Matty takes a look at a sturdy Canadian action caper starring The Rowdy One.

Lensed in summer 1994, shortly after Norstar Entertainment stablemate No Contest (1995) wrapped, JUNGLEGROUND carries over star Roddy Piper. Here occupying a plum lead role rather than a henchman slot, the wrestler turned B-movie favourite is Lt. Jake Cornell: a cop on the beat in the eponymous gang-infested wasteland of a future-shock city. Captured during a botched sting by the Jungleground’s most feared denizens, The Ragnarockers, Cornell is given a chance for freedom by the gang’s pretty-boy leader, Odin (JR Bourne – a commendable villain performance). All he’s got to do is run their gauntlet and survive one very long night…

Part Escape From New York (1981), part The Warriors (1979) – and, in the similar footing stakes, on equal par to PM Entertainment’s giddy riffs on the same material, Firepower (1993) and Ring of Fire II: Blood and Steel (1993). Jungleground, however, has an added wrinkle, with scripter Michael Stokes (who’d go on to pen Iron Eagle IV (1995) and No Contest II (1996) for Norstar) pilfering the ‘hunting humans’ hook from The Most Dangerous Game (1932) (read: Hard Target (1993)) as well. It’s a grin-inducing blend, albeit somewhat stuffily played by a few of the less seasoned members of the cast. 

Marking the sole feature work of Don Allan, the acclaimed Canadian music video helmer possesses an expectedly good eye for a cool and striking image. He sports an excellent sense of pace and can shape an effective action sequence. The plentiful scenes of brawling, blasting, and chasing as Piper and the side characters he teams with stave off wave after wave of gimmicky-looking gangbangers are impactful and exciting, despite how repetitive some of the set pieces actually are (run, hide, discovered, violence, wisecrack, run again). Further positive attributes include the stellar production design and art direction of Michael ‘Spike’ Parks and Ken Sinclair. Perfectly dovetailing with Jungleground’s spread of gritty Toronto fringe locations, the pair craft a textured and lived-in world bolstered by Gilles Corbeil’s stylish, noir-tinged photography.

Co-produced with fellow Canuck outfit Performance Pictures – a company that’d previously chipped in for another Piper romp, Back in Action (1994) – Jungleground was shopped around MIFED and the 1994 AFM alongside No Contest. It briefly played Canadian theatres in June and July 1995, and landed on cassette in the U.S. via Triboro Entertainment on 8th August of the same year, three weeks ahead of No Contest’s American tape release by Columbia-TriStar. Though acquired by longtime Norstar distro High Fliers (Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil (1991), Liar’s Edge (1992), The Dark (1993), The Club (1994)), Jungleground went unreleased in the U.K. It did, mind, periodically crop up in the wee hours on satellite channel Bravo (remember them?!) between ‘99 and ‘00.

Canada ● 1995 ● Action ● 87mins

Roddy Piper, Torri Higginson, JR Bourne ● Dir. Don Allan ● Wri. Michael Stokes