Known as Death Vengeance in the UK, this Philadelphia-set crime thriller starts with a news story about the increase in violence since JFK's assassination in 1963. With the increase in crime, Philadelphia is becoming unsafe. Proud Italian-American John D'Angelo (Tom Skeritt) runs a deli with his wife Lisa (Patti LuPone). One night, they see a pimp named Eldorado (Pete Richardson ) beating one of his girls. She yells at him to stop and he chases their car, ramming it, and causes the death of their unborn child. Not long after, John's mother Vera (Gina DeAngelis) is attacked and the crooks take her wedding ring.
Enough is enough.
John and his best friend Vince Morelli (Michael Sarrazin) start The People's Neighborhood Patrol (PNP), with their own uniforms of blue hats and vests that have a PNP logo on them, headquarters to take phone calls and even vehicles. With Vince's help, the police allow the PNP to patrol the neighborhood. The problem is the PNP does whatever it wants, like going into a nuisance bar and attacking everyone in it.
John does what he wants even as his acts are seen as racial discrimination by a small portion of the African-American community like Ivanhoe Washington (Yaphet Kotto), the leader of a black vigilante group. He actually finds the two men who stole the wedding ring from John's mother and gives them over to him. John only attacks the black one, which proves the point.
John runs for councilman in the upcoming election but Vince is killed by Eldorado. To get back at him, he organizes a full-scale attack on crime in a local park that even gets the cops involved. Eldorado gets away and John is arrested, but told where his enemy lives. The cops say they are "too busy" and ask him to take care of it; a favor will be asked for later. John has effectively sold out, but it feels good dropping a grenade on the pimp and getting rid of him forever.
John wins the election and celebrates inside his deli. The neighborhood is all cleaned up and kids are playing in the park. Is this a happy ending?
It's based on Anthony Imperiale, who advocated armed white self-defense. During the 1967 Newark riots, he formed the North Ward First Aid Squad to escort Italian-Americans through racially troubled neighborhoods. When he was accused of being a vigilante, he said, "When the Black Panther comes, the white hunter will be waiting." He had a long career in politics, then founded a volunteer ambulance company in Newark. He was praised by his former political rivals for his generosity, sense of humor and commitment to equal treatment. Of course, both his kids went to jail for shooting people after arguments, but there you go.
Fighting Back is a weird movie in that it feels like it's so right wing yet I wonder if all the newsreel footage and in your face moments are supposed to swing you the other direction. Maybe it's just an exploitation movie.
Enough is enough.
John and his best friend Vince Morelli (Michael Sarrazin) start The People's Neighborhood Patrol (PNP), with their own uniforms of blue hats and vests that have a PNP logo on them, headquarters to take phone calls and even vehicles. With Vince's help, the police allow the PNP to patrol the neighborhood. The problem is the PNP does whatever it wants, like going into a nuisance bar and attacking everyone in it.
John does what he wants even as his acts are seen as racial discrimination by a small portion of the African-American community like Ivanhoe Washington (Yaphet Kotto), the leader of a black vigilante group. He actually finds the two men who stole the wedding ring from John's mother and gives them over to him. John only attacks the black one, which proves the point.
John runs for councilman in the upcoming election but Vince is killed by Eldorado. To get back at him, he organizes a full-scale attack on crime in a local park that even gets the cops involved. Eldorado gets away and John is arrested, but told where his enemy lives. The cops say they are "too busy" and ask him to take care of it; a favor will be asked for later. John has effectively sold out, but it feels good dropping a grenade on the pimp and getting rid of him forever.
John wins the election and celebrates inside his deli. The neighborhood is all cleaned up and kids are playing in the park. Is this a happy ending?
It's based on Anthony Imperiale, who advocated armed white self-defense. During the 1967 Newark riots, he formed the North Ward First Aid Squad to escort Italian-Americans through racially troubled neighborhoods. When he was accused of being a vigilante, he said, "When the Black Panther comes, the white hunter will be waiting." He had a long career in politics, then founded a volunteer ambulance company in Newark. He was praised by his former political rivals for his generosity, sense of humor and commitment to equal treatment. Of course, both his kids went to jail for shooting people after arguments, but there you go.
Fighting Back is a weird movie in that it feels like it's so right wing yet I wonder if all the newsreel footage and in your face moments are supposed to swing you the other direction. Maybe it's just an exploitation movie.