Messenger of Death

Plot synopsis:
Children play outside a rural Colorado home. They belong to Orville Beecham (Charles Dierkop) and his three wives. Two masked men pull up in a truck and wait for the children to go inside. They proceed to kill the three mothers, who are sister wives, and then the kids. The police arrive before the father, Orville, who returns to find his family massacred.
Arriving on the scene with the chief of police, Barney Doyle (Daniel Benzali) is a Denver newspaper reporter, Garret Smith (Charles Bronson). They were having lunch with a wealthy local businessman, Homer Foxx (Laurence Luckinbill), to discuss how to get Barney elected Denver mayor when Barney was called about the murders.
Garret does a news story on the massacre. Orville is in a local jail, there "for his own protection." Orville is reluctant to talk to Garret but does reveal that his father, Willis Beecham (Jeff Corey), may have been involved. Willis lives in a compound with his followers. He is an excommunicated fundamentalist Mormon who practices polygamy, as do his son and followers. Willis is the sect's prophet.
Willis tells the reporter that he believes that it was his brother, Zenas Beecham (John Ireland), who killed Orville's family. Willis and Zenas are alienated from each other by a doctrinal dispute.
Garret, aided by a local editor named Jastra Watson (Trish Van Devere), begins to investigate if Zenas could be behind the killings. Zenas lives in a different Colorado county on a large farm that happens to sit on an artesian lake that a large corporation, The Colorado Water Company, has wanted for years. Zenas tells the reporter that Orville probably killed the family of his own son because Willis preaches blood atonement. The symbol of both brothers is an avenging angel, which is alleged to be an early Mormon symbol with a doctrinal counterpart reflecting the idea of blood atonement.
As soon as Orville is released from jail, he returns to his father's compound and plots to attack Zenas in retaliation. Garret tries to warn Zenas, but it's too late. Armed men back each man and they open fire. Garret gets them to agree to a cease fire, but a third-party shoots Zenas (not one of the followers) and the shooting begins again. Zenas and Willis both are killed.
Garret realizes what is happening -- The Colorado Water Company is behind everything. The company has hired an assassin (John Solari) and a junior partner (Gene Davis) to murder Orville's family, counting on the feud between the brothers to eliminate the rest.
Garret is approached by the junior assassin to make a deal, but the senior assassin kills his partner. It turns out the person who hired the assassin is Foxx, the businessman trying to get the police chief elected mayor.
The assassin shows up at a fundraising party for Doyle thrown by Foxx, where he attempts to kill Garret. The reporter gains the upper hand and gets the assassin to reveal that it was Foxx who was responsible for all of the murders. Foxx steals the chief's gun and kills himself.

