Matty gives the thumbs up to a rollicking spy caper from the sorely missed Anthony Hickox.

During the last decade of his life, the late, great Anthony Hickox experienced renewed interest in his horror fare thanks to the boutique Blu-ray market. Arrow’s splendid disc(s) of Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) aside, the retrospective love afforded to Waxwork (1988), Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1991), Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1990), and Warlock: The Armageddon (1993) came due to rights holder Lionsgate embellishing their connection to ‘80s outfit Vestron [1]. However, as equally compelling in terms of unity are the action romps Hickox belted out as part of his overlapping tenure with Steve Beswick/Promark, the Motion Picture Corporation of America, and journeymen producer David Lancaster. Though culminating with the dud Blast (2004), the four programmers preceding it — The Contaminated Man (2000), Federal Protection (2002), Consequence (2003), and this, the Promark-branded LAST RUN — contain some truly natty licks. 

A self-confessed Bond nut, the Last Run finds Hickox having a merry ol’ time playing spies and mercenaries. He even manages to squeeze himself into a small speaking role, as was his wont (cf. Waxwork, Waxwork II, Storm Catcher (1999)). A glorious magpie of a director — always pinching and remixing, swapping and changing bits and pieces from other films and influences — the Last Run is rooted in the same ‘70s cinematic sphere as Jill Rips (2000). It was porno chic in Hickox’s kinky serial killer chiller; here he blends 007-esque pomp with the grit n’ gristle of the conspiracy thriller. A Parallax View to a Kill if you will [2].

Propulsive and twisting, Hickox’s energetic style and boisterous accents on spectacle make for splendid entertainment and paper over the flaws. Again, as with Jill Rips, a few sloppy, studio mandated editorial and ADR choices occasionally hinder the technical proficiency; and, dramatically, the specifics of the Last Run’s plot — something about escorting a Soviet defector cross country — are muddied by confusing exposition. Given a budget-friendly rewrite by Hickox himself, the script originated via Robert Syd Hopkins. A journalist and author by trade, Hopkins’ previous film credits include Sam Peckinpah’s The Killer Elite (1975) and TV movie Reckoning (1996). Both were built from novels — Monkey in the Middle and Cross Currents respectively — penned under his pseudonym, ‘Robert Rostrand’. The Last Run adheres to the key themes of Hopkins’ work — the Cold War, foreign locales, and U.S. service men caught among it all — and acts as a fun checklist for Hickox to tick. 

His first of three back-to-back Hickox/Beswick/Lancaster assignments, Armand Assante is a compelling hero — though the decision to portray his character, a jaded black ops specialist, like a secondary heavy in a Scorsese crime epic is certainly a choice [3]. Elsewhere, Corey Johnson is dynamite as the villain of the piece, an ex-teammate of Assante’s turned threat; and Jürgen Prochnow and Ralph Brown supply the ham, the latter in particular as a cocksure master of disguise.

Debuting on Cinemax in July 2002, the Last Run was picked up for North American video distribution by Blockbuster subsidiary DEJ Productions and issued as one of the rental giant’s exclusive titles on 3rd December ‘02. Of course, because Blockbuster and DEJ were paranoid that their direct-to-video acquisitions looked, erm, direct-to-video, it wasn’t actually touted as such. The film landed on U.K. soil in early ‘03 through High Fliers — a longtime peddler of Beswick/Promark confections — and subsequently resurfaced as a bargain-priced DVD circa ‘09 courtesy of Boulevard Entertainment.

USA/UK/Germany ● 2001 ● Action ● 93mins

Armand Assante, Corey Johnson, Jürgen Prochnow ● Dir. Anthony Hickox ● Wri. Robert Syd Hopkins and Anthony Hickox

[1] To date Hickox is second only to Brian Yuzna and his seven titles as the most well-represented filmmaker in Lionsgate’s Vestron Video Collector’s Series. For the trivia hawks, Yuzna’s Vestron flicks are: Dagon (2002), Beyond Re-Animator (2003), Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990), Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1991), The Dentist (1996), The Dentist 2 (1998), and Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993) — which, of course, Hickox cameo’d in. In a further wrinkle, Yuzna was also in the frame to direct Warlock: The Armageddon prior to Hickox’s involvement.
[2] Yes, yes, A View to a Kill (1987) is an ‘80s offering. It just sounded better than the only other Bond/conspiracy portmanteau I could think of: The Manchurian Finger.
[3] Post Federal Protection and Consequence, Hickox and Assante would reunite almost twenty years later, on the helmer’s still unreleased horror/thriller, Infamous Six (2020).