Lockdown (1990)

Detective Ron Taylor (Chris DeRose) has it all, a beautiful wife, a cute little girl, and an exciting career. Then one day it all falls apart. Enter James Garrett (Richard Lynch). Garrett is a ruthless hitman for the city's most successful `chop-shop' who is ordered by his boss to kill a customer who has strayed to the competition. Garret does so with chilling accuracy and while racing from the scene, he and his partner are pursued by Taylor and other police. Cornered, Garrett overpowers Taylor, then kills his own partner to frame Taylor.

Taylor pretty much spends the rest of the movie in a rough prison run by a sleazy warden who is in cahoots with Garrett's boss Shenks, trying to figure out what really happened with Garrett. Meanwhile Garrett plots to take over Shenks' operation claiming, `we do most of the work, why shouldn't we get most of the spoils?' Killing the top two men under Shenks, Garrett is only steps away from wrestling the operation completely from Shenks who coincidentally is in the same prison with Taylor. The film concludes with the shocking end of Garrett's rise to power.

This movie was surprisingly good despite the fact that it had a limited release. DeRose is cute and sexy, if not a little scruffy looking, as Taylor and makes you really root for him to beat the bad guy. Lynch delivers the goods as usual as the delightfully wicked Garrett who you REALLY can't hate because even at his dastardliest he has a twinkle in his eye that suggests he is truly enjoying his villianry. In fact, there are many who believe this movie was possibly scripted solely to showcase this incredible actor's talents.

Chuck Jeffreys, who plays Taylor's partner, is refreshingly funny in an Eddie Murphy kind of way. He even LOOKS a little like Murphy. Lastly Joe Estevez, brother to actor Martin Sheen, is capable as Taylor's hot tempered, prison-wise cellmate Dieter. All around this movie was enjoyable, definitely not a waste of 90 minutes