City of Fear

The "scary" city in question is Sofia, Bulgaria, which I happen to know well. Hadn't realised it was the wild west as recently as 2000 though, with thugs firing machine guns on every street corner. Of course it wasn't, even back then it was a modern sophisticated city - they just chose it as a cheap place to shoot this rubbish. Of course there are lots of films out there which are useless in every respect. This one is just a little bit more so.

Some other reviewers seem to like hopeless lead "actor", Gary Daniels. I'd never heard of him and pray I never will again. The only thing more ridiculous than his dyed-blond mullet, dopey expressions (it's impossible to tell what emotion he's trying and failing to convey) and silly accent is the guy's complete inability to act - it felt like he was reading off cards held up by someone just out of shot, with no real idea what the words meant. Apparently this guy is a kick boxer who once fought someone who fought JCVD. Great! They managed to match him with a female lead who also couldn't act. Can't imagine why they cast this freakishly tall woman, who must be well over six feet and towered over Daniels, even with her frizzy hair tamped absurdly down to minimise the difference.

The rest of the "acting" plumbed further depths (probably because the local actors they recruited didn't speak English and no-one bothered to tell them what they were saying) and the film dragged on at a snail's pace with a stupid stilted script and a plot that was silly and clichéd at the same time. Neither Daniels nor anyone else showed that much fighting ability and the action scenes were either routine or daft, as when on TWO occasions, just as a vital witness is about to tell our hero all, they both get sprayed with machine gun fire, the witness is riddled with bullets but the hero unhurt.

There's nothing entertaining here and no reason to watch. Literally I have never seen anything worse. The only so-bad-it's-funny laugh comes with the final line: "This is one story that should never be told." If only the film-makers had figured that out!