American Punks (1997)
R1 / NTSC DVD
Bloody Earth Films / 2007
Director: Mike Pacitto
Writer: Mike Pacitto
Cast: Mike Passion, Lonnie Jackson, Ron Wicks & Bobby Drew
Review by Brian Harris

Bobby Tilton, the mentally unstable leader of a gang of misfits, goes on a rampage of revenge after his friend Nail is stabbed to death in a diner. Unable to figure out who killed his boy, Bobby pins the dastardly deed on a yuppie he and Nail bullied earlier that day and sets out to make the yuppie pay for his “crime” with the help of his gang and a shady drug dealer that may know more than he’s letting on.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit skeptical going into this film because it just had that cheap, backyard beer buddy revenge film feel to it that I’ve come to loathe over the last few years. The last thing I was interested in seeing was a Pulp Fiction & The Warriors homage shot on video by a bunch of neighborhood guys with homemade condom squibs and black suits. Thankfully, I was dead wrong; American Punks was actually a surprising little endeavor!

Now, obviously its low budget so you’re not going to get the best damn actors or special effects money can buy but Mike Pacitto really brought it all together and made due with what he had and it showed. The actors appeared to have handed in their best performances they could muster and the soundtrack featured kick ass punk and street savvy funk. Hell, there was even a comedic streak in here that lightened the mood up here and there keeping this from spiraling into complete nihilism.

• Screen Format: 1.33:1 Fullscreen / Color / Video
• Audio: English / 2.0 Mono
• Subtitles: N/A
• Run time: 120 mins.

• Audio Commentary w/ Director
• Outtakes Reel
• Audition Reel
• Bloody Earth Films Previews

I’m sure some will be able to watch this film and find some socio-economic subtext and that’s great but I took this at face value and loved every minute of it. It’s raw, violent and plain old entertaining. Frankly, the cover artwork made this look like a dud so take my advice and ignore the art and give this a rent.

“A Top-Notch Crime Thriller!”