No Safe Haven (1987)

There's no safe haven, when Wings Hauser it out for revenge. Which a drug cartel soon finds out. "No Safe Haven" is your typically forgettable 80s action fodder… ridiculously over-the-top in nearly every department from the action set-pieces, clunky dialogues and the villainous bad guys (especially a lip-smacking Branscombe Richmond). Quite reckless, but done with enough panache despite its low-budget frame. It's somewhat slow to begin off, but it does pack a little punch when the frenetic action is transported to an impregnable South American jungle fortress. After the death of his two younger brothers and his mother at the hands of a vicious drug syndicate, Hauser's CIA agent Clete is a man on a mission. He gets by with plenty of charisma, a touch of intensity (mainly those scenes in the first half when one-by-one he playfully begins picking off the henchmen to make a point) and with the aid of a weapons expert amusingly played by Robert Tessier. Gladly the story stays simple, despite the pointless distractions. Hauser goes about his brutal business accompanied by a screeching rock soundtrack. We know what it wants to deliver and for most part it serves up the stereotypical and cheesy action goods.

This was a comeback for Hauser. And I must say, it was one I like. He co wrote it too, and it isn't a badly made film. Revenge has always been sweet but it some cases, it can never be so deadly. Hauser's brother, a grid iron player who a drug habit, who got in with some bad people, one such guy, who you don't cross, Manuel (Branscombe Richmond), who asks him to throw the game, but he doesn't, bringing hell down on him. He and his mother and his younger brother are savagely murdered. The other one, Clete Harris, a CIA operative posted thousands of miles away, is too someone you don't want to cross. There's a storm brewing through him, and how he takes out the three, is impressively smart and awesome. He strikes up a friendship with Buddy's girlfriend, who provides a shock of revelation near the end. The opening to this flick, is cheaply and trashily exciting, just the start you need, where some of the chase shot is speeded up. What a trick? These baddie mother fu..ers, find a bus full of children been blown up hysterical, which is why we find their demises hysterical. Robert Tessier is legendary as Randy, who illegally houses all this big ammunition, out in the glades, where by a little shooting display, in the wide open spaces was classic, like the pro himself. He teams with Hauser for the final and most important kill. Honestly this is a bit better action film like many of this type, as too Hauser's background and living arrangements were intriguing as some of his tricks, in his strategy of death and vengeance upon these scum. And as an added plus, we have a Chris Rea hit song. For Hauser fans and other that crave action, and revenge, here's a good actioner while being impressive too in the fact, Hauser's pen was partly responsible for this film.

Clete Harris (Hauser) is a CIA agent who is undercover in Honduras, using a remote Peace Corps station for his base. When he finds out his beloved brother Buddy (Campitelli), a star football player, was murdered in a drug deal gone wrong, Clete comes back to America to find the culprit. This evildoer even killed his own mother. It turns out it's psychotic gangster Manuel (Richmond) and his gang of goons. Clete then makes it his mission to track them all down and get revenge. To help him in this mission, he recruits Popeye (Tessier), a survivalist type. They both end up in Bolivia and the final battle ensues.No Safe Haven starts humorously enough, with Branscombe Richmond screaming while shooting his guns, and a Roger Corman-style "fast motion" car chase follows. Once Wings appears on screen, we remember why we're watching this. He brings his classic charisma in spades. Richmond makes a great baddie, and his over-the-top yelling and drug-running, loan-sharking evilness make you want to see more of his work. He makes a great villain to play opposite the lovable Wings.Robert Tessier almost steals the movie as the down-and-dirty Popeye. True to his name, he even proudly sports a corncob pipe! Thankfully he also has his no-shirt-and-jean-jacket combo as well to round out his wardrobe. It was nice to see him in a kindlier performance. He can easily play a heavy, as evidenced in Future Zone.This movie is the only directorial effort to date from Ronnie Rondell, a man well-known in the stunt world. His inexperience shows in some of the pacing - it slows way down before the climax, which is a common pitfall, but the movie becomes an El Presidente flick seemingly out of the blue right at the last minute. While that might seem a bit mundane, the reason, presumably, why it happens in the first place is that Clete and Popeye's revenge mission is so uncontrollable and grandiose, they want to get revenge on cocaine itself! And seeing as how we may have just built this solid, but small B-film up to heights it doesn't really reach, we should mention how clunky some of the acting by the non-leads is. Just check out the Harris mother.One of the more interesting things about No Safe Haven is the box art. It seems to be a specially posed picture in a studio by Wings. It wasn't taken right from the movie, it is its own photography. And the theme song of the film, played during the end credits is "dream girls", by none other than Isaac Hayes! That was a surprise. Too bad he wasn't in the movie as an actor.In all, No Safe (as all the cool people call it) is enjoyable because of the main presence of Wings Hauser, and to a lesser extent Robert Tessier and Branscombe Richmond. Without these guys, it would have been a different and more trying experience. Thank goodness for them.For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com

After he refuses to throw a game for some drug lords, football star Buddy Harris (Tom Campitelli) is murdered alongside his mother and younger brother. This doesn't sit well with eldest son Clete Harris (Wings Hauser), a loose cannon Government agent cooling his heels in Honduras. When he gets word, he flies back to the US to bury his family and anyone who was involved with it. Unconvinced with the sheriff's suspect, Clete uses his contacts in Government to find out this was the work of Manuel (Branscombe Richmond), who is working for drug kingpin in Bolivia. So Clete teams with weapons expert Randy aka Popeye (Robert Tessier) and heads to South America to get his revenge.Hauser always has a great screen presence and the film's in which he had a bit more creative control (he co-wrote here with his then wife Nancy Locke) always feature some little eccentric bits. This is full of them from throw away lines by Wings to a drunken parking lot fling with a floozy (Locke) to Tessier being cast as a good guy who is also a doting single father whose military obsessed son leads a squadron of geese. The action is good and appropriately over-the-top (a van explodes after a cement truck hits its open back door). Director Ronnie Rondell has done tons of stunt-work, but this is the only feature he directed. The film isn't going to change anything it the landscape of cinema, but it is an enjoyable 90 minute B-movie. Oh, there is also a scenery chewing performance of epic proportions by Native American actor Richmond, mostly known for his work on TV's RENEGADE. His interpretation of a South American drug dealer is hilarious, sounding like Cheech Marin at times. It is the kind of performance that would have Al Pacino from SCARFACE say, "Chew gotta be fookin kiddin me, mang!"