Hoodrats 2: Hoodrat Warriors

"Hoodrats 2" was written and directed by Edgar Arellano. He is a better director than writer: the film has a fairly slick and polished look, considering it was done in only 8 days (!), on a probably veeeery low budget, and it's much better shot than a lot of other B-grade direct-to-DVD fare. But the f-word-riddled dialogue is poor, and there is an excruciatingly long and pointless sequence somewhere in the middle, with an eccentric pimp who won't stop talking, that nearly kills the movie. Thankfully, this is not one of those movies that puts women in fighting poses on the cover, only to have them do nothing in the actual film; these women fight often and hard. The fights are street-fight-style, with and without weapons, often rough and dirty, fun to watch, and (especially near the end) surprisingly convincing. The lead girl, June Marie Sparagna, has a gorgeous face and a perfect body: exceptionally feminine, but also exceptionally strong and healthy. I'd be interested to see what she can do in a higher-budgeted action picture. Meanwhile, I don't regret having this one in my collection - if only I could remove the pimp sequence! **1/2 out of 4.