I, the Jury

source: I, the Jury

After hearing about this Neo-Noir for a number of years,I was pleased to get hold of a rare UK Pre-Cert Video of the title.Once the Video arrived,I decided to search around for info about the movie,and I was disappointed to discover that 5 minutes had been cut from the UK release of the film.With recently having picked up auteur film maker Larry Cohen's gritty Blaxploitation flick Black Caesar,I decided to search around for more title which he has been involved in.Along with discovering that Cohen had written the screenplay,I was thrilled to discover that Fox Archives has recently put out an uncut version of the film,which led to me getting ready to finally judge the film. The plot: Working for years with fellow cop Jack Williams,Mike Hammer is horrified to find that Williams has been brutally killed.Wanting to go after Williams killer,Hammer is surprised to find his fellow officers giving him "warnings" about looking into things that are best left hidden. Delving into Williams personal life,Hammer discovers that he and his wife went to an upmarket "sex clinic." Visiting the clinic,Hammer confronts sex therapist Dr. Charlotte Bennett and her "assistants",who he discovers have been recording all of their discussions/sessions with clients.As Hammer pushes the police aside to fully uncover the strange sexual world that may have led to Williams death,a killer,(backed by people who want to keep Williams private life private)declares himself the judge,jury & executioner for Bennett's assistants and Mike Hammer. View on the film: Before I get to the film,I have to mention that Fox Archives has delivered a terrific improvement on the rusty UK Video print of the movie,with the widescreen picture being sharp and catching every dirty street corner of the title,and the clear audio allowing the viewer to hear Bill Conti's synch-Jazz score shake with every gunshot. Originally hired to direct until he got sacked due to going $100,000 over budget in the first week of filming,the screenplay by Larry Cohen places this adaptation of Mickey Spillane at the cross roads between the sun-set Neo-Noir and the steamy Erotic Thriller.Sending Hammer off to follow in the footsteps of his former partner,Cohen hammers Hammer into a decaying Neo-Noir world which is kept hidden by an alluring shell,which contains sex therapists secretly recording their clients deepest desires,and cops trying to put all their dirty money links onto a serial killer.Made before the sub- genre would hit the mainstream,Cohen ties the Neo-Noir with a wonderfully deranged Erotic Thriller edge,as a sadistic killer with "mummy issues" makes his victims look like mannequins,whilst Hammer uncovers the "sex therapy" to be a fashion house-style mansion,packed with alluring,but deadly femme fatales. Rushed into the movie after Cohen was given the boot,director Richard T. Heffron & cinematographer Andrew Laszlo (who also worked on the first Rambo movie in the same year) give the film a stylish,rough and tumble Neo-Noir appearance.Filmed on location,Heffron and Laszlo,scan the burnt-out streets with excellent whip-pans and tracking shots which inject the title with a menacing atmosphere,as Hammer and the mysterious killer close in on each other.Picking up on the genre-crossing mood of Cohen's screenplay,Heffron brilliantly mixes Hammer's gritty Neo-Noir beat with ravishing naked girls and a psycho sexual killer.Before closing the case on a brittle Noir note,Heffron slams Hammer into '80s Action,thanks to Hammer having to take control of the law by taking on the gangs of dirty cops,which leads to the dark underbelly of the city being ripped across the screen,as Mike Hammer declares himself the jury.

Oh the 70s was a great time for crime features… although "I, the Jury" was made in the early eighties it had me thinking it was from the 70s like some sort leftovers that found itself in the wrong decade. And hey that's not a bad thing at all. Originally it looked like it was cult-filmmaker Larry Cohen's project, as he penned the screenplay and was to direct to only be replaced by Richard T. Heffron (Futureworld). This is another adaptation of novelist's Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer character. Private detective Mike Hammer looks into the case to seek revenge when he learns of the killing of his one-armed ex-army buddy. What he digs up about his mate's death, is something quite big. "I, the Jury" is a tough as nails, lean and steamy pulp crime / film noir feature that's sexually charged (an opened orgy sequence) and brutally violent (a ghastly slit throat) amongst a rather seedy backdrop. Filling in the role as the iconic Mike Hammer is a fittingly hardboiled, but wry Armand Assante. Surrounding him is a bunch of attractive, but formidable ladies in the shape of Barbara Carrera and Laurene Landon. Also you got the likes of Paul Sorvino, Alan King, Geoffrey Lewis and Barry Snider pitching in with good performances. Cohen's story remains exhaustively captivating; by always being on the move in what is a complicated web of conspiracies and leads. The dialogues are bold. Sometimes contrived in its actions, but it does open up a can of worms. Heffron's steadfast direction is economically staged with moments of thrilling engagements and brooding passages that he's not afraid to bare flesh, but at times it felt like I was watching a long-winded TV episode. Bill Conti composes a titillatingly smoking blues score, which installs a whirlwind of emotion.

