SUMMARY
In the City of
Angels, crime is at an all time high. The police, bound by rules and
regulations and a corrupt mayor, are unable to stop it.
Darcy Walker is a police officer, with a history of personal tragedy.
First, her mother left their family. Then her father (who was also a
police officer) accidentally kills a doctor during a hostage situation.
Now, he is a security guard. Despite being a cop, she has a habit of being
reckless, like her father.
When a case against a psychotic pimp is blown, the
hooker that helped her is nearly killed by the same guy,
and the district attorney kills her father for no
reason, Darcy decides it is time to stop criminals, her way. With a little
help from an ex car-thief, she creates her own weapons a disguise, and a
super powered car, she becomes the Black Scorpion. At first only wanting
to stop the pimp, she discovers that crime never stops and neither shall
she.
Now, a mysterious villain called The Breathtaker has
appeared. He is threatening to asphyxiate the entire city unless he is
paid a high ransom. He is also seems to connected to her fathers death.
Will the Black Scorpion stop him find out his relationship to her father,
and keep her partner from finding out who she is before sun rise?
DVD VISION TEST
VIDEO: The DVD quality is decent. Since the movie wasn't
made on high quality stock, it can be difficult to tell what if film
noise, and what is rainbows or wrinkles. Still, it is better looking than
video.
AUDIO: Nothing exciting. It is decent, better than VHS. No real surround
sound elements. The music and dialogue are blended nicely.
EDITS: No edits that we know of. This is exactly the same movie that aired
on Showtime.
EXTRAS: An interview with star Joan Severance as well as
an audio commentary running through most of the movie. Some cast bios and
trailers round out the extras.
WIDESCREEN REVIEW
STORY: Well, it
is a Roger Corman movie, so don't expect Othello. Craig J. Nevius plot is
basic, his dialogue seems to be cobbled from every other film of this
genre, and there are no real surprises.
However, since this is not supposed to be a serious
drama, don't beat him up too much.
ACTING: Despite a cast of "well known" actors
(well, maybe not that well known), this is typical Roger Corman film,
silly dialogue, spoken dead serious. The cast does an decent acting job,
but they are nothing exciting. No Oscar winners here. Credit should be
given to the cast. They know this movie is silly, so they play their parts
to the max.
FAN SERVICE: Plenty. Black Scorpion is fan service in her own right. Black
leather and boots. Oh, and you won't miss Joan Servance bare ass naked
doing the simulated nasty.
CONCLUSION
This movie is silly. The best kind of silly. Black
Scorpion is a perfect example of the "so bad its good" genre.
Having always been a fan of Roger Corman films (Battle Beyond the Starts,
Viking Women), I expected nothing less but ass kicking babes, sex appeal,
and witless dialogue. You get all of that in spades. Don't let the fact
that this is the B-est of the B movies (actually it's closer to Z). Just
like Julie Strain films, this one was destined to be a cult favorite. Now
with Black Scorpion 2 and the television series in full swing, I expect
that the Black Scorpion will enter fandom heaven.
Some people may
wonder if Joan Severance is a little too old for this kind of movie. It's
mostly the hair piece, which is very heavy and pulls her face back. You
may forget all that when you see her body. I will admit, I prefer Michelle
Lentel , the series Black Scorpion on a visual level. Bet you won't see
her naked bod anytime soon though.
If you are a fan of bad movies on TV and hot and sexy superbabes,
do not miss out on this film. If you want some mindless entertainment to
MST3K, this too will fit the bill. At such a low price, it is worth the
investment.
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