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DOWSE Guide to the
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by Tony Lee editor of
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After Shock
88 minutes (18) 1990 Medusa
review by Tony Lee
It's post-apocalypse action time again folks, with director Frank Harris and his
legion of stuntmen. After the shock of the title (whatever it was), the vicious
deathsquads of military dictators roam the rubble looking for trouble (in their
nifty, regulation Blake's 7 stormtrooper garb), and if they find any 'trouble',
they invariably shoot it in the head.
John Saxon is the leader of one such unit, who can't for the life of him figure out
why a dumb blonde in a red suit (Elizabeth Kaitan) has no identifying barcode on her
arm. The answer is simple, and mind-numbingly obvious to anybody that saw Starman,
or the TV movie Starcrossed. Though it must be added that After Shock is
set in the now familiar Mad Max territory - a future that's looking
increasingly unlikely in thia post-Glasnost age.
Richard Lynch appears briefly to play his usual stern but wooden commander,
struting around and putting subordinate Saxon on the spot for allowing some prisoners
(including the dumb blonde) to escape. While Michael Berryman is once again hired for
his looks, and his gormless look in particular, as he turns in another one of his
gangling psycho performances.
After Shock does have a script of sorts, with lots of subtle and very
ingenious expository dialogue, such as:
"Are you from another planet?"
"Yes, I am".
But the story is as ragged and plotholed as the shattered landscape where all
the 'action' takes place. Kung fu fights, western cliches, and SF rhetoric, are all
thrown together with desperate hopes of producing another example of that genre
favourite - the thrilling, futuristic adventure.
Do they succeed in making a good film?
No, they don't.
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