I The Jury is an exciting action flick from 82, I first saw two years later and I must say me and my friend, saddled up in front of the t.v were engrossed, and underage to watch this sort of thing, but who's counting. Again, I re-iterate, this is an exciting psychological action thriller, and our psycho really here is nuts. Armand Assante is tailor made for our great fictional detective, Mike Hammer. He's everything he should be. I loved the fact Assante was in this. They don't make films like this anymore. The 80's had the best decade of movies, and this one's a prime example, and is quite on the blood and guts side too. Investigating the murder of a close buddy who served with him in Nam, Hammer stumbles upon a conspiracy trying to plughole his efforts, people going at great lengths to stop him, and make sure that people he talks to are people who'll be having their last conversation. I gotta admit, this film has style and the beautiful Carrera. She runs a sex retreat, where lovers can participate in, sexual experiments, orgies, a no holds barred, practice, what have you. The scene with those two naked twins, the psycho, a younger better looking version of Richard Lynch, doing them, is intense, and as I can remember, provided heavy viewing on my first watch back in 84 that I got away, renting this R movie, as I did a few others. There's action aplenty in this tasty, flick that has sex, beautiful nudity, some sick violence, and Assante. The thrilling action climax is great, plus another little after climax, which has Assante properly avenging his friend's death. Too, a great scene has Assante giving a new meaning to catching a cab, when he traps a goon, his coat, half in and half out, before he's dragged behind, over the coarse bitumen. A must see flick, you must see.

The other women were all basically bimbos who ended up * at some point ................................................................. The main reason I watched the movie was to see Julia Barr. Unfortunately, she lost her head after only a few minutes and was not on until midway through the movie but it was cool to see one of the best actresses around today in an early role .................................................................. It was also cool seeing NYC in the early 80's before certain parts of the city were cleaned up. Some nostalgic items - The World Trade Center was of course still standing, the old yellow cabs were still used, Times Square was still raunchy. ................................. Paul Sorvino and Alan King added a bit of authenticity to the movie as New Yorkers....

I remember renting this film and seeing it with my friends. The video machine was new and enormous and my friends an me were in heaven. In the cover was a guy with a gun and that was enough for us to rent it. Everybody was drooling with the steamy sex scenes and gratuitous nudity. The violence over the top, the sex is wild I mean there is an orgy and people in white coats are taking notes for Christ sakes, and the unintentionally funny dialogue makes for a camp classic. We thougth we were seeing the greatest movie in the world. How can you not like a booby trap place like the one Mike Hammer drives trough with Alan King being 12 years old. Yea, Adult supervision Blah! I recently showed it to my wife and she almost passes out from laughing. It still is a great popcorn movie and her laughter was contagious. See without prejudices and just enjoy Assantes unbounded energy. Excuse my English if there are any errors in the spelling.

Private Detective Mike Hammer (Armand Assante) investigates the murder of his friend Jack Williams who lost his arm to the Tet Offensive. Pat Chambers (Paul Sorvino) is the lead police detective in the case. Jack's wife Myrna reveals that they had been going to sex therapist Dr. Charlotte Bennett. His investigation connects Mike to a secret military program with help from his beautiful secretary Velda. Soon, they're hunted by mysterious agents. Mike follows the gun to mobster Charles Kalecki (Alan King). Finding the bug seems very random. There are conveniences and contrivances. It's fine for an 80's action movie. It has the harden charisma of Assante although there is a bit of European coolness about him. It gives Hammer a nice sexiness. The plot is quite convoluted which borders on a Bond movie. Instead of a noir pulp detective, Bond does seem like the bigger inspiration. It's not until he gets a little bloodied that it starts to feel noir. There is even a bevy of Bond beauties. The only thing missing is the exotic locations. It's strictly New York City and that's perfectly good with its remaining sleaze. It fits the sex and violence. The production is closer to TV level except for the R-rated elements.

