“Hustler Squad” (1976)

Studio: Crown International Pictures
Starring: John Ericson, Ramon Revilla, Karen Ericson, Crystin Sinclaire
Directed by: Cesar Gallardo
Rated: R
Running Time: 98 min.

Synopsis: A group of women are trained to take on a Japanese army.

REVIEW

Chris Woods

Another bad movie from Crown International, that’s certainly not one of their better ones. With a great poster and good premise this could have been a great grindhouse/b-movie, but it just was bad with only a few good moments throughout.

The movie starts off with a shoot out somewhere on a small island off of Japan. Two armies are battling, U.S. and Japan. They never really say what war they’re fighting and since it was made in the 70’s you think Vietnam, but they’re battling the Japanese, so I’m guessing World War II, even though it doesn’t look like the 1940’s. Most of the battle is too dark to see anything and you can just see bodies flying and a few heads getting chopped off, which was kind of cool.

After that it cuts to an army base in Australia. The army needs to knock off some top Japanese officials, but have no way of getting close to them. They decide on getting women trained up for the mission and have them seduce the men and then kill them. So, they round up an inmate from a women’s prison, a prostitute (which is played by Crystin Sinclaire from Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive), a rape victim wanting revenge, and a nurse who is dying. This is the team that’s put together, which are four sexy ladies.

Most of the film is very boring and drags a lot. By the time the women get to fight, it’s the end of the movie. Most of the time the women are being trained and there seems to be a lot of slapstick humor throughout these scenes, which makes it more ridiculous. Then you have the general that doesn’t think the ladies can make it at soldiers. They finally show him when the girls take on all of the men in the platoon and capture them all in an exercise of sorts.

Then there’s Paco, whose some goofy Philippino guy who is helping with training the girls. Most of the movie he’s the comic relief and all the girls are so hard up and want to get some they try to get it on with Paco. He turns them down because he has eyes for only one girl, the dying nurse. He tries to put the moves on her outside by a lake as the other three girls watch on and plan to get off when they’re getting it on.

Bottom line the only thing watching is the end where you get some brief T&A and a good shoot’em up battle. So, just fast-forward or skip to the last chapter on the DVD and watch that part, which is the only thing worth watching.