Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Comeuppance Reviews Vic Luca (Torn) is a John Gotti-like mob boss who is going to be convicted in court - if his mob underlings can testify. But Luca sends a shoe salesman/psychopathic hit man, Caleek (Henriksen) to kill them so they can't spill the beans. Purely by chance, Caleek invades the home of innocent man Jack Collins (Vincent), intent on killing him, believing him to be potential informant Frank DeSalvo (Rossi). DeSalvo is being protected before the trial by Tom Mitchum (Napier), an FBI agent on the edge, in a house across the street. When Caleek kidnaps Collins' son and puts his wife in the hospital - and Luca's goons cross DeSalvo as well - the two guys create an unlikely partnership to get revenge.Why is this movie so under-appreciated and unrecognized? If you said to someone "Oh, I watched Hit List last night", more than likely, they would say, "Huh?" That's unfortunate, as a movie with the star quality this movie has, directed by William Lustig SHOULD be a well-known "video store classic" as we say. Maybe now that can start to be corrected.Here we get to see Lance Henriksen as you really want to see him - in a very meaty role as an incredibly brutal bad guy. It's truly "Lance Unleashed" as he has an evil beret and an evil crossbow/grappling hook/zipline, as well as some nasty martial arts moves. Leo Rossi is also memorable as DeSalvo, a man who still believes in the codes of honor of the mafia - at least for a while. Vincent mainly just says "Gimme back my son" many times, which, of course, predates Ransom (1996). Rip Torn, who doesn't often appear in movies like this, puts in an off-kilter, energetic role. Even Charles Napier gets to flex some muscle.But, by far, the two best things about Hit List are 1. This movie is really politically incorrect - it was made in a time before PC stuff existed and it's really beautiful to watch. Thank God things like this were preserved for posterity. and 2. the scene in the Photon arcade. (For those that don't know, Photon was a competitor to Laser Tag, and in some places was replaced by Q-Zar, where kids run around with laser guns and shoot each other). Another awesome preservation.In all, Hit List is an enjoyable film with a nice pace with a lot of familiar faces. What's not to like? for more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Coventry "Hit List" is a stellar example to illustrate that an incredibly simplistic and derivative plot concept can nevertheless still result in a compelling and exhilarating little movie as long as the right people are involved. When we were out movie hunting, my mate and I didn't hesitate for a second when we found this late 80's thriller on VHS. We didn't immediately recognize the title, but it would be really stupid to leave behind a movie directed by William Lustig (almighty creator of the "Maniac Cop"-trilogy and the infamous video nasty "Maniac") and starring B-movie icons Charles Napier ("Supervixens", "Body Count"), Rip Torn ("Coma", "Beastmaster"), Jan-Michael Vincent ("Damnation Alley", The Mechanic") and Lance Henriksen ("Mansion of the Doomed", "Near Dark"). And although we were already satisfied with the discovery of the tape alone, the film itself definitely offers decent albeit modest entertainment. Mafia boss Vic Luca orders his best hit man to eliminate a former associate who's about to witness against him in court, but due to a banal misunderstanding the killer relentlessly wipes out the wrong family and takes an innocent kid hostage. The boy's father fights back whilst the obsessive copper Tom Mitchum continues to try and bring the essential witness to court. The screenplay relies on a couple of tiresome and even embarrassing clichéd prime aspects, such as upside down house numbers causing confusion and model house fathers turning into avenging angels, but the surefooted direction and devoted performances make you overlook all this. Also, even though the primary story lines are mundane and familiar, the plot contains enough little surprise twists and imaginative gimmicks to keep even the more skeptical viewer satisfied. The villainous characters are incredibly well worked out, like Rip Torn's boisterous and obnoxious imitation of Al Capone for example. Most effective and even downright petrifying character is Lance Henriksen's psychotic hit man. He appears to be a sympathetic shoe salesman, but that's only until he receives a new assignment and then literally mutates into a cold-blooded and jeopardizing monster with a tattooed back and creepy eyes. "Hit List" isn't very gore, but there's nevertheless quite a bit of suggestive cruelty, like head being crushed between prison cell doors or burned in pizza ovens. The finale is tremendously spectacular and grotesquely absurd at the same time, with a wild showdown inside a parking garage. Jan-Michael Vincent's performance as the civilian hero is arguably quite wooden, but Rip Torn, Lance Henriksen and Charles Napier are fantastic. The latter even gives away one of his best performances ever as the frustrated cop determined to end the mafia business in his district once and for all.

The_Void William Lustig certainly knows how to direct a gritty city based thriller; he succeeded admirably with the fantastically entertaining Maniac Cop series, and while Hit List isn't quite as memorable - it's still more than entertaining enough, and I'm sure any fan of Lustig's work won't regret tracking it down. It's slightly more serious overall than the majority of the rest of Lustig's filmography, although the director still manages to find time for some humour, and while the action isn't exactly groundbreaking - the film is, at least, not boring for a minute. The basis for the plot focuses on Vic Luca; a big-mouthed mob boss who is set to appear in court for his crimes. However, given his powers as the head of a criminal organisation, it's not difficult for him to track down and kill all the witnesses; much to the dismay of hard-bitten cop Tom Mitchum, who wants to see Luca rot in jail. The plot thickens when Luca's assassin Chris Caleek goes to kill witness Frank DeSalvo and ends up getting the wrong house, and kidnapping ordinary man Jack Collins' son...William Lustig has put together a good cast for this film, with the likes of Lance Henriksen standing out the most and getting good support from memorable actors such as Charles Napier, Rip Torn, Jan-Michael Vincent and Leo Rossi. As he showed with the Maniac Cop films, Lustig certainly has an eye for atmosphere and this film revels in the same gritty urban feel as the earlier films did. I've got to say that I'm surprised this film isn't better known really; it may not have quite the same appeal that Maniac Cop did, but it's great fun and makes for easy viewing. The characters are all drawn in an intriguing manner, as no two are similar and thanks to the cast of character actors - all manage to be memorable in their own right. The film obviously had budget constraints as there's not a great deal of action sequences, and the ones that do feature aren't exactly over the top; but Lustig makes good use of his assets, and Hit List could have been a lot worse. It all boils down to a conclusion that isn't hard to see coming, but its good fun getting there and overall, I won't hesitate to recommend this film to anyone who can find it.

gridoon "Hit List" is a perfectly acceptable little actioner. Anyone who has seen a fair amount of action pics will agree that the quality of this movie is average, and not nearly as low as it often gets in this genre. An extremely untalented lead is a major disappointment here, but the good supporting roles (particularly a colorful Torn, who seems to slightly imitate De Niro's version of Al Capone from "The Untouchables") make up for that. The script is ordinary, and gets far-fetched at the end, but the slick production values keep the film watchable.