Woodyanders
Free-spirited hippie chick Terry (winningly played by fetching blonde Jennifer Billingsley) and amiable Vietnam draft dodger Kevin (a likable performance by Joseph Kaufmann) run afoul of a group of savage bloodthirsty mercenaries while wandering in the desert.Director Jerry Jameson, working from a compact script by Michael Kars and Abe Polsky, keeps the enjoyable story moving along at a steady pace, ably crafts a harsh gritty tone, delivers a satisfying smattering of tasty female nudity, rough'n'tumble fights, and bloody'n'brutal violence, and even adds some stinging social commentary pertaining to the Vietnam war and the pacifist youth counterculture who were opposed to it. The bad guys are a delightfully scummy and hateful bunch of real bastards: Alex Rocco as unhinged psycho Wicks, Michael Pataki as the sleazy MacFarlane, Charles Macauley as the stern no-nonsense colonel, and Felton Perry as the vicious Hill. Paul Carr lends sturdy support as the conflicted Ross while Joseph Bernard amuses as the cowardly Sheriff Alvarez. Jack Walker's funky score hits the right-on groovy spot. The competent cinematography by Michael D. Margulies likewise does the trick. The downbeat ending packs a devastating punch. A nice slice of 70's grindhouse grime.
merklekranz
First, not for one moment will you believe that you are looking at the best mercenaries money could buy. The action appears more like some boy scouts horsing around at camp. While there are a few creative moments at the beginning and at the end, what is in between consists of a rape scene followed by endless climbing around a rock quarry. The outdoor photography is fine, however that is not why exploitation films succeed. I thought Alex Rocco's character, "Wick", was by far the most interesting, followed by everyone else. Make no mistake, this is a low budget, drive in second feature, that would be very easy to sleep through. - MERK
HumanoidOfFlesh
Very brutal and violent 1972 action flick with Alex Rocco and Jennifer Billingsley.A group of sadistic mercenaries take over a small Mexican desert town and kidnap,rape and abuse a young hitch-hiker and her new boyfriend after giving them a lift.Alex Rocco plays a menacing psycho soldier in this flick beating and torturing the girl and telling her to get down on all fours like a dog and say aloud "I'm animal!!".Gritty and exciting action/survival thriller with plenty of violence and a bit of sleaze.The cinematography is grainy and the desert setting works perfectly well.It's great to see such obscure 70's exploitation classic before highly acclaimed "The Expendables" with Sly Stallone and Dolph Lundgren.8 out of 10.
stevenfallonnyc
After a long search, I finally got a nice copy of the virtually unknown Brute Corps, and it was well worth the wait! The story consists of this band of mercenaries for hire who travel in army vehicles, and cause all sorts of havoc along their way. They particularly like to abuse and humiliate women, and take no guff from anyone (especially a band of bikers). If any of the group aren't actually causing trouble at any particular time, then they are sitting there and smiling and laughing while others in the group do it.Eventually they come across two hippies hiking cross country; one a young man and the other his gorgeous girlfriend. What happens after that must be seen to be believed! Many familiar faces abound, and despite the no-budget look, this is actually a very well-made film. "Brute Corps" is definitely worth a look for all fans of rare cinema.