'The Amazing Mr No Legs' is certainly a very interesting title and despite the low budget of this production, you would still be forgiven for thinking that you're in for a fun eight five minutes of entertaining exploitation. As the title suggests, the main focus is on a man with no legs. This double amputee is an enforcer for a drug lord who gets involved in a plot involving the murder of two people and ends up with the cops after him. The low budget is always obvious and the film is very amateur. There's not a lot of variety in what goes on and the film doesn't even make good use of its title character. He gets involved in a few fights and things and it's a strange sight because he has no legs but the novelty soon wears off. The gangland plot isn't that interesting either and it would seem that director Ricou Browning thought that his central gimmick would be enough for the film to fall back on. The Amazing Mr No Legs, like a lot of crime films, finishes with the common car chase - and the one here must surely be a contender for the most overlong car chase ever filmed, as it goes on and on. Overall, this might be worth a look for my fellow cult collectors; but I wasn't exactly impressed by it.
14 Reviews
Ted Volrath is the reason to watch this ......
merklekranz27 January 2021
Ted Volrath, Korean War Vet., wounded in combat, with both legs amputated, plays "Mr. No Legs." This is no ordinary exploitation film, it is both unusual and extremely entertaining. Volrath plays a mob enforcer, who uses his unbelievable "Grand Master Karate" skills, as well as a wheelchair with shotgun arms, to his advantage. The fight scene that ends up in a swimming pool has to be seen to be believed. The movie was filmed in Tampa Florida, which is almost as rare as "Mr. No Legs" was prior to it's DVD release. This is one to seek out. You will not be disappointed. MERK
Ricou isn't Tod
happytrigger-64-39051711 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The intention to direct an original weird action drug murder movie is not at all obtained. The idea of an actor with no legs and karate champion was a great gimmick. And also the final very long car chase, though it has already been seen several times with real success (French Connection, Bullitt, the Seven-ups, Crazy Larry Dirty Mary). But the entire movie is poorly shot (no composition and point of view), and the script is lousy and cheap. When we see Mr No Legs fighting, standing on his hands and hitting with his body, it is shot in very slow motion just to enjoy the extreme rarity of such a scene, as it should have been shot in a more developped sequence with fast editing like in Hong Kong movies, there's really no imagination. Even Mr No Legs' exceptional character isn't developped, it could have been great, but Ricou Browning was not the right director for this exploitation movie, Ricou isn't Tod. What about the killers getting out of a flat with their corpse without looking if there is somebody outside and leaving finger prints everywhere in the flat? It could have been far better with a real script and more scenes with Mr No Legs, but it's a complete failure, flee. I wanted to offer this dvd for Christmas, but when I saw that junk, I didn't, really nasty experience, though I love action murder movies from 70's.
Directed by the a man from the Black Lagoon!
BandSAboutMovies16 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Also known as Killers Die Hard and Gun Fighter, the title of this movie pretty much tells you the main reason to watch this movie.
It's really about a crime boss named D'Angelo (Lloyd Bochner, The Lonely Lady), who is smuggling drugs inside cigars, because that seems like the best way to move plenty of product inside the smallest delivery mechanisms possible. One of his smugglers is a student named Ken Wilson (Luke Halpin, who was on Flipper - and stay tuned for why that's important), who one night gets in an argument with his girlfriend Tina and ends up accidentally killing her. D'Angelo's men make it look like an overdose, which would be enough in any other reality to get Ken away with it, but Tina's brother is Andy (pro wrestler Ron Slinker, who helped train The Rock, gave RVD his name and was the stepfather of Dennis "Mideon" Knight), a cop on the drug enforcement squad.
The real excitement of this movie comes in when we meet Mr. No Legs himself. He's played by Ted Vollrath, a Lancaster, PA native and U.S. Marine veteran who lost his legs after thirteen years after surviving a mortar shell explosion during the Korean War. Despite what some would see a set-back, Ted still became a karate Grand Master and acquired black belts in several disciplines of the martial arts. In 1971, he founded the Martial Arts for the Handicapable Incorporated. He pretty much makes this movie with his extended fight sequences and gimmick-laden wheelchair.
If you don't think Mr. No Legs isn't cool enough, how about the fact that he hangs with a guy named Lou, who is played by Rance Howard (Smokey Bites the Dust), the father of Clint and Ron?
Somehow, this movie was able to round up plenty of old movie stars - who one presumes all moved to Tampa, Florida where it was made - including former husband of Shirley Temple John Agar, Richard Jaeckel and Templeton Fox, while also finding plenty of martial artists, including Jim Kelly from Enter the Dragon and a smaller version of him named Tiny Kelly.
