Angels Revenge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Angels Revenge was a 1979 movie made by Arista. Directed by Greydon Clark, it is also known as Angels' Brigade and Seven from Heaven.
Angels Revenge has major roles for Peter Lawford and Jack Palance as the leaders of a drug cartel, and gives minor roles to famous character actors Jim Backus, Alan Hale, Jr., Pat Buttram and Arthur Godfrey (playing himself). Of the actresses who played the movie's seven female protagonists, however, the closest any had come to major fame was Susan Kiger, who had been the Playboy Playmate of the Month for January 1977. Kiger played singer Michelle Wilson; her co-stars were Sylvia Anderson as stuntwoman Terry Grant, Lieu Chinh as martial arts instructor Keiko Umaro, Jacqueline Cole as high-school teacher April, Robin Greer as policewoman Elaine Brenner, and Noela Velasco as model Maria. Her younger sister Liza Greer plays high-school student Trish, who invites herself into the team.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The movie focuses on seven women who decide to fight the local drug cartel after the brother of Michelle Wilson, a Las Vegas pop singer, is found severely beaten. When taken to the hospital, the young brother is found to have been on illegal drugs. The singer meets with April, her brother's teacher, and the two hatch a plan to destroy the local drug processing plant. They recruit four more women with special skills and connections to help them carry out their audacious goal. As they plan their first strike, they discover high-schooler Trish spying on them. The student gets relegated to phone duty, but eventually worms her way into their escapades. The "Angels" not only destroy the processing plant, but also manage to intercept one of the shipments. As a result, the women receive unwelcome attention from the local drug cartel.
[edit] Critical response
The movie was not well received by the critics or the general public, being seen as a cheap knockoff of the Charlie's Angels television and movie productions. The plot was seen as contrived. It also had a number of "has-been" actors, namely Backus, Lawford, and Hale, all of whose popularity had fallen since the 1960s. Jack Palance played chief antagonist Mike Farrell, assistant to Lawford's kingpin character, but his presence did not help improve the film's reception by audiences.
[edit] Mystery Science Theater 3000
Because of the poor response to the film, it faded into obscurity until March 11, 1995, when it was used as an episode of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 television series. Mike Nelson and the Bots make various remarks pointing out the relative futility of stopping a single drug operation when illegal drugs are a worldwide industry. The movie was edited somewhat for MST 3000; one example is the character of Miller, played by Neville Brand. He was listed in the opening credits, but never appeared in the MSTed version.
[edit] Trivia
- According to the official Mystery Science Theater 3000 website, the reference to the fictional film "Fox Force Five" in Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction is an homage to this movie.
- Sisters Robin Greer and Liza Greer, both actors in this film, later contributed to the group memoir You'll Never Make Love in This Town Again (ISBN 0-7871-0404-3), detailing their experiences with prostitution and drug addiction in Hollywood.
- Darby Hinton, who plays the teenage drug dealer Sticks, is perhaps most famous for his role as Daniel Boone's son Israel in the original TV series.
