Sudden Death Reviews

This "Death Wish"-type drama follows a similar shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later formula, only this time from a female perspective. Valarie Wells (Denise Coward) is a young professional who is brutally raped by two thugs. The crime drives her to desperate moves, and soon she's out in the streets armed with a hefty handgun and exploding bullets, knocking off would-be rapists left and right. Her shootings ignite the city, and eventually she's labeled "the Dum-Dum Killer" after her special brand of bullets. Marty Lowery (Frank Runyeon) is a cop assigned to find the mysterious killer and ends up having an affair with Wells, knowing full well she's the woman he's looking for. SUDDEN DEATH is mindless exploitation fare that suffers from none too thrilling thrills and Coward's exceptional lack of thespian gifts. Directed and written by Sig Shore, the story dwells on the seamier aspects of rape and bloodletting simply for entertainment's sake, showing no insight whatsoever to the psychology behind Coward or her victims. This gives the whole project an unsettling feeling, and SUDDEN DEATH undoubtedly will offend the consciousness of any intelligent viewer.