Speaking of Florida, this movie feels grimy and sweaty. Much like other Sunshine State scumtastic blasts of insanity like Satan's Children, the films of Bill Grefé and My Brother Has Bad Dreams, everyone in this movie doesn't look like anyone you'd see in a Hollywood big budget film. Even the character actors in it have moved on to leading man status just for being in this with them. There are several scenes in bars where nearly every person looks meaner and more dangerous than the next. It feels like murder, sex or murder after sex could happen at any minute.
There are plenty of fights, like one between women who have smashed beer bottles and knives that ends up with nearly everyone in the bar dead and another where a Stingray Corvette faces off with a maniac with a sword. But the real standout is any time Mr. No Legs is on screen, whether he's firing a throwing star out of his chair, shotgun blasting folks or diving into a pool to kill off two henchmen sent to dispatch him.
That said, there's plenty of padding, like the band Miracle playing in a club and a ten-minute car chase that ends up smashing into a wall of ice that has a bad guy only loosely tied to the rest of the story. As I grow older, however, I admire these non-sequitur moments, as one looks at old wallpaper in a house that is otherwise completely modern.
Oh yeah - Flipper. Mr. No Legs was directed by Ricou Browning and written by Jack Cowden, who previously created that family-friendly TV series. Cowden also wrote Island Claws and ended up as the script supervisor on Band of the Hand, The New Kids and Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach. And yes, that's the very same Ricou Browning that was in the suit as The Creature from the Black Lagoon and was the second unit director on Thunderball*).
But man, the real star of all of this is greasy and flopsweat laden Florida.
*Browning and Cowden would also work together on Island Claws and Police Academy 5. I also never knew that Browning did second unit on Caddyshack.
It's really about a crime boss named D'Angelo (Lloyd Bochner, The Lonely Lady), who is smuggling drugs inside cigars, because that seems like the best way to move plenty of product inside the smallest delivery mechanisms possible. One of his smugglers is a student named Ken Wilson (Luke Halpin, who was on Flipper - and stay tuned for why that's important), who one night gets in an argument with his girlfriend Tina and ends up accidentally killing her. D'Angelo's men make it look like an overdose, which would be enough in any other reality to get Ken away with it, but Tina's brother is Andy (pro wrestler Ron Slinker, who helped train The Rock, gave RVD his name and was the stepfather of Dennis "Mideon" Knight), a cop on the drug enforcement squad.
The real excitement of this movie comes in when we meet Mr. No Legs himself. He's played by Ted Vollrath, a Lancaster, PA native and U.S. Marine veteran who lost his legs after thirteen years after surviving a mortar shell explosion during the Korean War. Despite what some would see a set-back, Ted still became a karate Grand Master and acquired black belts in several disciplines of the martial arts. In 1971, he founded the Martial Arts for the Handicapable Incorporated. He pretty much makes this movie with his extended fight sequences and gimmick-laden wheelchair.
If you don't think Mr. No Legs isn't cool enough, how about the fact that he hangs with a guy named Lou, who is played by Rance Howard (Smokey Bites the Dust), the father of Clint and Ron?
Somehow, this movie was able to round up plenty of old movie stars - who one presumes all moved to Tampa, Florida where it was made - including former husband of Shirley Temple John Agar, Richard Jaeckel and Templeton Fox, while also finding plenty of martial artists, including Jim Kelly from Enter the Dragon and a smaller version of him named Tiny Kelly.
Speaking of Florida, this movie feels grimy and sweaty. Much like other Sunshine State scumtastic blasts of insanity like Satan's Children, the films of Bill Grefé and My Brother Has Bad Dreams, everyone in this movie doesn't look like anyone you'd see in a Hollywood big budget film. Even the character actors in it have moved on to leading man status just for being in this with them. There are several scenes in bars where nearly every person looks meaner and more dangerous than the next. It feels like murder, sex or murder after sex could happen at any minute.
There are plenty of fights, like one between women who have smashed beer bottles and knives that ends up with nearly everyone in the bar dead and another where a Stingray Corvette faces off with a maniac with a sword. But the real standout is any time Mr. No Legs is on screen, whether he's firing a throwing star out of his chair, shotgun blasting folks or diving into a pool to kill off two henchmen sent to dispatch him.
