Plot: A kickboxer (Lorenzo Lamas) has an accounting problem with the mobster (Anthony Geary) who lent him money for a nightclub.
Before Renegade, Lorenzo Lamas starred with Kathleen Kinmont in 1991’s Night of the Warrior from director Rafal Zielinski (Screwballs) and interestingly writer/producer Thomas Ian Griffith.
This is a strange movie as Lamas’ character Miles is a bit of creeper randomly taking photographs of people, including Kinmont’s waitress/artist Katherine Pierce. When he is not at his nightclub he is a photographer in his spare time, but Miles isn’t an especially sympathetic character.
He’s made some bad choices in his life and owes local mobster Lynch (a wonderfully smarmy Anthony Geary) who gave him money to open his bizarre club. Seriously, the club in this movie is like something out of a horror movie. It plays the oddest music and at one point it includes a woman screaming repeatedly while women dancers gyrate to it.
Although never boring Night of the Warrior is a little slow at times, but it rarely goes too long in-between fight scenes; the real star of this movie is Ken Foree who plays the despicable Oliver. I haven’t hated a henchman so much for quite some time. He even kills his girlfriend just to set up Miles. Lynch and Oliver are evil incarnate and I couldn’t wait to see them get their comeuppance which although satisfying, still doesn’t quite feel sufficient.
The fight scenes are decent and you can see everything that’s happening; the highlight being the fight between Lamas and James Lew who would do battle again in 1995’s Midnight Man. Keep an eye out for Jeff Imada who plays Mr. Kim. Bill Erwin also shows up as Katherine’s uncle Coco; you’ll remember him from JCVD’s Desert Heat amongst other films.
Night of the Warrior is a rather seedy tale and would likely make an entertaining double bill with Road House… although this isn’t quite as good.
Overall, Night of the Warrior has a few impressive fight scenes and it’s cool to see Lorenzo Lamas and Kathleen Kinmont together before Renegade. The villains are really nasty here too with a scene stealing turn from Ken Foree as Oliver.