For a number of years, the Filipino film industry was a force to be reckoned with on the exploitation film scene. The films, while not always great, proved to be durable staples of American drive ins and grindhouses of the era, which brings us to this effort, coming near the end of the golden age and having some rather singular delights. The main attraction is Jillian Kesner, a well-endowed blonde who apparently was a martial arts master in real life. Ms. Kesner's film career seems to have been short lived, which is a shame, since she could have easily become a female Chuck Norris. The flick's set-up is standard fare: American arrives in a foreign locale, trying to locate her missing journalist sister. She runs afoul of a mafia-type setup that uses martial arts competitions as a front for drug and gun running. One of the players, an American martial arts fighter with bushy early 80s hair, sets out to romance her in order to find out her true motives. Chaos ensues. The fight scenes are fairly well choreographed, with seemingly dozens of accommodating Filipino stuntmen getting handily disposed of by our lovely leading lady. One unforgettable scene has our heroine being chased by two thugs, losing her sheer cocktail dress, high heels, and bra in the process. This is clearly a film that you can turn your brain off and simply enjoy for what it is. Despite all this (not to mention an hour and fifteen-minute run time), the movie feels about twice as long as it really is. Only our leading lady's various topless or nude scenes would make male viewers (let's face it, they're the only ones viewing this) consider giving this a second watch.
Review of Firecracker