That said, there's plenty of padding, like the band Miracle playing in a club and a ten-minute car chase that ends up smashing into a wall of ice that has a bad guy only loosely tied to the rest of the story. As I grow older, however, I admire these non-sequitur moments, as one looks at old wallpaper in a house that is otherwise completely modern.
Oh yeah - Flipper. Mr. No Legs was directed by Ricou Browning and written by Jack Cowden, who previously created that family-friendly TV series. Cowden also wrote Island Claws and ended up as the script supervisor on Band of the Hand, The New Kids and Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach. And yes, that's the very same Ricou Browning that was in the suit as The Creature from the Black Lagoon and was the second unit director on Thunderball*).
But man, the real star of all of this is greasy and flopsweat laden Florida.
*Browning and Cowden would also work together on Island Claws and Police Academy 5. I also never knew that Browning did second unit on Caddyshack.
A mob enforcer with no legs!
HumanoidOfFlesh1 July 2010
First of all "Mr. No Legs" doesn't quite live up to its outrageous title,but it's still a decent action flick with grindhouse exploitation feel.Rod Slinker is a mob enforcer without legs.He gets fed up with his immediate boss's insults and pay and decides to double cross the mob when he's had enough.The insults about his condition enrage him to the point that he decides to wage war on the mob.There is also an awesome wheelchair of mayhem,which helps him to dispatch various mobsters and other scum.Cheaply made and rather inept action flick with several fantastic fight scenes and pretty brutal killings.The action is fairly slow-moving and there is not enough Mr. No Legs,but if you are into 70's cult cinema you can't miss this movie.7 out of 10.
"This is the liveliest morgue I've ever been in!"
Hey_Sweden18 September 2021
Screenwriter Jack Cowden came up with a great gimmick for this otherwise routine exploitation-action flick, which receives decent-enough direction from Ricou Browning, the man best known for playing the Creature from the Black Lagoon. It's full of consistently amusing stuff that makes it good entertainment for an hour and a half, including that classic cliche, the bar room brawl, and a scene where various thugs try to take out our title character and fail spectacularly.
Korean War veteran Ted Vollrath plays the role, and indeed, he was a paraplegic whose legs had to be amputated after he sustained serious wounds during the war. Fred / "Mr. No Legs" is the principal enforcer for a drug kingpin named D'Angelo (Lloyd Bochner, "The Lonely Lady"), and he has NOT let his disabilities get him down; rather, he's proficient at martial arts, and has a shotgun-equipped wheelchair, to boot. Two police detectives, played by Richard Jaeckel ("Grizzly") and wrestler Ron Slinker, in his only movie role, determine to take down D'Angelos' organization.
Other familiar faces such as Rance Howard ("Chinatown"), Luke Halpin ('Flipper'), and John Agar ("Tarantula") turn up in this agreeably silly and lively trash flick. The filmmaking is overall on the crude side, but Browning does know how to deliver a solid action climax as Jaeckel and Slinker and various incompetent cops pursue one of the antagonists. Due to the fact that we have a couple of familiar and reliable character actors in this thing, the acting is definitely a bit better than one might ordinarily have to tolerate. It's a hoot to see these guys here; Jaeckel and Slinker have a fairly good chemistry.
"Mr. No Legs" does get off to a great, hilarious start early on with a ridiculous fight scene playing out behind the opening credits. And it remains watchable throughout, with violence aplenty and some good laughs to be had.
Seven out of 10.
Korean War veteran Ted Vollrath plays the role, and indeed, he was a paraplegic whose legs had to be amputated after he sustained serious wounds during the war. Fred / "Mr. No Legs" is the principal enforcer for a drug kingpin named D'Angelo (Lloyd Bochner, "The Lonely Lady"), and he has NOT let his disabilities get him down; rather, he's proficient at martial arts, and has a shotgun-equipped wheelchair, to boot. Two police detectives, played by Richard Jaeckel ("Grizzly") and wrestler Ron Slinker, in his only movie role, determine to take down D'Angelos' organization.
Other familiar faces such as Rance Howard ("Chinatown"), Luke Halpin ('Flipper'), and John Agar ("Tarantula") turn up in this agreeably silly and lively trash flick. The filmmaking is overall on the crude side, but Browning does know how to deliver a solid action climax as Jaeckel and Slinker and various incompetent cops pursue one of the antagonists. Due to the fact that we have a couple of familiar and reliable character actors in this thing, the acting is definitely a bit better than one might ordinarily have to tolerate. It's a hoot to see these guys here; Jaeckel and Slinker have a fairly good chemistry.
