Death Wish II (1982)
MGM / 4:3 Pan & Scan (what they sent me) / 95 minutes

It took the closing of my local video rental store, a subsequent enrollment with Netflix and about a week of shipping for Death Wish II to reach my mailbox. For some reason this disc wasn’t available in the southeastern region of the country and so the DVD I was sent came all the way from Californ-i-a. After all the trouble I began to wonder if my tireless search would result in a subpar screening. I was only partly wrong.

We last left Paul Kersey in Chicago looking down the barrel of his finger at a gang of hoodlums tormenting an innocent bystander. But he didn’t remain in the Windy City long. As Detective Frank Ochoa explains (a role reprised by Vincent Gardenia), Kersey began dating an old friend Geri Nichols (Jill Ireland) and ended up moving to Los Angeles. He brings his daughter Carol with him settling her into a nice nursing home where she begins to make modest improvements from the catatonic shock she entered in the first film. While standing in line to get ice cream for Carol and Jill, Kersey is jumped by a band of geeks equal to if not more moronic and sadistic than the trio of muggers who killed his wife back in NYC. They steal his wallet but not before Kersey chases one of them into an alley and kicks some ass. He doesn’t kill the crook though. Kersey’s days of vigilante justice seem to have waned. Instead he rejoins Carol and Jill (oblivious to the run-in) and they head home.

But the gang has Kersey’s wallet, which has his driver’s license and address. They arrive at his apartment first and commence a most heinous and vile gang rape of the housekeeper Rosario. They rip the clothes off of her body and have their way, one after the other. As surprising as it was to see tall man actor Jeff Goldblum in the role of a rapist in the first DEATH WISH, here we find venerable actor Laurence Fishburne playing Cutter. He too gets his jollies from the buxom senorita and it is truly gut wrenching to see the shameless glee with which they violate her.

And it only gets worse when Kersey and Carol get home. Kersey is quickly bludgeoned and Carol is kidnapped. At their hideout they gear up yet again for a turn between the legs of the young, innocent and not to mention childlike Carol. As if this wasn’t bad enough, once the first maniac has been pleasured, Carol, in a moment of cognoscente panic, jumps up and hurtles herself out a window. She lands gut first on a fence railing — a human shish kabob.

I was again disappointed with the very unemotional reaction of Bronson to this terrible news. Just the fact that random evil would again meet with his family (and rape his only daughter - again) should send him over the bloody edge. He merely sits in the dark for a couple of scenes nursing a drink and doesn’t go on as many dates with his girlfriend.

But of course this stoicism is simple the brilliance (inability more likely) of Bronson’s tough guy acting style. He’s a man of few words and direct action. After brushing off the asshole LAPD Lt. Mankiewicz it is clear his course is set on revenge. He submerges himself into the bowels of Los Angeles street life and rents a crummy apartment from an Asian fellow (an actor whose name was Peter Pan – just had to mention that). Kersey patrols the night for the scum that took his daughter and housekeeper passing by numerous missions and religious centers in obligatory irony. He once again leads a double life. Architect by day and vigilante by night!

But I found Bronson’s one-liners lifeless. He gets the jump on one punk named Stomper (Kevyn Major Howard).

He sees the crucifix around Stomper’s neck and asks, “Do you believe in Jesus?”

Stomper nods, “Yes.”

Bronson replies dryly, “Well you’re going to meet him.” Bang!

Come on! You can do better than that. I can’t decide if I’m thinking this line is clichéd or just uncreative. Is this where such a clichéd sentiment got started in the first place?

He dispatches the villains one by one with ease and I’m amazed he can just drive around for 20 minutes and find the guys he’s after. But the slums he navigates are truly frightening. The ally’s are dark and cold the shadows are long and ominous and I’ve got to think that most of the background extras are actual street people. LA circa 1982 must not have been the hardest place to set dress.

Before long LAPD realizes they have a vigilante on their hands and try in vain to identify the killer. Lt. Mankiewicz doesn’t mess around either. After Kersey saves a couple from a rape-mugging they are questioned relentlessly by the Lieutenant who blocks their way to the ambulance. He also questions a bullet-riddled hoodlum by jamming his gun into the man’s wounds.

Detective Frank Ochoa is flown in to help with the investigation sniffling cold and all. He tracks down Kersey and confronts his girl Geri about his past in New York. Kersey assures her that Ochoa is obsessed and she needn’t worry about his accusations. The chemistry between the two feels familiar given the tendency of Ireland and Bronson to star opposite each other in many of their movies. The relationship provides much needed relief between scenes of rampant killing. Although you can’t help but fear for Geri given the track record of Kersey’s loved ones for getting struck down.

During one shootout Detective Ochoa actually sacrifices himself to save Kersey.

Ochoa whimpers, “Did you get them all?”

Kersey replies “One of them got away.”

“Get the Mother****** for me. Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be…”

Then the good detective croaks.

Police end up nabbing the drug crazed Nirvana (Thomas F. Duffy) before Kersey can finish the job. Nirvana gets put in a mental hospital instead of jail. But Kersey can’t let go. He accompanies Geri to the hospital where she is working on a story about criminal rehabilitation for KABC News. In the process he learns the layout of the hospital stealing a white-coat and ID badge for later use. Later during a romantic dinner Kersey proposes to Geri and the two plan to meet that night to catch a plane to Mexico.

But of course he has unfinished business at the hospital and disguised as a doctor finds himself in a room alone with Nirvana. They battle and brawl until Kersey finally manages to electroshock him to death. It is here that the orderly pulls a Det. Ochoa and gives him 3 minutes to escape before sounding the alarm. He rushes home but is too late. Geri has already discovered the truth about him and left, leaving only her engagement ring for him to find.

The opening credits immediately remind us we’re a decade removed from the first film. Synthesizers swell obnoxiously between fat chords and brass trumpets. While the Geri’s news report airs on the radio it is barely heard through the blaring electric guitar solo of Jimmy Page. Page actually wrote and composed the music for the film so it is no wonder the mix is so bias.

After thinking about DEATH WISH II for a couple of days I can easily say I still enjoyed it but found it less profound than the first film. All in all this is just your typical round-two sequel – a fun romp but nothing that really sticks. The only things that do stick are the nasty bits at the beginning. The image of poor Rosario’s naked body crumpled in the hall of Kersey’s apartment is degrading and sleazy as hell.

I’ve read that director Michael Winner is quite the conservative thinker in the UK. But I’ve been shocked thus far by how heavy-handed he is in regards to on-screen violence and the female figure. In DEATH WISH II more than one buxom was ripped from the comforts of its blouse by some ingrate. Was Winner simply following suite in the cinematic day of gratuitousness nudity? Or do we have a highly repressed conservative mind acting out in the films he directs?

I find myself struggling to like Bronson as a tough guy too. He’s just missing that panache that I love so much about my favorite man’s man Lee Marvin. He kicks the requisite butt and everything but I really think his wooden demeanor gets in the way for me. I’d like to see some of his westerns, a genre I’ve meant to introduce to Shameful Cinema in the past. I plan to still but I shall forge ahead with DEATH WISH 3.

The DVD itself is a crappy Pan & Scan with only the trailer for an extra. As excited as I was about the flick I think DEATH WISH II really only deserves a 2.5 star rating. Sorta Choice

Related reviews:

• Roundtable Review: Death Wish