Well, I would have been depressed had I been stupid enough to buy a movie ticket to see this garbage. Instead, I was probably at home watching Magnum, P.I., Thursday nights at 9 on SCTV, for free. At least Magnum had production values, professional editing, believable characters, and self-deprecating wit. I, The Jury, on the other hand, has none of this. It's just a cartoon full of self-important doofuses, including a midget with a mullet running around NYC pretending to be a hard-@zz private detective. And he drives a decade-old p00p-brown Camaro Z28, not a red Ferrari. I'm not even sure it's good enough to be a TV Movie of the Week.

I've been watching Armand Assante since he was one of the Mike Powers on The Doctors some 37 years ago, and in all that time, I've never once thought of him as Mike Hammer. I still don't. In I, the Jury, Hammer goes to work on a different kind of case as he tries to find the killer of Jack Williams, a man who served with him in Vietnam and, while retrieving Mike's helmet, lost his arm. Jack was investigating something when he was killed, but what? After consulting Jack's widow, Mike finds out they went to sex therapy at a clinic, so he starts there. The head of the clinic, the beautiful Dr. Bennett (Barbara Carrera) freezes him out of her office. Mike ultimately realizes that Jack was there working undercover and found out something that resulted in him being murdered. This winds up involving Mike with the CIA, a mental patient, bad cops, and a rogue Army officer. Lots of violence and nudity and in the end for me anyway, not worth it. Assante does as good a job as he can, but he's no Mike Hammer. For one thing, he is too exotic-looking, for another, he's not hard-boiled. He's too smooth and his Mike is juxtaposed against the backdrop of some of the seedier parts of New York City in 1982, before Disney moved into Times Square. I did absolutely love seeing the New York where I lived - the Times Square smut, Colony Records, the Broadway/7th Aveue area, great fun. Not really my type of thing. It may be if you like violence and * women, this is for you.

***WARNING SPOILERS*** Mike Hammer, Armand Assante, taking time off from his grueling and back breaking job as a divorce investigator to find who's responsible for the murder of a Vietnam army buddy of his Jack Williams, Frederic Downs, and bring him or they to justice; Mike Hammer-style. Jack a private investigator who lost an arm in Vietnam seemed to be on to something when he was murdered. Mike gets a clue from his widow Myrna, Margaret Amato, on what Jack was doing up until the time of his death. Going to a Manhattan sex clinic where Jack was a patient in Hammer finds the clinic manager Dr. Bennett, Barbara Carrera, anything but helpful. It's then that Mike figures that Jack was undercover there as a patient and uncovered something that cost him his life, but what was it? It later turns out that the sex clinic is a front for a rouge element of the CIA thats working together with the New York Mafia smuggling weapons and at the same time using the patients in the clinic with sever mental problems as programed assassins. Having them go out and murder those who are on to the clinics real purpose and at the same time having those killings written off as simple sex-related crimes by the police. The operation is run by former US Army Special Forces colonel Romero, Barry Snider, who's tactics in Vietnam were even too much for his superiors in the business of breaking down or turning enemy combatants to be cooperative. Hammer doesn't realize that he's being used by the US government to bring down this operation and at the same time he's on his own doing it. Since those in government don't want it to come out that it's an unofficial CIA/Mafia endeavor since it would lead to the many sponsored covert CIA/Orginized Crime actions over the years. Mike Hammer does his job, even though he doesn't seemed to get paid for it, with brutal and deadly efficiency. Taking everything the rouge CIA/Mob group could dish out and putting them out of business in grand fashion at the conclusion of the film. Hammer does this in a one man shoot-out at their secret headquarters where he finishes off both mob boss Charles Kelecki, Alan King, and his gang of CIA/Mafia henchmen. Mike now has just one loose end to tie up to finally close the case on the death of his friend Jack and he'll do it with a smile a kiss and a gun. Armand Assante is very good as the brutal, but at the same time added a lot of humor in his role, private eye Mike Hammer. His actions at Dr. Bennetts office and her sex clinic run mansion in suburbia were hilarious and Barbara Carrera was both sexy and deadly as the dragon-like lady Charlotte Bennett. Carrera together with Assante had the most super charged sex scene in the film that made all the orgy sequences in the movie pail in comparison. Besides both Alan King and Barry Snider being in roles as the mob boss and rouge CIA operation chief Paul Sorvino was in the movie as Mike's friend in the NYPD Det. Chambers. Det. Chamber knew what the US government was planing in having him do their dirty work but was too scared to tell him until Hammer found it out for himself.