Blind Rage/Review

"Who would suspect blind men of carrying out a bank robbery?"

In this high-stakes caper, five disparate men conspire to steal 15 million dollars, yet they all have one thing in common: they're blind!

The ensemble cast, each character representing a certain lived experience and point of view, includes Willie (D'Urville Martin), Lin (Leo Fong), Ben (Tony Ferrer), Anderson (Dick Adair), and Hector (Darnell Garcia). A matador and a blind traveling magician are in the bunch!

The story proceeds smoothly in several different countries; America, Mexico, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Manila, that is until its explosive climax. Well done, if gruesome, flashbacks reveal how each character came to lose their vision—the larger part of the men tried to outsmart the mob and payed with their vision. And the meticulous re-creation of a bank’s floor plan, character quirks—"stay away from her you sex hungry bastard!” and the general levity of wrong-voiced overdubbing makes for a satisfying excursion.

There are car chases, karate fights and a surprisingly realistic looking 747 jetliner explosion. Add a late-arriving (the last ten minutes of the film) Fred Williamson, and you’ve got a picture that's wagering a bet on covering all markets.

It's a good bet. Slapdash and kooky, filled with eye-rolling one-liners, embellished with a bombastic James Bond-like theme song called "The System" by Leila Hermosa (who trains the blind men to carry out their heist), Blind Rage is a hoot. Yes, the International House of Pancakes also has a role: the planning of the heist, the meeting place, and the final knock down drag out fight—with a giant sign in the background—all take place in a California franchise restaurant. Product placement was never so impenitent!

Josiah Howard is the author of four books including Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide (now in a fourth printing). His writing credits include articles for the American Library of Congress, The New York Times and Readers Digest. A veteran of more than one hundred radio broadcasts, Howard also lectures on cinema and is a frequent guest on entertainment news television. Visit his Official Website.