Memorable, crazy movie

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Not did actor Mark Stevens star in "Cry Vengeance," but also he helmed this brooding melodrama about revenge. If you haven't seen Fritz Lang's classic "The Big Heat," you probably won't spot the resemblance between "Cry Vengeance" and it. The premise is strongly reminiscent of Lang's film, except that Stevens and scenarists Warren Douglas of "Torpedo Alley" and George Bricker of "King of the Underworld" take "The Big Heat" premise a step further. Tough Frisco cop Vic Barron (Mark Stevens of "The Dark Corner") lost his wife and daughter during an explosion that left him scarred for life on the right-hand side of his face. Were this not enough of a tragedy, the villains who planted the bomb also planted enough evidence to frame Vic and get him a three-year stretch in San Quentin. Since this unfortunate episode, big-time criminal Tino Morelli (Douglas Kennedy of "The Texas Rangers") has left San Francisco and moved to Ketchikan, Alaska, where he is raising his pre-elementary school age daughter Marie (Cheryl Callaway) with the help Blue-Eyes (Mort Mills of "Psycho") his hoodlum henchman Johnny. As it turns out, Vic is getting out of San Quentin, and he is determined to wrecked vengeance on Morelli. Meantime, nobody in Ketchikan knows Tino's true identity. He is masquerading as an ordinary citizen and he has pretty young, Peggy Harding (Martha Hyer of "The Sons of Katie Elder"), fooled, too. Meantime, Tino's pals warn him that Vic has gotten out, and mobster kingpin Nick Buda (Lewis Martin) assigns psychotic killer Roxy Davis (Skip Homeier) to watch Vic. Vic and Roxy have a history and neither likes the other. What Vic doesn't know about is Roxy's secret, and Buda doesn't want Vic to find out about it. As soon as Vic gets out, he heads to a pawn shop and purchases a revolver. Vic's old pal on the S.F.P.D., Red Miller (John Doucette), tries to persuade Vic to give up his quest. Vic refuses to and learns Tino's whereabouts and flies up to confront him. Trigger happy Roxy follows him with predictable results. "Cry Vengeance" boasts strong performances, authentic locations, loads of atmosphere, and a strong backstory.

If the writers had flashed back to the wronged man being convicted of a crime and the evidence which made him believe that mobster Douglas Kennedy was the guilty party revealed, this might have been better structured. However, they choose to start the film where the innocent man (Mark Stevens) is released from prison and sets out to locate Kennedy who is living with another identity in a small Alaska town with his sweet daughter and living a double life. Most of the film is cat and mouse with one of the cats (Kennedy) also the mouse for the psychotic Skip Homieier and Stevens playing mouse for both of them. All Kennedy wants to do is protect his daughter from danger, and while it is obvious that he is still living a life of crime, he's also a model citizen in his community where his past life is unknown.At times, I felt that maybe I had missed an important plot development, but after re-watching the beginning, realized that everything that had come before was exactly what I remembered having seen earlier. At times, the hero is as creepy as Homieier who is playing a variation of the psychopath which Richard Widmark played in "Kiss of Death". Especially disturbing is the sequence where Stevens follows little Cheryl Callaway (as Kennedy's daughter) under a Jedi and she innocently asks the stranger if he'd like to play with her to which he simply hands her firearm ammunition.While there are some definitely gripping moments of suspense, the damage has already been done by the weak narrative. There's really nobody to root for here, even Stevens who was basically done in by the unsympathetic way he's presented here. Martha Hyer adds some perkiness as a barkeeper with an interest in Kennedy but her character really serves no other purpose than to add some adult female to the story.

Mark Stevens both stars in and directed this movie. He plays a cop who just gets out of jail after being framed for corruption and is determined to kill the gangster he thinks responsible for framing him and for killing his wife and child. His search takes him to Ketchikan, Alaska; the aerial shots of the town are brief but quite beautiful. The supporting cast is strong and includes such familiar faces as Douglas Kennedy, John Doucette, Skip Homeier, and Mort Mills. Martha Hyer really doesn't have much to do as Stevens' new love interest. Skip Homeier with his bleached blond hair is okay as the psychotic killer but not a particularly interesting character. Unfortunately, Mark Stevens' performance is too wooden - we should feel some sympathy for a man who has been so unjustly treated by life but we don't, at least not at an emotional level. For those liking crime dramas, this is certainly worth a watch but is pretty average for the genre.

Here is another off the radar Noir, its not listed in the Encyclopedic Reference to American Film Noir but its no doubt a Noir though "noir light" most of the action takes place in Ketchican, Alaska and the film has great locations and action sequences using the town and its environs making full use of the vertical aspect of the town, its waterfront docks and the paper mill.Story is ex cop Vic Barron (Stevens) was not only framed (and sent up for 3 years) by the mob, but also had his face partly blown off while his wife and child were killed in a a car explosion, is out of prison and looking for vengeance. He's looking for mob boss Morelli (Kennedy) who has changed his name and is living as a model citizen with is young daughter and a bodyguard in Ketchican. Mob hit man Roxy (Hormeier) is sent by San Francisco racketeer to take care of all three. Martha Hyer & Cheryl Callaway provide some nice eye candy, the daughter of mob boss takes a liking to Barron a bit too easily (different times compared to today's zeitgeist of not trusting strangers) but its nothing that will detract from the film if you keep the times in mind, streaming on Netflix