NateWatchesCoolMovies Picture a bleached out, acid washed dime-store version of Blade Runner on a shoestring, bargain budget and you'll have some notion of Sci Fighters, a silly futuristic flick starring lovable wrestler 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper and B Movie stock villain Billy Drago. By most standards it's a miserable little exercise in schlock, but if that's your thing to begin with, it's a pearl. So it's set in 2009, and the film was made in 96', which going by a combination of the math and the severely bleak atmosphere, the filmmakers didn't even stretch their timeline barely past twenty years from their date, showing either amusing carelessness in writing or even more amusing cynicism for where we're headed, and how fast. The setting is Boston, and it's a goddamn slum, with perpetually overcast skies, garbage heaps everywhere and a general sense that people have given up. Piper is Grayson, a hard boiled detective on the trail of a somewhat unusual killer. Far above earth in a filthy off-world prison on the moon, criminal Dunn (Drago) has encountered some weird alien parasite which hijacks his gaunt frame and torpedos back stateside to start a murder spree. Drago vs Piper in a sad-sack, disease ridden Boston is pretty much the suitable logline, and it's not half bad. Piper makes a more grounded leading man than the film deserves, while Drago is straight up certifiable (nothing new) especially when the extraterrestrial, who has a garbled and endearing speech impediment, is controlling him. Effort is put into the atmosphere to some degree, but I feel like the success in achieving mood was probably also by accident of just leaving shit lying around set. A true peculiarity, worth it only for fans of the two actors and schlock-hounds alike.

Oslo Jargo (Bartok Kinski) Sci-fighters (1996) is a low-budget Sci-fi that doesn't go anywhere. It borrows heavily from Blade Runner (1982), Runaway (1984), The Hidden (1987), and I Come in Peace (1990). It has a nice feeling to it with the low-budget attempts at a futuristic world, but the problem is the horrible acting of Roddy Piper and a baffling performance by Billy Drago.Roddy Piper was okay in John Carpenter's They Live (1988) but he is just unlikeable here. Billy Drago is like a drug addict here, messy and annoying. In The Untouchables (1987) he was fine, but he is a weak bad guy here, invaded by a parasite and stumbles along. Neither Roddy Piper or Billy Drago can carry a film, even a low-budget Sci-fi one.The plot is ludicrous as well.Recommended: Prison Planet (1992) Also Known As "Badlanders" Alienator (1990) Yor, the Hunter from the Future (1983)

Woodyanders 2009. Vicious and dangerous psycho rapist Adrian Dunn (a perfectly creepy and slimy turn by veteran bad guy thespian Billy Drago) gets infected with a mysterious alien organism while serving time in a prison on the moon. After he apparently dies, his corpse gets shipped back to Boston, Massachusetts. Dunn revives and goes on a lethal rampage. It's up to tough and weary Black shield cop Cameron Grayson (firmly played with rugged conviction by Roddy Piper) to stop Dunn before he spreads the vile contagion all over the city. Capably directed by Peter Svatek, with a tight script by Mark Sevi, a steady pace, slick cinematography by Milan Gravelle, a bleak wintry setting, nice flashes of sharp sarcastic wit, a moody score by Milan Kymlicka, appropriately hideous make-up effects which deliver several memorably disgusting moments, a surprisingly substantial amount of genuine humanity (the back story about Dunn and Grayson is unexpectedly poignant), and a rousing and gripping climactic confrontation between Dunn and Grayson, this nifty little B-film supplies plenty of solid and satisfying undemanding entertainment. The lovely and spirited Jayne Heitmeyer brings a winning mix of warmth, humor, and energy to her role as spunky microbiologist Dr. Kirbie Younger. Moreover, there are fine supporting contributions by Tyrone Benskin as the cheery Dr. Gene Washington, Richard Raybourne as wormy runt crime lord Casper, Chip Chaipku as the irate Captain Lankett, and Donna Sarrasin as doomed Dunn victim Tricia Rollins. The always reptilian Drago is marvelously grotesque and repellent as Dunn, who becomes more exceedingly ugly and repulsive as the disease causes him to physically deteriorate (sickening highlights include Dunn pulling out his hair, spitting up gross white goo, and even cutting off one of his fingernails). A fun movie.

winner55 Yeah, pretty much the same plot we've seen in a dozen other such films in the past ten years; but if we know those films, it's because we watched them and enjoyed them; perhaps with some sense of guilt, like there ought to be something better to with our lives, but let's admit we were entertained.Certainly this film is not among the worst of its ilk. In fact, it is generally well made, with sharp performances from all the actors, including the Rowdy One; and the script doesn't rub our noses in sci-fi-techno-babble, it just gets on with the story.The big disappointment is the ending; it is rushed, badly directed, badly edited. It feels like it comes looping out of another film, there's no build-up to it at all.Too bad; if the ending had been as impressive as the rest of the film, I would have given this 8 stars, if only for effort; now it has to live with 6.That makes it a time waster, like most of the other films of its type - not bad, just not good enough to be memorable.