me with it's extremely realistic and well-told story of one man's fight to stop human trafficking with his fists, feet and automatic weapons! Being based on truth and by that I mean scumbag traffickers like this actually exist. The fact plunges further into my stomach, tempting me to spew out in anger. If my past self asked if he should watch this film, I would deem it a necessity. Thus, I give the film my highest honors in the hope of motivating whoever reads these reviews to seek it out and draw this dehumanizing issue into public consciousness. Bad guys need killing and this movie delivers and does everything we could only wish to do. Very satisfying.

The action is great, and the film has a solid cast as well. Skin Traffik is actually way better than I thought it would be. The story, which revolves around human trafficking, is a very important subject and it's great that Director Ara Paiaya has brought it to light in his own unique style. The main reason Skin Traffik excels is because of the Direction, Action Direction and Cast. The villain side of things is really awesome! Overall, it has the guts to be a big budget martial arts action flick with a star studded cast that confronts a very serious topic. This film is perfect for fun with the guys on a Friday pizza night.

One of the best direct-to-video pieces starring Gary Daniels in recent years (another strong notable being the surprisingly excellent Tekken adaptation), Skin Traffik is an entertaining, fast paced thriller that delivers hard action. Daniels plays Bradley, a stoic yet rage-filled hit-man who is the best at what he does.After an ordered job goes awry, the emotional trauma that results sidelines the former killer for hire into a quiet, subdued life in low-rent surroundings. One day, an aggressive pimp gets the idea that it might be a good idea to beat around his girls in front of Bradley, and chaos ensues. The power structure of the entire human trafficking ring is slowly targeted and lethally dismantled with cool, cruel efficiency.Gary Daniels once again puts forward a physically believable character performance, fitting perfectly into the role of the remorse-filled reaper of death. His martial arts form looks as strong as ever, delivering his trademark roundhouse kicks with blurring speed, and a side dish of close-combat choreography to boot. Directed by Ara Paiaya, the camera work is quite adequate, and the story flows along at an extremely brisk ~96 minutes.This necessitates a lot of quick camera work and a lack of exposition at times that leaves the viewer guessing as to how certain events may have played out in the interim, which is effective as a technique at times and somewhat distracting at others. Nonetheless, the decision to keep the film moving at a breakneck pace was a smart one, as the worst thing an action movie can be is boring. Viewers will certainly not be bored by the amount of fights and shoot-outs in the film.It seemed that Bradley was a one-man killing machine throughout the entire running time which is gratifying for fans of the classic 80s-era action motif. Though some of the foley effects are a bit weak, at other times they are very effective, lending credibility and realism to an over-the-top premise. The acting is also fairly strong, particularly Daniels, Jeff Fahey, Michael Madsen, and Eric Roberts. Eric Roberts nearly steals the show as the soul-sucking Executive, countering Daniels perfectly as opposition. Also worthy of note would be the performance of Dominique Swain as Anna Peel, the first friendly face in Bradley's world in a long time.A last yet excellent surprise was the narrative surrounding the character of Vogel, played by Mickey Rourke, again showing his chops in a light-hearted but ultimately dead-serious role that seems to flit in and out of our memory as Skin Traffik steams along. Fans of Gary Daniels and the other cast should not be disappointed by this rather modestly budgeted revenge film. The formula may be predictable but there is not much wasted screen time and Skin Traffik achieves exactly what it seeks to do — deliver hard-hitting action at a breakneck pace.