Scorchy (1976)

Scorchy (1976) is one of those films where you spend the entire running time wondering when the title is going to be explained.  Who or what is 'Scorchy'?  After ninety nine minutes of frantic action, we're still none the wiser.  Apparently, the film's publicity at the time of release claimed that it was the nickname of the lead character, although nobody actually calls her by it.  The movie was actually shot under a number of working titles, including the bland and generic Race With Death and The Young Merchants having started out as Federal Undercover Agent Jackie Parker - explanatory, but uninspiring.  It was no wonder that, before release, they opted for something catchier, even if it had little connection with the actual movie.  The film itself, produced, written and directed by Howard Avedis, a prolific maker of exploitation films in the seventies and eighties, is actually a pretty typical example of a seventies action-orientated crime thriller.  It's sufficiently generic in look, style and plot that if you substituted Pam Grier for Connie Stevens in the lead, it would have easily passed muster as Blaxploitation.  Plot wise, Scorchy bears more than a passing resemblance to The French Connection (1971), which had recently been a hit and had recently had a sequel released, with its story of an undercover American drugs operative attempting to run down a foreign drug kingpin (in this case an Italian) importing narcotics into the US.  Like that film, it involves a lengthy chase part way through, with the title character trying to catch a hit man working for the drug lord and culminates with the kingpin being chased by the heroine after a raid on a drug deal.  

Avedis script is commendably twisty, with everybody on the bad guys' side double crossing everyone else and numerous plot developments to pull; the film off in various directions.  This constant springing of new plot twists and an injection of regular action sequences, including the aforementioned chases and a rooftop fight, a ferocious climactic gun fight followed by a speed boat and helicopter chase, means that the film never flags and the viewer never has too much of an opportunity to think about the many holes in the plot.  Overall, Avedis' direction is actually pretty good for this type of film, well paced and nicely photographed, with interesting backdrops and framing for most sequences.  Indeed, Scorchy features an extensive use of locations around Seattle (leading one to suspect a deal with the local tourist board), which makes a refreshing change from the more usual New York/LA/San Francisco locations used in such films.  It has to be said that Scorchy looks as if it had more money spent on it than the average AIP released crime movie of the era, with its well staged car chases around actual city locations, rather than back streets, excellent production values and a cast that, by exploitation standards at least, is pretty superior, including not just Connie Stevens, but also Cesare Danova as the main villain, William Smith as his henchman turned rival and Norman Burton as Stevens' boss.  While Danova makes for a smooth villain and Smith is reliably tough and mean, while Burton is suitably irascible in his role, Stevens herself is never quite convincing as a tough undercover operative, bonking and shooting her way through the film.  It really is more the sort of role suited to the likes of Pam Grier rather than the Barbie-like Stevens, whose performance all too often relies upon her getting her knockers out rather than convincingly kicking ass.  But hey, as an exploitation film Scorchy has it all: sex, violence, car chases, gunfights, even a murder by spear gun (while the guy is in bed with Stevens) and Connie Stevens' knockers.  While there's nothing in Scorchy that will linger long in the memory, while it is playing it is an enjoyable experience, a very professional slice of exploitation which serves up the requisite action and thrills at reliably regular intervals.