Forced To Kill

Johnny (Eubanks) is a repo man who agrees to deliver a Porsche cross-country in record time. When he gets into an altercation outside a roadside diner, defending an addled Vietnam vet (Clint Howard) against a posse of slavering rednecks, he comes to the attention of the local constabulary, especially Sheriff Wilson (Michael Ironside). He is overtaken moments outside of town and remanded into the custody of Kance (Rance Howard), a local landowner, and his Neanderthal son Dwayne (Dan Swayze). Kance is scouting fighters to enter in an underground human rodeo, held under the auspices of his bitter rival Warden Donaldson (Brian Avery) on the grounds of the local prison. There, captive bush leaguers fight for top prize money, the honor of their sponsors, and their eventual freedom. Under house arrest, Johnny befriends Heather (Kari Whitman) and convinces her to assist in his escape. However, he's quickly apprehended again and forced to participate in the brutal tournament. After advancing rapidly through the prelims, he's beaten in the finals and unceremoniously tossed into the mud; Dwayne is instructed to dispose of him. At the last possible second, Johnny overpowers his attackers and brings them to justice.

Eubanks was also the star of 1991's PAYBACK, whose modest success paved the way for far-more-modest fare like this. Cute and bordering on cuddly, in a Paul Michael Glaser kind of way, Eubanks is great at taking a punch, and he'll go down stairs the way you'll never see Chuck Norris do. But as a stunt double for working actors, he seems too small to suggest much of a threat, and his kicks are far too slow to compete with his better-known genre-mates (despite one recurring swivel-kick he uses with much flourish, and which the camera cheats at every opportunity). (Violence, nudity, sexual situations, adult situations, profanity.) leave a comment