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, two new villains are on the scene. One is the
Gangster Prankster, a twisted crazed street thug turned psychotic clown.
He has his sights on the rich side of town, and he needs the Black
Scorpion out of the way. The other is Aftershock, a sonic wave powered
super villaness, who wants revenge on the Mayor after he tries to kill
her. Can the Black Scorpion stop these two and keep her partner from
finding out who she is?
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: A behind the scenes feature of the Black
Scorpion TV series, commercials for some of the villains trailers of other
New Concord releases and cast bios.
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. A topless dancer and a playboy playmate as well. The
only thing missing is Joan Servance bare ass naked doing the simulated
nasty. Also, keep an eye out for Black Scorpion TV series star Scott
Valentine as a bank robber.
CONCLUSION
Here we go again. Another of the example of the so bad
its good" genre. This Black Scorpion is a little less tongue and
cheek than the first, but still a silly romp.
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.
This one
attempts to be a little more artistic. Basically its artistic vision
consists of titled camera angels, lots of zoom-in's, and a "Max
Headroom" looking setting. There is a very comic book feel to it.
This means a lot of bright colors and weird characters. The comedy bits
are a little over the top, and the is a little to much drama, which slows
the movie down.
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.
Return to Top
Back to the Review Page
ŠAll information protected by DVD Vision
Japan copyright unless otherwise noted.
