''Angels Revenge'', or ''Angels Brigade'', is a 1979 American

action comedy The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the America ...

film. It was directed by Greydon Clark and distributed by Arista Films. It is also known as ''Angels' Brigade'' and ''Seven from Heaven''. The film has major roles for

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford (né Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the "Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president Jo ...

and

Jack Palance Walter Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk, , ''Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk''; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominat ...

as the leaders of a drug cartel, and gives minor roles to

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom ''Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in '' Rebel Without a Cause, ...

, Alan Hale, Jr.,

Pat Buttram Maxwell Emmett "Pat" Buttram (June 19, 1915 – January 8, 1994) was an American character actor. Buttram was known for playing the sidekick of Gene Autry and for playing the character of Mr. Haney in the television series ''Green Acres''. He had ...

and

Arthur Godfrey Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer. At the peak of his success, in the early to mid-1950s, Godfrey was heard on radio and seen on television up to six days ...

(playing himself). Of the actresses who played the film's seven female protagonists, however, the closest any had previously come to any degree of fame was Susan Kiger, who had been the ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' Playmate of the Month for January 1977. Kiger played singer Michelle Wilson; her co-stars were Sylvia Anderson as stuntwoman Terry Grant, Lieu Chinh as martial arts instructor Keiko Umaro, Jacqueline Cole as high-school teacher April, Noela Velasco as model Maria, and Robin Greer as policewoman Elaine Brenner. Her younger sister Liza Greer plays high-school student Trish, who invites herself into the team. Jack Palance played chief antagonist Mike Farrell, assistant to Lawford's kingpin character. The film's plot focuses on seven female

vigilantes Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

who decide to undermine the operation of a

drug cartel A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the i ...

. The "revenge" mentioned in the title reflects that one of the vigilantes is primarily motivated by her desire to avenge her hospitalized brother, a drug user.

Plot

The film focuses on seven women who decide to fight the local

after the brother of Michelle Wilson, a Las Vegas pop singer, is found severely beaten. When taken to the hospital, the young man is discovered to have been using illegal drugs. The singer meets with April, her brother's teacher, and the two hatch a plan to destroy the local drug processing plant. They recruit four more women with special skills and connections to help them achieve their audacious goal. As they plan their first strike, they discover high-schooler Trish spying on them. The student is relegated to phone duty but eventually worms her way into their escapades. The "Angels" not only destroy the processing plant but also manage to intercept one of the shipments. As a result, the women attract unwelcome attention from the local drug cartel.

Cast

* Jacqulin Cole as April Thomas * Susan Kiger as Michelle Wilson *

as Mike Farrell *

as Burke *

as Commander Lindsey March *

Neville Brand Lawrence Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992) was an American soldier and actor. He was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and ''films noir'', and was nominated for a BAFTA A ...

as Miller *

as Van Salesman *

as Himself *

Alan Hale Jr. Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; March 8, 1921 – January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead ro ...

as Manny * Darby Hinton as Sticks * Dee Cooper as Compound thug * Al Gomez as American Rights Guard * Candy Castillo as Hitman #1 * Greydon Clark as Movie Director

Critical response

The film was poorly received by both critics and the general public, being seen as a cheap knockoff of ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

''. The plot was seen as contrived. It also had a number of actors, primarily Lawford and Palance, whose popularity had fallen since the 1960s.

''Mystery Science Theater 3000''

Because of the poor response, the film faded into obscurity until 1995 when it was featured on the movie-mocking television series ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then ...

''. It was edited to fit their timeslot; for example, Miller (

) is listed in the opening credits, but only mentioned towards the end, never actually appearing on screen. The episode featuring the film was the final episode broadcast on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

, when it aired as a rerun on December 30, 1996.

RiffTrax

In 2017, former ''MST3K'' writers and cast members Bridget Nelson and Mary Jo Pehl riffed the uncut film as a

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...

for RiffTrax.

References

External links

*
MST3K treatment on ShoutFactoryTV
{{Greydon Clark 1979 films 1979 action comedy films 1970s vigilante films American action comedy films 1970s English-language films Films directed by Greydon Clark Girls with guns films 1970s American films Films about the illegal drug trade American films about revenge Films about singers Films about siblings Mystery Science Theater 3000 English-language action comedy films