BA_Harrison The Devil's Express is part blaxploitation, part horror, and part martial arts flick, but the film fails to do any of those genres justice, with an unlikeable protagonist, tepid frights, and some of the worst punching and kicking imaginable.The wonderfully named Warhawk Tanzania plays Luke, a black New York martial arts master who, accompanied by his drug-dealing student Rodan (Wilfredo Roldan), travels to China to complete his training. When Rodan finds an ancient amulet in a cave, he takes the trinket, and, in doing so, unleashes a bloodthirsty demon that follows him back to the Big Apple.When mutilated bodies begin to show up in the city's subway, the police believe it to be the result of a gang war between the blacks and the Chinese, but when Rodan joins the list of victims, Luke investigates and learns of the supernatural creature lurking in the dark and heads underground to settle the score.Technically inept (several scenes feature characters talking but we can hear no dialogue), poorly written (horrible jive street-talk is taken to the max) and dreadfully directed (the fight scenes are laughable), The Devil's Express is, without a doubt, a terrible film, but is still just about worth a watch to witness a possessed man with eyes like Kermit the frog, a Chinese man with an afro (a chifro?), and Luke's show-stopping gold velvet onepiece playsuit, complete with flares and button down shoulder straps.

Leofwine_draca DEVIL'S EXPRESS is a cheap and trashy independent action/horror flick shot on the mean streets of New York and starring the one and only Warhawk Tanzania, the afro-sporting blaxploitation star of FORCE FOUR. That one wasn't so hot, but this film's a lot better, a mixed-up mini-epic of disparate themes and elements. For much of the running time it plays out as a straight kung fu epic, like FORCE FOUR, albeit with better choreography. Tanzania and his buddy beat up various goons who unwisely ambush them, and there's little time for characterisation or plotting in between. The horror content is where things get interesting. An Asian demon ends up residing in the subway, mutilating victims left, right and centre, and the kill scenes turn out to be grisly indeed with the excellent use of grotesque sound effects to accompany them. The make-up is basic but kept in the semi-darkness to look more effective, and it's all rather horrific and creepy, as many subway-set films are. DEVIL'S EXPRESS is one of those films where you can overlook the many flaws just because the premise and idea behind it are so intriguing.

Comeuppance Reviews Gang Wars is a unique movie everybody should see.The man with one of the most awesome names in human history, Warhawk Tanzania, stars as New York City Kung-Fu instructor Luke Curtis. He and his none-too-bright compatriot/student Roldan (Roldan) travel to "China" to brush up on their martial arts. While there, they just happen to stumble into a mysterious hole where, in 200 B.C., some monks buried a secret medallion. Despite Luke's admonition that "this place has strange vibes!", Roldan sees the medallion and decides it's just the ice he needs to bling-bling up his fly threads (hey, I'm just trying to keep up with the movie's lingo), and he takes it.Unfortunately, this angers the medallion's owner, an ancient zombie with orange skin and ping-pong ball-like eyes. The zombie gets on a boat and follows them back to New York, and while he's there, causes all sorts of havoc in the subway. Meanwhile, due to that crazy Roldan and some mix-ups of murdered people involving the zombie, two street gangs, the Blackjacks and the Red Dragons, are at war. Can two cops on the beat stop the madness, or will Warhawk have to don his bright yellow overalls and take matters into his own hands? What's great about Gang Wars is it truly is down-and-dirty, street-level, even guerrilla filmmaking of the New York City 70's, whose sole intention was to play some grindhouses. All the kung-fu fights are actually outdoors in the streets and alleys of the city. Yes, the filmmakers' hold on the technical aspects of filmmaking is...shaky at best, but for pure entertainment, it's hard to beat a hybrid blaxploitation/kung-fu/zombie horror film, and even if it doesn't ALWAYS gel, which is normal, the film certainly gets an A for effort.Warhawk Tanzania is like a cross between Commodores-era Lionel Richie and Jim Kelly. Roldan is his John Leguizamo-like sidekick, who, though he's constantly referring to Curtis as "Sifu", it sounds like he's calling him "seafood", but that just naturally fits in with all the other 70's jive dialogue. Not to mention the great clothing, cars and NYC locations of the time - it's an excellent time capsule, and the icing on the cake is the super-funky and catchy soundtrack by famed musician/producer Patrick Adams.Naturally, even though the zombie is an unimaginably ancient, gooey monster with eyes like those protectors people wear when they go tanning, somehow he is wearing a contemporary suit and tie. Those prehistoric demons sure were fashion-forward. The zombie also shrieks like a banshee and the whole "horror from underground" thing predates C.H.U.D. (1984) by 8 years. You might even say the kung-fu zombie is the original C.H.U.D. Where else will you read a sentence like that last one? It's gritty, silly, fun and very entertaining. The screenplay was written by five people - presumably each person was assigned a different genre then they mashed it all together. Warhawk Tanzania is a man of the people - see him in action as soon as you can.

EyeAskance A black martial arts master takes a student to China for some sort of competition...student finds an ancient amulet in a cave and brings it back to New York City, unaware that a bloodthirsty demon, rightful owner of the artifact, has followed and wants the item back. Demon takes refuge in the subway system, wreaking havoc and causing confusion for homicide investigators. Only said Karate master can save the day in a hand-to-hand face-off with the evil horror.There is no arguing that DEVIL'S EXPRESS is a bona fide trash epic...not a single moment of this film has even the most meager foothold in bare proficiency, yet somehow it manages to emerge as something strangely watchable. Hilarious moments abound...do yourself a favor and track down a copy of this elusive schlock treat.