One golden rule about Italian genre flicks if you can’t get Franco Nero as the lead, then get a guy who looks him. Maurizio Merli was busy, so for the motion picture titled Blastfighter (1984) Michael Sopkiw steps in with an effective moustache, playing the role of “Tiger” Sharp, an ex-cop released from prison for killing his wife’s murderer. Even though he’s gifted with a technologically advanced shotgun with a variety of explosive shells, Tiger decides on a quiet life in his backwoods Appalachian hometown. However, fate has other plans for him, and what you’ve got on your hands is a Deliverance/First Blood rip-off made by Italians in the woods of America, with a strong engine for suspense: when is our hero gonna bust out that shotgun? Call it Chekov’s explosive shotgun. You can also tell its a Deliverance rip-off because they get the ‘Duelling Banjos’ kid, Billy Redden, to show up in a cameo as a banjo-picking teen. An inexhaustible supply of beer-swilling rednecks (or as close as the Italian film industry could get with their voice dubbing actors approximating a “shitkicker” yee-haw accent) make Tiger’s life hell even as he tries to bond with his absent daughter (Valentina Forte) in his isolated cabin. There’s even George Eastman, a familiar bearded face from spaghetti westerns and Italo-genre staples like 1990: The Bronx Warriors, as Tiger’s former best friend/quasi-adversary who has become head of the lumber mill, and its illegal operations in drug-smuggling and animal organ harvesting. Look, this is a grimy, trashy outdoors revenge movie that delivers in its last ten minutes, and has a great Fabio Frizzi (credited as “Andreww Barrymore”) crusty synth score powering through (when it’s not playing the one country-western ballad ad nausem). Director Lamberto Bava, who is credited here as “John Old Jr”, apparently viewed this as work-for-hire and would be one year away from his horror classic Demons. Even the future director of Dellamorte Dellamore, Michele Soavi, turns up in a supporting role, bound to be taken out by giggling hillbilly dirtbags. Fans of Italian genre exploitation apply (the era of VHS boxes with amazing illustrated artwork) and witness the firepower of Blastfighter! Found a decent copy on YouTube. Recommended.
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