A not-so-bad latter-day Charles Bronson thriller with lots of vivid action and a plot that works through to a logical and well-staged climax. It also allows that good actress Carrie Snodgress to enjoy herself as the psycho who's bumping off all Bronson's friends because of a 10-year-old conviction. Bronson's whisky-cop, Jack Murphy, thinks it's the brother of a Mafia hood he's just gunned down who's framing him for the killings. And there's a fellow-cop who'd like nothing more than to see Murphy fry in the electric chair. All he's got to help him is a tough-talking street-criminal waif who keeps crossing his path. Newcomer Kathleen Wilhoite does what she can with this difficult and underwritten role, while director J Lee Thompson's prowling camera sometimes makes a striking setpiece out of a molehill of violence that isn't unpalatable by today's standards. The dialogue is marginally the right side of risibility and most of the performances only serviceable, save for the excellence of Snodgress, and Lawrence Tierney as a puffy private eye who's not destined to last long into the film. Hardened Bronson fans will like it: it doesn't do them wrong (DQ)

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