"Mr. No Legs" does get off to a great, hilarious start early on with a ridiculous fight scene playing out behind the opening credits. And it remains watchable throughout, with violence aplenty and some good laughs to be had.
Seven out of 10.
Mr. No Legs
jvaneska18 December 2010
After thirty five years of searching for this movie I finally found it! I was an extra in the movie, the girl selling drugs from the catering truck. After years of joking about being in a movie to my son and family,I can now show them my thirty seconds of my show business career. I enjoyed watching it and remembered the fun of that day. Filming for the scene I was in was in Tampa, Florida at the Lowry Park Zoo,in 1975. Originally I was told that the name of the movie would be Pushers Die Hard or Killers Die Hard, it was not decided. Thanks to the internet and searching the actors, Mr. No Legs, was found. It may not be a classic but what a story to tell the grandkids, grandma sold drugs off of a catering truck.
"Of all the nice places in town why'd you bring me down here?" One of a kind...
poolandrews17 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Mr. No Legs tells the tale of crime kingpin & drug lord D'Angelo (Lloyd Bochner) who has the hard as nails Mr. No Legs (Ron Slinker) as his bodyguard & as a gangland 'enforcer' who shoots first & doesn't bother to ask questions later. It's Mr. No Legs job to keep D'Angelo's drug business running smoothly so when one of his drug pushers Ken Wilson accidentally kills his girlfriend Tina when she discovers a load of D'Angelo's heroin in his apartment Mr. No Legs decides to just kill Ken as well & dump both of their bodies. Unfortunately Mr. No Legs didn't count on the fact that Tina's Brother Andy (Ted Vollrath) is in fact a cop with the local department, Andy & his partner Chuck (Richard Jaeckel) set about discovering Tina's killer & that means getting close to D'Angelo's drug operations which Mr. No Legs isn't happy about & believe me you don't want to make Mr. No Legs angry as I doubt you would like him when he's angry...
Directed by Ricou Browning (probably best 'remembered' as the creature from The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), how do you go from being a monster in a classic horror to making an obscure film like Mr. No Legs?) & also known as The Amazing Mr. No Legs here in the UK this is one unique film that doesn't quite hit the giddy heights that it could have but none-the-less provides a certain fascination & entertainment value. The script by Jack Cowden plays the material 100% straight, is a bit on the slow side during the first 40 odd minutes & has very little of interest apart from the main title character Mr. No Legs, for most of it's duration Mr. No Legs is a standard implausible 70's cop film (in fact you could say the story doesn't have a leg to stand on, ha, ha, ha) about busting up a drug business with little to recommend it except that for some bizarre reason some absolute genius thought it would be a good idea to have a man with no legs to be the films main bad guy, he has shotguns in the arms of his wheelchair, throwing stars & retractable blades. I've never seen anything quite like it that's for sure. Unfortunately Mr. No Legs isn't actually in the film that much, he dies at least 20 minutes before the end & he only has one proper fight scene which comes as a disappointment. I don't know why but I always thought Mr. No Legs would be the hero, you know fighting against all the odds & defeating all the bad guys in his fully equipped wheelchair & when he turned out to be the bad guy I was a bit surprised as I think the film would have worked better with him as someone to root for.
Director Browning was obviously working on a low budget & the infrequent action scenes vary, some are very good & well choreographed while other's are slow & sluggish. I must mention the pretty cool car chase at the end which lasts for the whole final 15 minutes, Browning probably didn't have much to work with but he sure tried to put as much action on screen as he could. My favourite scene in the film is when Mr. No Legs is facing up to someone who wants to kill him, Mr. No Legs climbs out of his chair & puts his fists up to the guy even though without legs Mr. No Legs doesn't reach past his waist! There are several other priceless, strange, funny & bizarre moments in the film but not really enough.
Technically the film is a bit rough around the edges, it's reasonably well made but it isn't going to win any awards with bland music, cinematography & production design. The acting is pretty poor, there are lots of dodgy hair-dos & moustaches while the actor who plays Chuck the cop is a William Shatner look-a-like.
Mr. No Legs seems to be a pretty obscure & hard to find film which to be brutally honest is no great loss to the world, harsh but true. There are some neat car stunts, a few nice fight scenes & some truly memorable sequences featuring Mr. No Legs as the toughest & meanest guy in the film even though he hasn't any legs. I'm not sure whether to give it a 6 or 7, I think I'll give it 7 just because I genuinely think the filmmakers tried & it's generally good fun.
