Savage Justice (1988)

For decades, the Philippines was a hotspot for cheap action cinema aimed at westerners (along with many other genres). Some of these were filmed by Yanks, and often produced by Roger Corman, but many Filipino directors would do it themselves. Among these was Cirio H. Santiago, a popular name in certain circles...

A non-descript country in South East Asia has been wracked by war, and the brutal Sanchez and his group of bandits have caused much suffering, including kidnapping Sarah, the daughter of the U.S. ambassador. A year later they attack again, and after pacifist expat Rick refuses to help defend the town, his wife is killed in the crossfire. Sarah is also injured during the battle, and now free from Sanchez's control, she is determined to get revenge, whether Rick trusts her or not...

Savage Justice is quite a downer of a movie! By no means bad, it's a fairly serviceable action film. It's never boring, and is brisk enough to not overstay its welcome.

In many ways Savage Justice is generic, but what makes it stand out a little, besides its grim tone, is the places it goes. These range from an idyllic farming village, a barricaded town, a peaceful mountaintop monastery, and a full-on post-apocalyptic city!

The film's setting and backstory are pretty vague. A revolution has happened, although it's never clear if it was because of Sanchez and his gang, or unrelated. If unrelated, what did happen? And what are the characters gonna do if Sanchez's gang was just a bunch of bandits taking advantage? I don't think that is the case though. Sanchez and his band of a dozen really do seem to be the ones single-handedly responsible for plunging an entire country into darkness.

Sarah starts out as a frightened young woman before her capture by Sanchez. She's practically brainwashed during her time in captivity, but a chance event leads to her escape. After her recovery she's suddenly a lot more talkative, and is determined to get revenge. Naturally mistrusted at first, Sarah quickly proves her worth, and steps up to be a good protagonist.

Rick wants to get away from fighting, and live the pacifist life of a rice farmer, yet for some reason chose a warzone to live in. He's a little self righteous in not wanting to help train the villagers, and thankfully he's called out on this after Sanchez attacks the undefended town. Where his character shines the most is in his partnership with Sarah. The only part I didn't like so much was them sleeping together near the end. Keeping the memory of your dead wife alive there, mate!

Rick disappears for the whole midsection, and his absence is never once felt. This is effective in letting Sarah be the main lead though, and step up in a way she may have been unable to with another hero tagging along.

Sanchez is a good villain, violent and nasty. His crew has a little personality too, including one poor bastard who's had enough of Sanchez's reckless obsession with Sarah, and takes early retirement...before getting shot. Then there's the psychotic Angelica, who is jealous of Sarah and determined to see her dead.

The supporting cast is fairly decent, from the proactive town doctor, to Sarah's old nanny, the Buddhist monks, the street rats, and their diminutive leader Corlon.

Fun is a strong word for a movie such as this, but Savage Justice does verge on being downright entertaining when we see a squad of badass Buddhist monks fight street gangs in a post-apocalyptic city ruled by a dwarf! It's such a fun high concept idea, I only wish the rest of the movie embraced fun instead of dourness!

Low budget can often get in the way of a movie's vision, but in Savage Justice's case, it's set in a South East Asian country, and shot in the Philippines! You need idyllic fields of green, with misty mountains in the distance? You got it! The waterfall from Predator? Naturally! You want bombed out streets full of refuse? Check!

There's some good action here. Nothing amazing, but it's good to watch, and there's a nice mix of hand-to-hand combat, and gunplay, with explosions galore.

The effects are decent. You've got enough explosions, blanks, and squibs to keep you satisfied. For a cheap film they used their resources well. Which doesn't surprise, since Santiago had made around 100 films! After a while you pick up a few things.

The cast is decent. Julia Montgomery is a good lead, and looks convincing as a tough mercenary. Steven Memel is alright, and has good chemistry with her. Ruel Vernal does well as the villain, along with Chanda Romero. And the tiny Rey Big Boy has a lot of personality! He was having the most fun.

The music is alright, with the film getting its own theme song-Savage Sarah. It's an ok song, if a bit gloomy, and once it gets going it's got a nice ring to it. It also has some amusingly on the nose lyrics at times. Funniest of all is during the credits, when the song finishes two minutes early...so they just wind back and repeat it from the beginning!

Savage Justice is a fairly middling affair, but gets better as it goes on, and isn't the worst Filipino action movie you could watch..