Review of Silent Rage (1982) by Gary R — 12 May 2009

One Word: Sweet.

Plot: Small town sheriff has to confront a crazed killer who has been injected with a regeneration serum.

Who will like it: Chuck Norris fans, 80's slasher film fans.

My thoughts: I was 14 when I saw this film in the theater with my dad. At the time I was into Fangoria magazine, horror flicks, and all things gore. My father and I always went to see the latest kung-fu flick and had seen the other Norris films. I remember that I really liked this movie at the time. It had a mix of martial arts and slasher/horror films. It even goes as far as borrowing familiar scenes and camera angles as other horror films at the time. Most notably Halloween and the Shining. Compared to the other Norris movies that we saw, this one was the best. And it still holds up today.

I guess that you can say that I was, and in some way still am, a Chuck Norris fan way before all of the "Chuck Norris is so tough" jokes. My son got caught up in the Norris jokes due to jokes being made about tough guy and Pittsburgh Penguin player, Gary Roberts, during the Pen's playoff run last year. The Robert's jokes borrowed from the Norris jokes by mearly substituting the names. My son didn't know who Chuck Norris was, but thought that the jokes were funny. And of course, I knew all about Norris and I found the jokes extremely funny but I found it odd that my son liked the jokes even without knowing why. He even went as far as buying Chuck Norris joke posters for his bedroom walls. I sadly didn't have any Norris films in my collection and didn't have enough desire to purchase any. I mean, the movies were ok, but nothing special. Chuck isn't the best actor by any stretch of the imagination. The movies belonged in the memories of my dad and I watching them together.

I picked up Silent Rage because I wanted to share it with my son because after a year, he still hasn't seen a Norris film. My dad died in 05 and I do miss our time together and all of the movies we saw in the 80s.

I viewed the movie alone to prepare myself before I let my kid see it. The film does have some nudity, a little foul language, and some gore. It also had a few intense and scary scenes. My son at this point doesn't like scary movies, but I am trying to break him into them. This one might help. It's not too scary, and by pre-viewing it, I can warn him about any jump and scares.

Bottom line: Silent Rage is a good bad movie. If you need an explanation as to what a good bad movie is, you won't like it.

Update: I did watch it with my son and he did enjoy it. He said that Chuck Norris looked younger in this movie than compared to his posters that he has and that he didn't have a beard. My son did not like the death of one of the characters in the film (I didn't either. Life just isn't fair). He thought the action was good, liked the scary parts, but didn't like the ending. We spent some time after the movie talking about how cool it would be to have regenerative powers and how to kill someone who had those powers. Thank you, Chuck Norris.