A sax player (Frank Zagarino) gives his coked up mate a lift somewhere after a gig and gets caught up in a police chase. After his mate is gunned down, Frank gets a few years in prison and upon release, is set upon by goons looking for half a million dollars his coked up mate stashed somewhere. In order to show their seriousness, they've kidnapped Frank's girlfriend.
Did I mention that the goon's boss is Oliver Reed? I probably should have. Here, his acting ranges from subdued to outright insane (his rape of Frank's girlfriend, in front of a panel of TVs showing snuff movies, is more hilarious than offensive), and he looks rather unsteady in certain scenes. Truth by told though, the film was heading for dullsville until Reed became more prominent. Plus, Frank's character is rather crap so when he enlists the help of his Vietnam veteran buddy Harry (who has one leg), things pick up a bit.
Mostly, the action in the Revenger is a bit tame, but it gets more lively towards the end when Reed and co lay siege to Frank in a country shack. For the duration, it's mainly punch-ups and the odd shooting (Harry seems genuinely remorseful that he's had to shoot Reed's young girlfriend in self-defence).
I thought it was strange, however, that the rape of Frank's girlfriend isn't referred to ever again. I reckoned she'd be the one the execute Reed, but instead they just stick her in a hiding place for most of the climatic battle. Strange.
All in all, The Revenger was not bad (mainly due to Reed), but it ain't gonna turn out to be some long lost classic (unlike Codename Vengeance, which was the 'b' side to this film when I picked it up)
