Before Leif Garrett became a Soc in The Outsiders, he played an angelic orphan on a crusade of revenge in Vengeance ...or Kid Vengeance ...or Vendetta if we go by what the credits tell us. If you're not super familiar with Garrett, then you're probably like me ...not a teenage girl in the 80s.
Leif plays Tom, the son of wagon-wheeling simple folk. His life turns tragic when his family's camp is visited by Lee Van Cleef's McClain and his bandits. What starts as cow killing and arm wrestling becomes sadistic when McClain takes the mother out of sight to rape her. If you're familiar with the genre and era, it would be naive to be shocked. It is still nauseating to watch though. Things get even worse when the parents are killed as Tom watches and remains helpless as the thugs kidnap his sister. Now that we are emotionally engaged, the film proceeds to be more entertaining than I anticipated. A clever Tom stalks the gang and picks them off one by one without a single gun. The ingenuity on display would impress both Rambo and Crocodile Dundee. One of the bad guys gets a slithering surprise when Tom leaves a venomous snake in his saddlebag. There's plenty of sting in store for the rest of the roving scumbags as it turns out this preteen force is a scorpion whisperer as well. He's like a rugged Kevin McCallister type and honestly, the antics are not like anything I've seen in another movie, let alone a western.
Jim Brown plays a loner named Isaac who eventually partners with Tom to help him save his sister. Brown's film career wasn't extensive but he has an undeniable stoic charm and a contoured face that befits a bonafide star. He's contrasted well with Van Cleef, who had a face tailor-made for celluloid villainy and he was more than a little seasoned when it came to playing this kind of role. If there was a Mount Rushmore of western heavies, Van Cleef's likeness would no doubt be chiseled into the rock next to Jack Palance and Eli Wallach. Unfortunately, the costumer designer did him dirtier than a yella-bellied sodbuster here. He looks less like a cowboy and more like a biker on vacation with a pirate earing and an underwhelming bandana.
While not overtly grindhouse, the film shows it's age with wear and literal tear. It would appear that what we're watching was recorded off of a projector screen that was actually torn. I suppose it adds to the retro charm. There's plenty of ping pang bullets, goofy hats and the one-liners are laid on thick.
"It'll take a whole lotta doin' gettin' in there." "I weren't no officer but that don't mean I know nothin' 'bout milituree ways." There's even a "lickity-split" thrown in.
Leif plays Tom, the son of wagon-wheeling simple folk. His life turns tragic when his family's camp is visited by Lee Van Cleef's McClain and his bandits. What starts as cow killing and arm wrestling becomes sadistic when McClain takes the mother out of sight to rape her. If you're familiar with the genre and era, it would be naive to be shocked. It is still nauseating to watch though. Things get even worse when the parents are killed as Tom watches and remains helpless as the thugs kidnap his sister. Now that we are emotionally engaged, the film proceeds to be more entertaining than I anticipated. A clever Tom stalks the gang and picks them off one by one without a single gun. The ingenuity on display would impress both Rambo and Crocodile Dundee. One of the bad guys gets a slithering surprise when Tom leaves a venomous snake in his saddlebag. There's plenty of sting in store for the rest of the roving scumbags as it turns out this preteen force is a scorpion whisperer as well. He's like a rugged Kevin McCallister type and honestly, the antics are not like anything I've seen in another movie, let alone a western.
Jim Brown plays a loner named Isaac who eventually partners with Tom to help him save his sister. Brown's film career wasn't extensive but he has an undeniable stoic charm and a contoured face that befits a bonafide star. He's contrasted well with Van Cleef, who had a face tailor-made for celluloid villainy and he was more than a little seasoned when it came to playing this kind of role. If there was a Mount Rushmore of western heavies, Van Cleef's likeness would no doubt be chiseled into the rock next to Jack Palance and Eli Wallach. Unfortunately, the costumer designer did him dirtier than a yella-bellied sodbuster here. He looks less like a cowboy and more like a biker on vacation with a pirate earing and an underwhelming bandana.
While not overtly grindhouse, the film shows it's age with wear and literal tear. It would appear that what we're watching was recorded off of a projector screen that was actually torn. I suppose it adds to the retro charm. There's plenty of ping pang bullets, goofy hats and the one-liners are laid on thick.
"It'll take a whole lotta doin' gettin' in there." "I weren't no officer but that don't mean I know nothin' 'bout milituree ways." There's even a "lickity-split" thrown in.