Directed by Ricou Browning (probably best 'remembered' as the creature from The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), how do you go from being a monster in a classic horror to making an obscure film like Mr. No Legs?) & also known as The Amazing Mr. No Legs here in the UK this is one unique film that doesn't quite hit the giddy heights that it could have but none-the-less provides a certain fascination & entertainment value. The script by Jack Cowden plays the material 100% straight, is a bit on the slow side during the first 40 odd minutes & has very little of interest apart from the main title character Mr. No Legs, for most of it's duration Mr. No Legs is a standard implausible 70's cop film (in fact you could say the story doesn't have a leg to stand on, ha, ha, ha) about busting up a drug business with little to recommend it except that for some bizarre reason some absolute genius thought it would be a good idea to have a man with no legs to be the films main bad guy, he has shotguns in the arms of his wheelchair, throwing stars & retractable blades. I've never seen anything quite like it that's for sure. Unfortunately Mr. No Legs isn't actually in the film that much, he dies at least 20 minutes before the end & he only has one proper fight scene which comes as a disappointment. I don't know why but I always thought Mr. No Legs would be the hero, you know fighting against all the odds & defeating all the bad guys in his fully equipped wheelchair & when he turned out to be the bad guy I was a bit surprised as I think the film would have worked better with him as someone to root for.
Director Browning was obviously working on a low budget & the infrequent action scenes vary, some are very good & well choreographed while other's are slow & sluggish. I must mention the pretty cool car chase at the end which lasts for the whole final 15 minutes, Browning probably didn't have much to work with but he sure tried to put as much action on screen as he could. My favourite scene in the film is when Mr. No Legs is facing up to someone who wants to kill him, Mr. No Legs climbs out of his chair & puts his fists up to the guy even though without legs Mr. No Legs doesn't reach past his waist! There are several other priceless, strange, funny & bizarre moments in the film but not really enough.
Technically the film is a bit rough around the edges, it's reasonably well made but it isn't going to win any awards with bland music, cinematography & production design. The acting is pretty poor, there are lots of dodgy hair-dos & moustaches while the actor who plays Chuck the cop is a William Shatner look-a-like.
Mr. No Legs seems to be a pretty obscure & hard to find film which to be brutally honest is no great loss to the world, harsh but true. There are some neat car stunts, a few nice fight scenes & some truly memorable sequences featuring Mr. No Legs as the toughest & meanest guy in the film even though he hasn't any legs. I'm not sure whether to give it a 6 or 7, I think I'll give it 7 just because I genuinely think the filmmakers tried & it's generally good fun.
An Outrageous, But Average Action Film
abbazabakyleman-988349 October 2019
This is indeed a bizarre action film shot entirely in Florida about Richard Jaeckel and Ron Slinker as cops who investigate a drug smuggling ring that may have ties to the police department itself. The anti-villain in the film is a wheelchair-bound assassin named No Legs who actually has shotguns built onto the arms of the chair and shoots anyone that gets in his way. It's pretty silly for the most part, but we do have cameos by John Agar as the shady police captain, Lloyd Bochner as the criminal mastermind behind the operation, and Rance Howard and Luke Halpin as Bochner's flunkies. There's also a lengthy car chase to close the film courtesy of Joie Chitwood and the Danger Angels.
The Amazing Mr. No Legs (1978)
jonahstewartvaughan16 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Return to the Video Store #7
The Amazing Mr. No Legs (1978)
(7/10): This is one of those flicks you'd probably just stumble upon at the video store and be just in awe that it even exists, well it does and it's what you expect it is.
The Amazing Mr. No Legs is a late seventies exploitative crime flick about a group of drug peddles that includes a crippled man in a wheelchair who has a shotgun on each armrest tucked away until he needs to dish out some damage, who all get the police on their tails when one gets found out by his girlfriend that he's pushing drugs and he then gets a little too aggressive and knocks her unconscious but they decide to make it appear like an overdose and they dump the body and before they finish relocating her body the police stumble across her and then the investigation begins.
The film is pretty obscure as the release of it had suffered damage to the original negatives but it was saved from being completely lost.
If there's one thing I do want to say about it is that the poster really oversells it, don't get me wrong it's still entertaining but it looks way more ridiculous than it actually is.
Highlights include Mr. No Legs opening fire on a group of people with his shotguns attached to his wheelchair or when he is forced out of his wheelchair and has to do hand to hand combat with another guy, plus his workout routine is pretty silly too, he just lifts himself up and down from his wheelchair.
