John Vernon loved to work! In 1988 alone, he appeared in 7 films. This was not unusual for him. Therefore, it’s not that surprising to find him in this turkey. It didn’t hurt his career one bit. He’s always a reason to watch, but he doesn’t appear until 1 hour in. Next best in this movie is feisty blonde Darlanne Fluegel, who turns out to be handy in a bath, in bed and with a shotgun. But do not expect to see her unclothed. Then there is this laid back leading man, Michael J. Moore, who probably was smart not to attempt to emote.

The story is patched together with straggling loose ends everywhere. This is not a western but almost any spaghetti western far outclasses this movie in every way, from music to characters to scenery to acting to plot. Moore appears as the stranger in a pepper-picking valley in which Vernon exploits Mexican wetbacks. Clearly he has an ulterior motive. He and Fluegel hit it off. Although Moore is undercover, he does everything possible to call attention to himself. That gives you some idea how illogical the story is. Its action high point is a car and truck chase scene and it has some fisticuffs. There is no suspense and the movie drags.

I sat through it nonetheless because I have a pet project of checking out anything that might be neo-noir. This is not. This is a grade C exploitation or drive-in movie feature, except that by 1988 the drive-in was dead. This is a direct to VHS kind of movie. It also has the title “Border Heat”. If you miss it, you will be missing very little. Your time is better spent watching many other films.