Carlos, a martial artist helps an aging, small-town crime boss in reclaiming his territory. But when he starts making his own decisions, Carlos finds himself at odds with his boss and the stage is set for a final confrontation between former allies.

The tagline for Last Hit, a low budget, indie martial arts flick states the main selling point accurately, “No Wires – No Pads – No Doubles – Just 100% Real Kung Fu.” What it lacks in polish, production values and style it makes up for in presenting uncomplicated, old school kung fu action and a modest, yet competent storyline that gets the job done.

At first sight, I was ready to dismiss this film as just another cheap American martial arts movie made with more good intentions than good entertainment value. It’s true that the film doesn’t have much to offer to entice your average viewer away from the dazzle of more popular action films. A no-name cast with spotty acting ability, threadbare “sets,” a mostly utilitarian directing approach, and obvious English dubbing for what was probably a production without Sync Sound are nothing to cheer about. However, Last Hit has one thing very few American-made movies do and that’s a protagonist who employs good, traditional kung fu techniques, without all the flashy wushu flourishes or gimmicks usually associated with modern martial arts movies. I also admittedly found myself eventually drawn into the story of an unspoiled kung fu practitioner who basically turns to the dark side as he adapts his skills to the art of killing and intimidation.

The script in Last Hit is actually quite dark. It’s just that the direction and acting are not always up to the task of making the most of it. It’s also pretty simple and could be compared to your typical low-budget, contemporary kung fu actioner from the 70s. Salvadorian Carlos Castillo plays a low-wage earning kung fu practitioner in a small town who comes to the defense of crime boss Williams (Robert Frazier) who is being challenged by a rival. Impressed with his skills, the aging Williams hires Carlos. After successfully performing a number of bully missions and suppressing Williams’ rival, Carlos finds himself replacing Williams’ number one henchmen Walt (Michael Fitzgerald), who has fallen out of favor following a string of failures. Furious at the slight, Walt sends thugs to take out Carlos. They’re unsuccessful and soon Carlos begins to exert his own authority, much to the displeasure of Williams who now sees Carlos as a dangerous liability. Williams hires three fighters to kill Carlos and this leads to the final confrontation as Carlos plans a surprise for his former boss and then proceeds to isolate his attackers in order to take them on one-by-one.

One thing that I loved about this feature was the near-complete absence of guns. That may seem ridiculous for modern American gangsters to opt for hand-to-hand combat over gunplay, but this is a kung fu movie in the traditional sense. There is no need for explanation. It’s like a musical. No one is going to wonder why actors spontaneously break out in song. The movie promises kung fu and that’s what audiences get. The one place where a gun does appear is handled brilliantly. Seriously, it’s one of the best disarming scenes ever shot. Carlos doesn’t just take the man’s gun away, but his trigger finger also! It’s the one graphically-violent scene in the film. There is also an interesting death scene at the end that is not particularly violent, but definitely trippy.

The traditional kung fu action dominates the film. It’s not up to the highest standards of Hong Kong ability past or present, but it’s not bad by Western standards. The problem is more with the pacing. Most of the actors move slowly and while I appreciate the filmmakers’ reluctance to undercrank the action to artificially speed things up, many of the sequences tend to be less inspiring than they could have been with a little more dynamic camera work or more experienced screen fighters. Some of the supporting actors, like Carlos’ housemate are completely unconvincing as fighters in look and movement. Most of Carlos’ opponents are somewhat unimpressive as well. Yet, they all work hard at it and it’s clear that some time and effort went into coaching and choreographing the scenes to get the most out of everyone despite their limitations.

Carlos himself moves quite well and viewers familiar with kung fu styles will recognize his use of various traditional techniques including Snake Fist and Hung Gar. A highlight is when he breaks out into Drunken boxing after tanking up on sake with his boss. As Robert Frazier stumbles about on the sidelines, Carlos take on several of his attackers in a lobby.

Now the lanky Frazier is an inspired choice to play the crime boss. I don’t know where they got this guy, but he has such an incredibly unique look and manner that makes his role almost surreal. He looks like an old-time gospel preacher with his square jaw and weathered face, tall and wiry frame in a dapper suit, graying and slightly disheveled hair, and thick glasses. In slight contrast, he talks mean and bullies his underlings with his own kung fu moves. The rest of the cast may be wallflowers, but this guy is a hoot.

For sound, Last Hit offers a decent original score from a band called Ten Killing Hands. It’s mostly electric guitars and gets rockin’ on more than one occasion, but is quite complimentary and never obtrusive. Unfortunately, the voice acting is recorded at too low a level. Carlos’ voice especially sounds distant. Relying entirely on voiceovers is extremely rare in the US, but up until the mid-90s, most kung fu movies in Hong Kong were handled this way. So, it shouldn’t be a shock to genre fans who would most appreciate the old school flavor.

For a very low-budget film with mostly non-professionals involved, Last Hit is a decent little film. It takes a while to get into, but once you realize that the story actually gets more interesting as it progresses and the kung fu action is plentiful and remains consistently good on a novice level, it isn’t much of a challenge to settle in and enjoy it for what it is. The old school kung fu era may be long over, but it’s great to see that its spirit lives on in earnest efforts like Last Hit.

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