It's something that is not as crazy as it looks but still crazy in the fact it exists and makes for a fun enough time with some buds and some beers.
The Amazing Mr. No Legs (1978)
(7/10): This is one of those flicks you'd probably just stumble upon at the video store and be just in awe that it even exists, well it does and it's what you expect it is.
The Amazing Mr. No Legs is a late seventies exploitative crime flick about a group of drug peddles that includes a crippled man in a wheelchair who has a shotgun on each armrest tucked away until he needs to dish out some damage, who all get the police on their tails when one gets found out by his girlfriend that he's pushing drugs and he then gets a little too aggressive and knocks her unconscious but they decide to make it appear like an overdose and they dump the body and before they finish relocating her body the police stumble across her and then the investigation begins.
The film is pretty obscure as the release of it had suffered damage to the original negatives but it was saved from being completely lost.
If there's one thing I do want to say about it is that the poster really oversells it, don't get me wrong it's still entertaining but it looks way more ridiculous than it actually is.
Highlights include Mr. No Legs opening fire on a group of people with his shotguns attached to his wheelchair or when he is forced out of his wheelchair and has to do hand to hand combat with another guy, plus his workout routine is pretty silly too, he just lifts himself up and down from his wheelchair.
It's something that is not as crazy as it looks but still crazy in the fact it exists and makes for a fun enough time with some buds and some beers.
He's a Role Model to us All!
Coventry25 November 2008
Let Mr. No Legs be a source of inspiration for all of us. Not because he's a relentless one-man killing squad, of course, but because he's the living proof that you can still chase your dreams and realize your ambitions even if you're physically disabled
Yeah right, enough with this rubbish! "The Amazing Mr. No Legs" is a totally demented in idea as well as execution exploitation feature with a premise that is unique and refreshing and production values looking so cheap and amateurish that you simply have to show admiration for the cast and crew. If you just imagine what these guys could have accomplished if they had a proper budget at their disposal. The titular anti-hero controls the complete drug-business of a major town and acts as judge, jury and especially executioner whenever someone screws up or tries to double-cross him. Although he hasn't got any legs (duh!), everyone fears and obeys Mr. No Legs because he's merciless, is an expert in martial arts and drives around in a heavily armored wheelchair. When the sister of a dedicated cop gets killed in a drug execution it means the start of a devastating war between the good cops, the bad drug deals
and everyone in between. The script is surprisingly convoluted and well written, but those are not the main reasons why this film will stick to your memory. It has girl-on-girl bar fights, wild shootouts, bad acting, sword fights, odd cars and virulent chases and much more. "The Amazing Mr. No Legs" is extremely violent, but never actually shocking since the effects and stunts aren't exactly convincing. Some people might take offense upon seeing the fighting sequences involving the handicapped lead character, but then again, I don't suppose easily offended people are likely to put "Mr. No Legs" on their Christmas list. The slow-motion sequence where actor Ted Vollrath demonstrates his genuine martial arts skills is literally jaw-dropping. Ever seen a guy with no legs kick someone repeatedly in the stomach? No legs!! The titular ought to be considered as one of the greatest cult icons ever: a truly menacing, bad to the bone and self-reliable villain. "Mr. No Legs" is not an easy movie to come across, but definitely worth the search.
My New Hero & Every Liberal's Worst Nightmare
Steve_Nyland26 December 2006
Ron Slinker, wherever you are, whatever you are doing right now, you are my new action adventure movie hero. This movie is one of the most amazingly endearing and delightfully stupid exercises in brain dead cult mayhem ever created and sooo badly deserves a chance to see light of day on a DVD re-issue. If only for the sheer number of people who would potentially be offended by it's gleeful, off the wall willingness to go beyond the constraints of good taste and show us things that will boggle the mind.
What is even more mind boggling is the array of talent behind the production: POINT BLANK's Lloyd Bochner returns as another suave, scuzzy mob boss; THE DIRTY DOZEN's Richard Jaeckel is well-cast as a police detective with a pre-LETHAL WEAPON juggernaut of destruction as a partner; B-movie legend John Agar is almost unrecognizable as the corrupt police captain who tries to undermine their investigation into a slough of mysterious heroin related deaths; writer Jack Cowden was one of the creators of the long-running TV show "Flipper"; and director Ricou Browning was not only the former swimming star inside the rubber suit of THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON & it's sequels, but was the Director of Underwater Photography & Effects from the James Bond thrillers THUNDERBALL and it's unofficial remake, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, as well as similar work on "Flipper", "Sea Hunt", and the bizarre cult item SUB-A-DUB-DUB.
