Fact: there exists no better cure against stress, fatigue of general indifference than watching an Italian-produced action film from the 1980s! Whether it's post-apocalyptic trash (like "After the Fall of New York"), jungle adventure (like "Stryker") or plain old-fashioned tough-copper junk (like this "Hammerhead"), those skilled & experienced Italian exploitation directors always managed to deliver films that are fast-paced, chock-full of violence, straightforward and massively entertaining. "Hammerhead" comes from one of the very best in class, Enzo G. Castellari, and is a simplistic effort that is guaranteed to energize and revitalize even the most stoic viewers. Daniel Greene, whom you will certainly recognize from the even more awesome "Atomic Cyborg", plays Hammer. He's too cool to have a first name. Hammer lives in the US and works as a big city cop, but his three best buddies with whom he formed the Storm Riders platoon during the Vietnam war, are enjoying the sun in Jamaica. Buddy #1 nervously calls for a meeting in the harbor, but he gets executed right in front of Hammer's face. Out for answers and vengeance, Hammer flies to Jamaica where he immediately teams up with buddy #2 and learns that buddy #3 has mysteriously vanished. Hammer becomes entangled in a network of crime, corruption, drug-trafficking and cold-blooded murder, and then he also must face the beautiful ex-wife that he inexplicably walked out on!
"Hammerhead" is terrific and adrenaline-rushing popcorn entertainment; - nothing more but certainly nothing less. Castellari must have thought something like: "If I'm going to make another trash action movie, I might as well treat myself to a sunny vacation!" And how right he was. Thanks to the tropical Jamaican filming locations, "Hammerhead" features plenty of beautiful girls, swinging musical tunes and creatively adapted stunts (like an exciting chase sequence with jet-skis, for example). It's definitely not the most violent movie to emerge from Italy in the eighties, but there are a few extremely bloody moments, like a nasty encounter with a circular saw or men getting shot in their family jewels.
