MVD Entertainment Group Picks Sept. 25 For The Blu-ray Debut Of Director Eric Karson's Angel Town — A Rewind Collection Selection

MVD Entertainment Group has tabbed Sept. 25 as the street date for the Blu-ray debut of director Eric Karson’s incendiary streets-of-L.A. thriller, Angel Town.   

The film, which sparked armed conflict at two Southern California drive-in venues when it opened theatrically in February of 1990, will be the latest edition to MVD’s popular “Rewind Collection” promotional line of film products.

In something of a prologue to the film, we are introduced to the mysterious Angel Diaz (Tony Valentino — Lionheart, Menace II Society) and his custom ‘67 Pontiac “low-rider,” who happens upon a gang fight between black and white kids that quickly escalates into murder.  That is just a preview of what is to come.

We then jump to Paris, where we are introduced to Jacques (Olivier Gruner in his film debut — Savage, Velocity Trap, Interceptor Force, The Circuit, etc.), who is a world-renown French kickboxer.   He has — through some family connections — landed an exchange student spot at SCU (aka: USC) and is about to depart for Los Angeles.   A quick visit to his father’s grave and an amorous goodbye from his girlfriend and he is on his way.

Talk about a fish-out-of-water, not only has Jacques arrived a couple of days late to the start of the semester, but he has no place to stay.   The school issue is resolved (although he spends precious little time going to class) and he finds a place to stay in the home of a family who live nearby in a gang-infested area … the gang is run by the aforementioned Angel.

The family, Maria (played by the late Theresa Saldana — Raging Bull, The Evil That Men Do, etc. … perhaps best known as Rachel Scali on the TV series The Commish), her son Martin (Frank Aragon) and her mother, are under constant harassment from Angel’s thugs, especially enforcers Chuwey (James Carrera), Jesus (Daniel Villarreal) and Stoner (Gregory Cruz).   They have Martin on their radar as a new gang recruit, but the arrival of Jacques upsets that applecart … BIG TIME!

Filmmaker Eric Karson holds nothing back as Angel Town — once the dynamic of sociopath Angel’s plans being thwarted by a “stranger” — kicks in with an ever-increasing (in their violence) series of assaults.   Los Angeles becomes a war zone and there will be only one left standing in the end in this all-out action rush of a film!!

The film opened in the Southern California area, violence erupted, several theatres pulled the film and then, with limited prints, the indie distributor (Imperial Entertainment Corporation) moved to a few venues back east and then the film was gone.   It then resurfaced in the early days of DVD and has long-since been out of print.   MVD has an action gem on its hands here.

As to bonus goodies, there is an archival commentary track featuring director Eric Karson (who also produced the film … he also produced the Jean-Claude Van Damme action thriller, Lionheart) and three newly-prepared video session featuring Karson, Frank Aragon and cinematographer John LeBlanc (Stripped to Kill, The Outsider, etc.).

Additional bonus features include the original “Making-Of” featurette and two archival video sessions with filmmaker Eric Karson and the film’s star, Olivier Gruner.