But the real talent on display in this film is Ron Slinker's "Mr. No Legs", a mob enforcer who's confinement to a wheelchair is no obstacle to his ambition to rule the smack trade in whatever port town this movie was filmed in. By the tacky polyester lounge suits, side-burned hair cuts and bell bottomed pants my guess on the year of production is 1978, and I can almost see the look of bewilderment that must have crossed the faces of the distribution execs who were shown the final product, which then lingered on the shelf until 1981 for whatever reason. Put it this way: The film is un-releasable by today's standards. It is racially insensitive, dares to have fun with the idea of a mob hit-man who is a paraplegic, and couldn't give a flying hoot what anyone thinks about it. This movie is the stuff of legends and inspires thoughts like how was it allowed to be made?? Or more accurately, who on Earth would have thought this movie was a good idea?? As others have summed up, the plot is a basic police procedural investigation into the death of a couple peripherally involved in the heroin trade, peppered by what would otherwise be the usual shootouts, fistfights, rubouts, car chases and hardboiled discussion scenes such material usually involves. What makes the movie special is No Legs, a cold, remorseless killer armed with double barreled shotguns fixed to the arm rests of his wheelchair, Ninja throwing stars on the wheel hubs, and in the peak of legless physical perfection due to his rigorous exercise routines that buxom blond bombshell mob molls watch with drooling desire. He may have lost his walking legs, but he's still a Mack Daddy Hustla Pimp who can satisfy the ladies.
Two scenes in the film stand out: The first an otherwise ordinary bar fight which Jaeckel's partner interrupts. Basically every low life in the joint turns on the doughty young thickly mustachioed and side-burned lounge suit wearing cop, and by golly if he doesn't wipe the floor with them in one of the most improbable outbursts of fighting skills ever staged. What makes it even more remarkable is just as the first punches are thrown Jaeckel senses something is wrong and follows his buddy into the bar, only arriving there after 10 minutes of non-stop head cracking action. That must have been one hell of a big parking lot.
The other scene is the film's tour-de-force set piece where SIX (6) mob toughs turn on Mr. No Legs as he relaxes by the pool with his sex bomb mob moll, and with a combination of legless martial arts, various underwater fighting maneuvers and assorted hidden weapons, he smacks them all down: Watching Mr. Slinker do Jedi back flips in his chair and beat down on the bad guys with the stumps of his lower appendages is not something you will soon forget. I agree with others when stating that this movie needed more No Legs and less police procedural: The squandered opportunity of a sequel examining how No Legs arrived at his legless state, came to grips with his disabilities and got his start as a hit-man is one of the great lost cult gems that was never made. This will have to do, and if you can find it you'll be an instant convert.
To avoid any confusion let me make clear that this film is an exercise in applied bad taste made long before the term "political correctness" was even coined. It also succeeds because the story is played completely straight without any sort of schlock regarding No Legs: If it had been a smarmy tongue in cheek parodic or satiric attempt to get laughs it would have fallen flat. It is ridiculous, absurd and potentially offensive, but the film has a kind of lunkheaded endearing naiveté about it that makes it all ten times the riot it would otherwise have been if played for laughs. You just can't make 'em like this anymore, and thank heaven for that.
9/10: I could see Mondo Macabro picking this one up, they have shown a willingness to present movies on DVD that other companies would never dare bother with, and I for one would love to see a re-release just because I know how many stupid Liberal idiots would protest it.
What is even more mind boggling is the array of talent behind the production: POINT BLANK's Lloyd Bochner returns as another suave, scuzzy mob boss; THE DIRTY DOZEN's Richard Jaeckel is well-cast as a police detective with a pre-LETHAL WEAPON juggernaut of destruction as a partner; B-movie legend John Agar is almost unrecognizable as the corrupt police captain who tries to undermine their investigation into a slough of mysterious heroin related deaths; writer Jack Cowden was one of the creators of the long-running TV show "Flipper"; and director Ricou Browning was not only the former swimming star inside the rubber suit of THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON & it's sequels, but was the Director of Underwater Photography & Effects from the James Bond thrillers THUNDERBALL and it's unofficial remake, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, as well as similar work on "Flipper", "Sea Hunt", and the bizarre cult item SUB-A-DUB-DUB.
