This road runner isn't just a harmless solo running bird never bothering anyone. He's got a mission, and that is to be paid or continue to kill. As we first see Paul Koslo, he shoots two young people necking in their car, simply because. A police station is his next target where his crossbow impales several officers, followed by his demands to get $1 million to stop his reign of terror. Dressed in native American clothing as well as painted up, he has the amazing talent to escape the most intense situations. A small town parade leads to a chase where the law seems to be doing his work for him, resulting in deadly car crashes that he wasn't even responsible for.
With a cast led by Oliver Reed, James Mitchum and Stuart Whitman, this action thriller is enjoyable in spite of its disturbing story. I actually found myself laughing and deciding that it was worth sitting through when Reed, playing a very determined federal officer, grabs a microphone out of the hand of ambitious young reporter Deborah Raffin and speeds off. You already know going into films like this pretty much how they are going to win, but the important thing is that they keep your interest which this does succeed in doing. One of the things about it though that is confusing is that it seems to have three titles, one of which has been used as a generic title for several other films, pretty much losing this in the shuffle.
Assault in Paradise
1977
Action / Crime / Thriller
Plot summary
In the town of Paradise, Arizona, shady land deals enrich a handful of select few. The town's mayor and sheriff are corrupt and aware of the land schemes. Incensed by this, native-American Victor plans to extort money from the rich as punishment for the land they stole. He starts by killing two local cops with his crossbow. He leaves a note claiming the rich must pay a ransom or die. He demands 1 million dollars to be delivered within 24 hours. The Chief of police, Haliburton, contacts local businessman William Whitaker and they decide to keep the whole thing confidential. They don't want the Press or the Feds involved since it could reveal the local land frauds. Instead, they hire private security investigator Nick McCormick, who advises them to pay out the ransom. The town boasts the largest number of millionaires in the country. Most of them agree with the plan to pay up the ransom and keep things under wraps. They are accused by the local media of being like a 'white-collar mafia'. Whitaker agrees to deliver the ransom money himself at Devil's Mountain, a large rock formation in the desert, but he secretly switches the money for packs of blank paper. During the drop, Whitaker attempts to kill Victor who escapes. Later, Victor retaliates by killing more wealthy citizens and by invading Whitaker's well-guarded mansion. After killing his guards one by one, Victor captures Whitaker and demands four million dollars to be delivered at a different time and place. The following day, at an old west themed parade, Victor kills the mayor using his crossbow outfitted with a scope. Policemen and locals give chase but Victor escapes. The ransom is taken by helicopter to the Devil's Mountain by Whitaker who is determined to kill Victor. Following close behind in a second helicopter, security man Nick McCormick and a hired Tracker, are prepared to provide back-up. The money drop doesn't go as planned.
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A different style of road runner.
Want to stay alive?
I am a great fan of novelist James Hadley Chase, a prolific writer of crime stories, between the late thirties and mid eighties, stories about psychopaths of all kinds, gumshoes, rogue cops, femme fatales, where greed, greed was the key word, where characters were lead only by gold lust, and certainly not love nor tenderness. That said, this very movie RANSOM, is not supposed to have been inspired by a Jim H Chase's novel. But for me, I am not that positive. Chase gave us WANT TO STAY ALIVE, back in 1971, which took place in a Florida town called Paradise City - in this film, the town where the action takes place is called Paradise - where an Indian born hoodlum decides to ransom rich people; if not the killing will begin. It is a violent but tense story, page turner topic, which is not exactly the same as this one, let's admit. The Olly Reed's character doesn't exist in the novel. This film is also very good, as good as the novel, believe me.
An okay action programmer.
An American Indian named Victor (Paul Koslo, "The Stone Killer") is running around an Arizona town picking off people with his trusty crossbow. What he wants is for all the local fat cats to pay him a million to make him stop the killings. The richest jerk in the area, William Whitaker (Stuart Whitman, "The Comancheros"),hires a mercenary, Nick McCormick (Oliver Reed, "The Devils") to work on behalf of him and his peers. Since these particular fat cats are by and large a corrupt bunch, they would rather not use the regular legal channels. John Ireland ("I Saw What You Did") is the rather useless sheriff, Jim Mitchum ("Trackdown") a local hired for his tracking skills, and Deborah Raffin ("Death Wish 3") the reporter who takes a shine to gruff stranger-in-town Reed.
Directed by the late cult filmmaker Richard Compton ("Macon County Line"),"The Ransom" (also known as "Maniac!" and "Assault on Paradise") is decent entertainment, as far as it goes. There's nothing particularly interesting or different about it, it just tells a passable, routine story in capable fashion. It does have some good set pieces, whether they be vehicular chases or a stalking / suspense sequence set at Whitakers' estate. It is rather amusing, and ridiculous, how Victor is almost always way ahead of everybody else. He seems to have little trouble infiltrating defences and acquiring excellent vantage points. Nicely photographed (by Charles Correll) in scope, and scored (by Don Ellis),it moves along pretty well, but never gives us much info about, or insight into, the characters. Most of them are ciphers. And very little is done with many of the plot details.
Still, it's a treat to see Reed do just about anything, and here he gets to be moderately badass and try out an American accent. Raffins' reporter is a largely useless character, but Whitman is fun as the cranky moneybags who becomes increasingly frustrated over Victors' success and McCormicks' insistence on doing things his way.
Overall, a reasonable way to kill an hour and a half, with a fairly high body count but not much in the way of gore.
Six out of 10.