THE STORY: There's a question you'll have to ask yourself when you're done watching this movie...is the Stranger just a woman with a grudge? Or is the Stranger really the ghost of the sheriff's fiancée come back to wreak bloody vengeance. I personally, think she was the ghost of the fiancée like in the Crow. Note that I said 'when you're done watching this movie' not 'if you watch it' because my droogies, this movie kicked ass. Its a fun little b-movie and the Inferno was extremely pleased with it!

The Stranger, a woman clad in tight but sexy leather rides her Harley into the desert town of Lakeview. Lakeview is a dump....a dusty little town with few inhabitants. But the citizens of Lakeview live in fear of a biker gang led by Angel. The bikers rule there and the people just accept it, either because their too scared to do anything or because, as its said in the film, the bikers illegal activities put money into the towns businesses. The instant the Stranger arrives she runs afoul of some of the bikers....and kills them.(Don't call her 'bitch'...)

One would think the deaths of unsavory character like the bikers would be a good thing for the people of Lakeview. But they don't see it that way, at least not the main characters in the movie. Angel is out of town for a few days and the townspeople are afraid he'll burn the town down when he returns and finds the Stranger causing trouble. Sheriff Cole is a drunken coward. Angel killed his fiancée Bridget, years ago. The Stranger looks just like Bridget and Cole isn't sure if she is Bridget's ghost or not. Sally, the local bitch schemes and schemes to get the Stranger killed, although I found her motives murky. Sally wants the sheriff for her own and the Stranger is a threat to her. Sally also uses her feminine wiles to boss around the mayor, and the deputy, Steve.Then finally there's Bridget's little sister, Cordet. She's a preteen and she's been living like a scavenger since Bridget's death. You ask me, this town needs to be burnt down.

But don't ask me...ask the Stranger. She awaits angel's return and any biker jerks that confront her get their asses handed to them. Her fights are fast and vicious. She doesn't fight like a person interested in wounding an opponent. She fights like a person determined to kill your ass. My favorite scene is when a biker thug threatens to rape her, basically, in the local bar. The stranger replies that she's waiting for Angel. The thug doesn't back off...he tells her he's gonna do her and demands she does him like she's going to do Angel. Dummy. He means "do" as in "[unwrite]", she means "do" as in "stick a fork in him he's done." The Stranger smashes his beer in his face, clobbers him with a right that looked so good it on film it made my teeth hurt, shoves a fork in his neck and damn near kicks his head off...all in five or six seconds. I'm in love, dudes.

This movie is well worth the rental fee. Kathy Long, as the Stranger is at least as good an actress as Cynthia Rothrock, although her moves aren't as fluid. Still, I hope to see her in some other movies. She's made at least one fan in the Inferno. Angel was Andrew Divoff...the evil genie from the Wishmaster series. Sheriff Cole was Eric Peirpoint. He's got one of those "Where the hell have I seen this guy before?" faces. I've nailed it down to one thing at least and stop me if I'm wrong...wasn't he a starship captain on the Deep Space Nine episode "For the Uniform"? Lastly, Sally was actress Ginger Lynn Allen. I thought at first she might have been British actress Daniella Westbrook. (any Eastenders fans will know who I mean...Westbrook played Samantha Mitchell on that soap.) Allen bears a resemblance to Westbrook, although I've heard Westbrook has had to have some serious facial reconstruction due to drug abuse. If you know email me. Share with the Inferno!

Best Lines: "They messed with me...I killed them."- The Stranger tells Cole what happened to the men she snuffed.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?:

1.) I'm not buying it. What possible benefit could the bikers be bringing the town? If this Lakeview is so far off of the beaten path that the only thing keeping it afloat is the commerce of a criminal gang of bikers would you want to stay there? It damn sure ain't the scenery either. Why do the people continue to live there and why does Sally think its so important to get rid of the Stranger so Angel won't wreak havoc on the town? We do find out later in the movie that she blew the whistle on Bridget...Sally warned Angel that Bridget was going to contact the FBI about the bikers, and so she was killed (and from the flashbacks, raped first.) But still, I don't buy it. Even if the town was a bust wouldn't a sane person rather relocate to a better area than stay in a dusty dinky little town ruled by biker crooks?

2.) At one point Cole says "I'm not afraid of anybody!" after the Stranger calls him a coward. He's lying. My little sister has more balls than Cole and trust me, that was in no way an insult towards her. This guy is a punk and a half. Fine, he doesn't have to go running up to Angel and his gang with guns blazing. But he could get the state police or the FBI. He's the [unwrite]ing sheriff! The Sheriff that doesn't do anything against the men who (raped?) and killed his fiancée! The same men who evicted the fiancée's young sister out and took over the house! And Cole doesn't want to do anything for TWO YEARS!? (Until the Stranger arrives.) What a pussy.

3.) Actually, Lakeview is populated by gutless chumps. After the Stranger has disposed of all of the bikers still in town the citizens flee because they know Angel will be pissed off when he returns...with four other guys. FOUR! The townspeople could easily have taken FOUR men on bikes. Geez, how did they found Lakeview? Was it to be a bastion for people without a spine?

NUDITY AND SEX:  The Stranger and Cole have sex. Its not too explicit.

HUH?:  Sally seems to be able to talk Steve, the Deputy into anything. Obviously she uses her feminine wiles to do it and I can see how he falls for it. There aren't any other woman under 50 in the damn town! Still Sally ain't all that and a bag of chips. You'd think she'd know better than to mess with the Stranger since she saw the Stranger kill two big burly men easily! Not only easily but with definite malice!

Houses in Lakeview are made of balsa wood. When Steve, Sally and the fat ass mayor lock the Stranger in a closet, she punches through the door! Either she's really strong or that door was made of cheap, cheap, cheap wood. Still, it was a funny scene. She kicked their asses!

THE FINAL JUDGEMENT: Great movie! I loved it. Its been a long time since I actually liked a b-movie this much, and I hope you'll enjoy it too. What are you still here for? Go rent it...the Inferno demands it.