African Run

Director - Andrew Sinclair (Blue Blood, Under Milk Wood)

Starring - John Wyman (For Your Eyes Only, Nash Bridges), Carol Royle (The Outsider, Summer Season), Holly Palance (The Omen, Thriller)

Release Date - 1982

Genre - Action

Tagline - "Your passport to adventure, romance, and death"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     As I work my way through this Bloody Legend box set from Severin Films, I find myself really intrigued by the films.  By this point I know I will not like most of the films in this set but I like watching movies I've never seen before.  It's interesting to see the stories, read the behind the scenes chaos, and sit through movies that went mostly unnoticed for decades until Severin stepped in to preserve their history.  The next movie in the set, African Run, was a bit confusing for me.  I was able to find a few VHS posters for the film but everything I found for the film just circled back to Tuxedo Warrior.  I chalked it up to being a more obscure title associated with Cliff Twemlow and hit play on it.  It was then that I realized something was a bit off.

     The film follows an ex-military man who is known for spending most of his time at a small pub in Africa.  He finds himself in the center of a diamond heist but after he is double crossed he must fight for his life.

     I knew something was off when I tossed in African Run and hit play.  The movie was painfully familiar after the introductory scene.  It was apparent that Twemlow and company added a new intro and a few more scenes (I think) randomly throughout the movie.  I don't know what the purpose of this was but it didn't improve the movie.  In fact, it made it even more apparent that it was a rush job.  The acting in these new segments are no better than the original film.  While I spoke on that in my review for Tuxedo Warrior, I feel I don't need to say much more than that.  The story in this one is not improved by the added scenes.  I don't know if scenes were removed when these were added but the overall experience of the film, along with the pacing, is not improved.  The movie still feels rushed and the lack of action makes it difficult to finish.  Finally, these added films do not bring in any new practical effects or fun deaths.  Overall, African Run is a different cut of Tuxedo Warrior.  I don't know if this was cut like this to improve the overall film or to by pass some sort of legal issue.  Regardless, it's still a difficult film to finish.  Skip it.