But the real talent on display in this film is Ron Slinker's "Mr. No Legs", a mob enforcer who's confinement to a wheelchair is no obstacle to his ambition to rule the smack trade in whatever port town this movie was filmed in. By the tacky polyester lounge suits, side-burned hair cuts and bell bottomed pants my guess on the year of production is 1978, and I can almost see the look of bewilderment that must have crossed the faces of the distribution execs who were shown the final product, which then lingered on the shelf until 1981 for whatever reason. Put it this way: The film is un-releasable by today's standards. It is racially insensitive, dares to have fun with the idea of a mob hit-man who is a paraplegic, and couldn't give a flying hoot what anyone thinks about it. This movie is the stuff of legends and inspires thoughts like how was it allowed to be made?? Or more accurately, who on Earth would have thought this movie was a good idea?? As others have summed up, the plot is a basic police procedural investigation into the death of a couple peripherally involved in the heroin trade, peppered by what would otherwise be the usual shootouts, fistfights, rubouts, car chases and hardboiled discussion scenes such material usually involves. What makes the movie special is No Legs, a cold, remorseless killer armed with double barreled shotguns fixed to the arm rests of his wheelchair, Ninja throwing stars on the wheel hubs, and in the peak of legless physical perfection due to his rigorous exercise routines that buxom blond bombshell mob molls watch with drooling desire. He may have lost his walking legs, but he's still a Mack Daddy Hustla Pimp who can satisfy the ladies.
Two scenes in the film stand out: The first an otherwise ordinary bar fight which Jaeckel's partner interrupts. Basically every low life in the joint turns on the doughty young thickly mustachioed and side-burned lounge suit wearing cop, and by golly if he doesn't wipe the floor with them in one of the most improbable outbursts of fighting skills ever staged. What makes it even more remarkable is just as the first punches are thrown Jaeckel senses something is wrong and follows his buddy into the bar, only arriving there after 10 minutes of non-stop head cracking action. That must have been one hell of a big parking lot.
The other scene is the film's tour-de-force set piece where SIX (6) mob toughs turn on Mr. No Legs as he relaxes by the pool with his sex bomb mob moll, and with a combination of legless martial arts, various underwater fighting maneuvers and assorted hidden weapons, he smacks them all down: Watching Mr. Slinker do Jedi back flips in his chair and beat down on the bad guys with the stumps of his lower appendages is not something you will soon forget. I agree with others when stating that this movie needed more No Legs and less police procedural: The squandered opportunity of a sequel examining how No Legs arrived at his legless state, came to grips with his disabilities and got his start as a hit-man is one of the great lost cult gems that was never made. This will have to do, and if you can find it you'll be an instant convert.
To avoid any confusion let me make clear that this film is an exercise in applied bad taste made long before the term "political correctness" was even coined. It also succeeds because the story is played completely straight without any sort of schlock regarding No Legs: If it had been a smarmy tongue in cheek parodic or satiric attempt to get laughs it would have fallen flat. It is ridiculous, absurd and potentially offensive, but the film has a kind of lunkheaded endearing naiveté about it that makes it all ten times the riot it would otherwise have been if played for laughs. You just can't make 'em like this anymore, and thank heaven for that.
9/10: I could see Mondo Macabro picking this one up, they have shown a willingness to present movies on DVD that other companies would never dare bother with, and I for one would love to see a re-release just because I know how many stupid Liberal idiots would protest it.
Gun Fighter
Falconeer13 February 2017
This is not the hilarious, silly exploitation freak-show that the distributor of this decent crime thriller would have you believe. The actual title of the film is "Gun Fighter," and not the silly "Mr. No Legs." The story involves a drug smuggling ring down in Florida, where corruption and disloyalty runs rampant. There is a guy they call 'No Legs,' who is anything but a clown being played for laughs. He is actually a sadistic assassin, who seems to derive great pleasure out of torturing and killing whoever gets in his way. He has these automatic machine guns built into the arms of his wheelchair, and the whole thing is quite surreal and over-the-top. The guy reminded me of Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth from "Blue Velvet;" yes, he was that ruthless and deranged. In fact he is kind of a sick bastard. I notice a lot of people search out this oddball film, hoping for some laughs, but it isn't nearly as silly as the packaging suggests. What you will get instead, is a mildly interesting crime thriller about a drug smuggling deal that goes wrong. Most of the acting was pretty decent, and it was nice to see the familiar faces of Lloyd Bochner and Beau Hopkins in such an obscure production. I do think it's a shame that the distributor felt the need to re-name it with such a silly title. If they used the real title, "Gun Fighter," it might have reached a larger audience. Recommended for fans of 70's crime films and oddball Grindhouse productions..
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