Mark Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison first appeared together in Steve Wang’s action masterpiece Drive (1997). It was clear that the two men had great chemistry, which formed into a friendship over the years. In the future, they would join forces again.
The second time would be in the syndicated television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. Dacascos played the role of Eric Draven (originally played by Brandon Lee in the movie), while Hardison would portray the Skull Cowboy, famously cut from the film and would have been played by Michael Berryman. They would reunite a third time for Instinct to Kill (2001) directed by Gustavo Graef-Marino, an action-thriller which was finally made available on Blu-ray and had a few nice surprises for the fans.
Tess (Melissa Crider) was forced to testify against her cop husband, Jim (Tim Abell), after he has been revealed to be a serial killer. He gets sentenced to life prison, but he has no intention of staying in his cell. He busts out with one goal in mind: revenge.
Detective Difford (Kadeem Hardison) is hot on his trail, but his methods may not be enough to save Tess. She hires former cop and self-defense trainer J.T. Dillion (Mark Dacascos) to teach her how to defend herself. The two of them will join forces against the maniac in one last ditch effort to try and put a stop to his reign of terror for good.
If you go into the film expecting something like Drive, then most likely you’ll be disappointed. When I saw Instinct to Kill for the first time back in 2001, I felt a little angry because I was expecting more action than what was delivered, and was thoroughly let down. In revisiting the film today, I feel differently and found it to be much more enjoyable. Hardison’s role is smaller than I expected, but Dacascos and Crider are good. The best here, however, is Abell, who makes a powerful widow, and a stone killer with only one emotion: to kill.
Dark Force has put out the film onto Blu-ray and provided it in a nice little package. The film’s previous release was on a lackluster DVD that only had a full frame transfer and no special features. This release rectifies that issue by offering it in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with a new HD scan and color correction done at the original camera negative. Tim Abell provided a new commentary for the film and the actor has also contributed a new interview.
The film that was directed by Gustavo Graef-Marino is a great film to add to your Dacascos collection. This film is a tremendous improvement from previous releases and considering how the film was originally treated, this release is certainly a welcome change.
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