Reviews

Slash is without a doubt Romano Kristoff's best starring vehicle. A barely mediocre, completely forgettable Rambo ripoff which is just about on the level with the cheapest 80's Italo jungle epics. Which raises it head and shoulders above the average Silver Star fare and the bulk of Romano Kristoff's filmography.

Of the regular Silver Star All Stars, Ronnie Patterson, Gwendolyn Hung and Mike Monty (in a larger role than usual) are present. Patterson made a short mini-career of having non-roles in films like this, Fireback, Intrusion Cambodia and so forth.

There's nothing particularly distinctive about Slash, except for Gallardo's peculiar infatuation with Mike Monty's bald patch. The film is graced with several scenes of Monty's back and thinning hair talking to Kristoff.

If he had been working either in Italy or the US, Kristoff would probably have ended up having a reasonable low-budget, direct-to-video action career. There were certainly other genre actors as bad/far worse than he was who had far more success than he ever did.

Which really isn't saying much.

The dubbing is up to the usual asinine Silver Star standard (especially in the case of James Gaines, who utters his lines in very, very sad jive), scenes of people hanging out in discos (ogling at the compulsory stripper) and bowling alleys take forever and the "action", when it finally kicks in, is about as thrilling as Terms of Endearment.

That being said, Gallardo was a slightly more professional director than another Silver Star prodigy, Teddy Page. At the very least the film has a semi-coherent plot and doesn't look like it was shot and edited by a blind man.

The majority of the Silver Star All Stars are present. Romano Kristoff (giving a particularly silly performance as an Italian karate expert), James Gaines, Mike Monty who has hardly any lines and Ronnie Patterson showing up for a brief bit in the beginning. Richard Harrison looks as tired and disgusted as he did in all of his Filipino films.

The disco scenes recycle the wonderful music from the disco scenes in Fireback.

Fireback reigns supreme among the delirious no-budget trash cranked out by the Filipino Silver Star Film Company and is arguably the greatest moment in the "career" of company poster boy Teddy Page. There is nothing in this film that could have possibly been made any worse. From the atrocious dubbing, completely nonsensical plot, music that could normally only be heard inside the head of a paranoid schizophrenic...to the catatonic "acting", Fireback has it all and more.

Richard Harrison walks through the film looking bored and disgusted and is supported by the usual Silver Star All Stars cast, such as the ever-present Mike Monty, James Gaines and Ronnie Patterson. Bruce Baron is on hand as the main baddie...the worst was still to come for him in the shape of the Godfrey Ho Ninja films.

Browsing the IMDb, you'll come across the term "worst film EVER!!!!" used to describe basically anything from Fried Green Tomatoes to Clockwork Orange. This film is one of the very few genuinely deserving of such honor. Avoid at all costs or do anything you can to find a copy.