Ghetto Blaster

I bought the movie at a nearby Best Buy for the bargain price of $1 -- so I thought. After watching this extremely low budget, low talent movie, I wish that I could get my dollar back and spend those two hours walking the dog or cleaning my shoes. If you have absolutely nothing better to do and are in desperate need of something to do - read a book!

My review was written in January 1990 after watching the movie on Prism video cassette.

Hot topic of L. A. gang warfare gets a thoughtful treatment in "Ghetto Blaster", a direct-to-video feature.

Richard Hatch plays a guy who returns with his grown daughter to his boyhood home, finding a strange new world ruled by Latino gangs. His dad, R. G. Armstorng, is killed by punks at his grocery store, Hatch is terrorized and his daughter is kidnapped.

Trained in the Army for urban warfare, Hatch is more than a match for the gangs and cleans up the block in several well-done action scenes. Pic transcends genre cliches in the final reel by making some pointed comments about the current situation.

While I did not pay for a movie ticket for this film I had felt like I had just wasted 8 dollars at the AMC Cinema. The movie "Ghettoblaster" was completely predictable and had stereotyped any type of "drug dealing gang banger" in its rightful terms. The plot I can't even describe to you in full because I don't even know how or where the story and the plot ever really takes place. The characters as much as you want to like them don't even become likable. They are just there. Bruce Willis could have starred as the lead hero character while Nicholas Cage or any or devious villain could have been the head of the drug lord boss in this movie and they still would not have been able to keep my attention. The long of the short of it, instead of even spending a dollar on this film go out and spend time with friends family and loved ones. This abomination of a film needs to be kept in a vault and not be seen by the likes of anyones eyes ever again. I am sure the director of this film did the best he could, and the actors and actresses put forth their best efforts but the entire script should have been looked over more carefully before even being put into production. My buddy bought 200 plus films for 50 dollars and this I can honestly say is one of the movies that came upon the arrival of his purchase. "Ghettoblaster" is toast in this man's mind.

Ex-soldier Travis(Richard Hatch)returns to Los Angeles to visit his parents.He quickly learns that his hood is rife with criminal activity and gang warfare.People are terrorized by vicious punks from The Hammers gang.When his father is killed and his friend is burned alive Travis becomes remorseless vigilante.Very cheesy and surprisingly violent action flick with some jaw-dropping scenes of brutality.Even little girl is killed during gang warfare.There are some humorous moments in this fast-paced vigilante flick in the vein of "The Exterminator" and "Death Wish III".Richard Hatch is a decent hero and Diane Moser who plays Gina is truly beautiful.The clown scene is priceless.6 burned cats out of 10.

It is practically impossible to list all the vigilante/personal vendetta action movies that were released during the 1970s and 1980s, following the tremendous success of the original "Death Wish". What I can make is a sort of distinction between them, though. In my (non-scientifically substantiated and modestly amateurish) opinion, there are two good categories of "vigilante" thrillers. One category contains reasonably well-produced and famous quality films that delve deeper into the drama elements and dwell longer on the personal suffering of the victims. Examples include "Vigilante", "Fighting Back", "the Principal", "Self Defense", etc. The other category consists of cheaply made and unpretentious action movies. No time is spent mourning victims here because that means less time for gratuitous violence, unnecessary nudity, and hopelessly exaggerated firepower. They are often far less known but worshiped by fans of raw exploitation cinema; - like me! Glorious highlights in this category are "The Exterminator", "Death Wish III", "The Punisher", "Blood Debts", "Executioner Part II", and this obscure late 80s gem called "Ghetto Blaster".

Alan Stewart's film still starts out rather heavy-toned and dramatic, with a written message and the death of a 12-year-old girl in a drive-by shooting, but then goes for pure exploitation kicks. Travis, with his adult daughter Lisa, returns to his parental house in the LA suburbs, but promptly notices the neighborhood has been taken over by a street gang named "The Hammers". They terrorize pedestrians, extort local shop-owners (including Travis' father), and torch innocent people and their cats. Since the police does nothing, Travis feels obliged to take the law into his own hands.

"Ghetto Blaster" works effectively because Richard Hatch is a likeable action hero, and because numerous sequences are overflowing with fun and a vivid imagination. Travis isn't too muscular, and he doesn't have a warehouse full of artillery, so he improvises like by dressing up like a clown to ruin a cocaine deal. The typically late 80s electro-soundtrack, romance sub plot, and vigilante-compilation are horrendous, but everything else is good fun. Recommended for undemanding 80s trash & exploitation lovers!