Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994) Trimark/Action RT: 95 minutes Rated R (language, strong violence, nudity) Director: Allan A. Goldstein Screenplay: Allan A. Goldstein Music: Terry Plumeri Cinematography: Curtis Petersen Release date: January 14, 1994 (US) Cast: Charles Bronson, Lesley-Anne Down, Michael Parks, Robert Joy, Saul Rubinek, Kenneth Welsh, Miguel Sandoval, Erica Lancaster, Chuck Shamata, Kevin Lund, Lisa Inoue. Box Office: $1.7 million (US)
Rating: **
I figured the Death Wish series would run out of gas sooner or later, especially since star Charles Bronson wasn’t getting any younger. When I first saw the previews for Death Wish V: The Face of Fear, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was psyched that they were doing another one. On the other hand, it didn’t look all that good. To be blunt, it looked really half-assed. It is! It’s easily the weakest entry in the series. It’s also the last. In addition, it was Bronson’s final starring role in a theatrical film. While I was glad to see him again after a five-year absence (1989’s Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects), it was obvious that he’d had enough of playing Paul Kersey. He looks and sounds bored in Death Wish V.
In the seven years since the previous installment, Cannon Films went bankrupt and producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus parted ways. Golan launched his own production company, 21st Century Film Corporation. It wasn’t a very successful venture as one movie after another bombed at the box office. Their titles include the Robert Englund vehicle The Phantom of the Opera (1989), the crummy remake of Night of the Living Dead (1990) and the ill-fated Captain America (1990). Death Wish V did nothing to change Golan’s luck. It was released to only 248 theaters and made only $1.7M at the box office. It’s a bad film on several levels, but you can laugh at it. By definition, cheap action movies are silly, but this one tries to be creative. I just can’t dismiss a movie that shows us death by poisoned cannolis, exploding soccer balls and shrink wrap.
I’ll preface the plot description by saying that Death Wish V is ludicrous even by the low standards of cheap action flicks. For one thing, Paul Kersey is in the Witness Protection Program although it’s never fully explained why. So where do the genius feds decide to relocate him? That’s right, New York, the place where it all started. His name is now Paul Stewart and he teaches architecture at the university. He’s romantically involved with fashion designer Olivia Regent (Down, Nomads) whose ex-husband Tommy O’Shea (Parks, Grindhouse) heads the local Irish Mob. The scumbag has his fingers in every aspect of Olivia’s business and regularly terrorizes her and the employees. He’s bad enough that his own daughter Chelsea (Lancaster) is terrified and wants nothing to do with him. She likes Paul and that’s a problem for Tommy.
Paul finally convinces Olivia to sit down with the DA, Tony Hoyle (Rubinek, Against All Odds), and talk about her ex’s illegal doings. Tommy finds out and sends his best hitman, Freddie “Flakes” Garrity (Joy, Desperately Seeking Susan), to shut her up. This dude is a real character. He shows up at a restaurant in drag and follows Olivia into the ladies room where he disfigures her by repeatedly smashing her face into the mirror. BTW, his nickname Flakes is due to his chronic dandruff problem. Olivia is scared and scarred, but Paul convinces her not to back down. Enter application of the “Kiss of Death Wish” rule. Now Paul is pissed off and back on the warpath again.
Given Bronson’s age (he was 72 at the time), it’s little wonder he’s not running all over the place shooting punks. He takes care of Tommy’s guys in rather creative ways, ones that I mentioned earlier. A heavyset goon dies (right in front of his mother) from eating a poisoned cannoli. Flakes gets it with the exploding soccer ball. One thug gets wrapped to death in a clothing factory. Don’t panic, Bronson still shoots a few people, mainly at the end.
Tommy is a sick, sadistic bastard as proven by how he tortures uncooperative employees with table saws and press irons. Flakes runs down a lady cop and a portly employee with his car. I’ll say this for Death Wish V, it doesn’t short-change the audience when it comes to violent action. It’s just that the picture itself is very poorly made. One look at the cinematography and editing betrays this fact. It looks like a movie that might otherwise get released straight-to-video. Director Allan A. Goldstein (2001: A Space Travesty) spares every expense in this weak outing.
The acting ranges from bad to outlandish. Parks chews up the scenery as the main villain. His psycho is like something out of a warped comic book. Joy delivers a very weird performance as a very weird character. Lancaster can’t act, it’s that simple. She doesn’t even react to her mother’s death.
Death Wish V is also extremely predictable. There’s never any doubt as to who’s on Tommy’s payroll at the DA’s office. It can’t be anybody else but this character. But when Kersey finally kills him, it leads up to one of the picture’s best lines. The body is shipped to Tommy in a crate and he says while standing over the dead man, “Ship him to Jersey.”
The final shot of Death Wish V is somewhat prophetic as if the makers knew it would be Bronson’s swan song. It shows him walking directly into the light at the end of a hallway as he leaves the scene of his final massacre. While I don’t think that Bronson went out on a high note with Death Wish V, it’s not completely unwatchable. Maybe I’m being too generous given my affection for vigilante flicks, but this one is just okay.
