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THE SILENCERS-1995-The US government and aliens (who talk in sub-titles) are involved in inter-dimensional travel. The non-human Men In Black hynotize and intimidate poeple. Jack Scalia (also co-producer) is an FB agent on loan to The Pentagon where General Greenboro (Clarence Williams lll) is in charge. Lots of time is spend on a subway shootout/chase, a shootout in a lab and a highway chase. All typical tradmarks of PM Entertainment, who for a time dominated direct to video releases (many with Don "The Dragon" Wilson).

Dennis Christopher shows up as an alien good guy agent (who's kind of a doofus) from "The Association Of Worlds" and uses holograms to explain where he came from and why he's here. The bad aliens are trying to take over Earth with clones. He and Scalia wind up at a UFO con.

Director Richard Pepin produced way too many direct to video action films (mostly with his partner Richard Merhi) but only directed a handful himself including CYBERTRACKER 1 & 2. He was also a cinematographer are many of them.

If you have the cable channel IFC and you are a fan of Hong Kong martial arts movies try and catch their special CHOP SOCKY: Cinema Hong Kong. A terrible name I admit but otherwise a nice documentary featuring interviews and terrific footage. Sometimes the narration is a little off (i.e.: it gives the impression John Woo directed THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS) but it's a minor complaint. It's a few years old now but still shown occasionally.

EXPECT NO MERCY-1995-This is an enjoyable bunch of martial arts nonsense starring "Tae Bo" king Billy Blanks as a special agent who infiltrates a secret academy of assassins whose students train on virtual reality machines. The film's producer Jalal Merhi appears as a computer fight instructor/undercover agent who helps out. The head of the academy (Wolf Larson) looks like an evil Jeff Conway (insert your own joke here) and his henchman (Anthony DeLongis) resembles a young thinned out William Smith! "That virtual reality stuff is crap. Lemme show you the real thing" says Blanks before beating four guys up at once. In a later fight he beats the hell out of his real life brother who plays an assassin!

He and Merhi wind up battling computer bad guys who look like Mortal Kombat rejects (a clown, a samurai, a barbarian, etc.). A little too talky perhaps but as direct to video fighting films go this is pretty entertaining. Also with Laurie Holden and Brett Halsey (THE RETURN OF THE FLY). Filmed in Canada by Zale Dalen, who had worked on TV shows like FRIDAY THE 13TH and KUNG FU:THE LEGEND CONTINUES.

"An intellectual snob is someone who can listen to The William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger"-Dan Rather