Tags: good versus evil, revenge, suspenseful, murder, violence

Review:
"Messenger of Death" however, is an exception.Here the legendary action-hero is surrounded by the likes of Jeff Corey, Daniel Benzali, John Ireland, Charles Dierkop (Police Woman) and given likeable female support from Trish Van Devere.
The story itself is just average, but certainly not as ludicrous as the paper-thin material in movies like "Assassination" and "Death Wish 4" and "5" and you know where I'm going.British veteran director J.
Lee-Thompson (Cape Fear, The Guns of Navarone) did an impressive nine movies with Bronson, and "Messenger of Death" was their 8th teaming.
The movie then delivers a lot of beautiful scenery, a smashing action-scene with some trucks and a likeable finale where the guilty party is unmasked.Compared to most Bronson-fare at the time this is better-than-average, much thanks to the afore mentioned good supporting cast.
But don't expect mindless vigilante action, Bronson plays a reporter but he still gets to kick some ass, and he does a nice job considering he was in his late sixties at the time..
This bit of content represents the promising beginning of a compelling and highly suspenseful  albeit flawed  thriller starring the almighty Charles Bronson in an unconventional (at least, for him) role.
The remote Colorado filming locations, as well as the largely unfamiliar traditions of Mormon families, add up to the ominous atmosphere but still director J.
"Messenger of Death" is an interesting film, to say the least, and it deserves a bit more appreciation from Bronson fanatics as well as fans of suspense films in general..
Exciting Charles Bronson/J.Lee Thompson movie with noisy action , suspense , car pursuits and violence.
Tough 'Denver Tribune' crime reporter Garret Smith (Bronson , he was about sixty-six years of age when he appeared here) persuades him to help him in the case of the slaying of his family .
As there is an extreme feud between different Mormon sects , one being led by Willis Beecham (Jeff Corey) and the other led by his brother Zenas Beecham (John Ireland) .
The meaning and relevance of this movie's title is that it refers to a drawing featuring an avenging angel of death that is left at a crime scene at the beginning of the flick .
The title also suggests that Bronson is a 'Messenger of Death', the word messenger also being a play on words with this, as his character is a reporter , a job which involves writing news articles , they being "messages" in a sense .
In the film there is frantic action , thrilling car/trucks pursuits , shootouts , intrigue , little bit of violence and including a twisted as well as suspenseful finale .
This is one of the last films (last movie was Kinjite) Charles Bronson made for Cannon Films and it represents the ninth and final of ten teamings between producer Pancho Kohner and star actor Bronson .
And the elders of this movie's religious groups are played by three stars of old Western movies : Charles Dierkop , Jeff Corey and John Ireland .
This movie represented the eighth and penultimate of nine teaming of director 'J Lee Thompson' with star actor Charles Bronson .
This Thompson movie was theatrically released between his pictures Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1986) and Kinjite (1989) , both of them starred by Bronson .
J. Lee Thomson working from the 50s in England, finished his career making Chuck Norris (Firewalker) and Charles Bronson vehicles (Caboblanco , Evil that men do, Messenger of death, Death Wish 4 : Crackdown, Caboblanco, St Ives).
An action movie of a different kind for Charles Bronson....
Lee Thompson used Charles Bronson more than any other actor in his eighties movies (Ten to Midnight, Cabo Blanco, Death Wish 4, Murphys Law) and this was his second to last outing with Bronson (the last being Kinjite:Forbidden Subjects).
Charles Bronson plays Garrett Smith, a reporter who is very curious as to why a family of Mormons (women and children) were all shot to death in a rural farmhouse.
For those who prefer the 'Paul Kersey/Death Wish' Charles Bronson, you might wanna look elsewhere for a movie, this is a Bronson action character of a different type.
He seems to be a very laidback individual and he doesn't really possess that knack of persistently annoying people like most reporters do, but Bronson as usual makes the character work.
Blood and Water Don't Mix. Charles Bronson plays investigative reporter Garret Smith for the Denver Tribune in this motion picture about a blood feud between two brothers, of different Mormon sects.
The feud between brothers Willis, Jeff Corey, and Zenas, John Ireland, Beecham is instigated when Willis' son's Orville's, Charles Dierkop, family is massacred.
Charles Bronson is still believable, at age 67, as the tough reporter that gets to the bottom of the story with his fists as well as his typewriter to uncover the truth about Orville's family being murdered.
Basically, Charles Bronson is an investigative reporter who investigates the slaying of a man's family, originally under the impression that the slaying was due to religious differences.
He unconvincingly plays a Denver reporter covering a case of a Mormon family living in the Colorado mountains who had nine members massacred, including five children.
J. Lee Thompson directs (as usual) and manages to serve up some pretty scenery along with a good cast including John Ireland and Jeff Corey, but this is rather weak tea.
Messenger of Death gives us a fast-paced and very efficient directed action movie (Thompson cuts the crap and always is completely to the point) with Bronson in quite a different sort of role (as a matter of fact, he kills nobody in the movie even acts as peace-keeper in some way) playing a journalist from Denver.
If your looking for lots of action, look elsewhere, however if your looking for a very good thriller, look no further as the film provides plenty of thrills and suspense!, plus the finale was great and very suspenseful.
I wasn't expecting much from this film, because a lot of people consider it to be one of Bronson's worst, however i enjoyed it very much and i highly recommend it!.
l'd watched this movie in December 1996 for first time on television,in that time l'd rated 5/10 but now on full length DVD with original audio it's seem much better...Cannon made a lot of movies during the 80' action movies and J L Thompson was really good director of this kind of movies...Messenger of Death has Charles Bronson as newspaper's reporter an unusual role to "Stone Face",the plot is totally improbable but is around two Mormons families whom are in clash after women and children massacre,but Bronson suspicious that the real reason is an Water Company.
Charles Bronson stars as Garret Smith, a crime reporter for the Denver Tribune.
But the ending is rather weak, wrapping up too quickly and producing little satisfaction.Bronsons' supporting cast is pretty damn good: Trish Van Devere, Laurence Luckinbill, Daniel Benzali, Charles Dierkop, Corey, Ireland, Gene Davis (Bronsons' nemesis in "10 to Midnight"), Jon Cedar, Tom Everett, Kimberly Beck, William Phipps.
Charles Bronson plays a Denver Tribune crime reporter named Garret Smith who is investigating the circumstances of a massacre in the isolated Mormon community between two feuding brothers, both of whom deny responsibility, though blame the other.
Smith then becomes determined to find out who, even at risk to his own life.Surprisingly different role for Charles Bronson(he does not play the title character!) and he is quite good in it too, clearly enjoying doing something different.
Messenger of Death opens with a pair of assassins murdering nine members of a Mormon family, all of them wives and children of Charles Dierkop.
This piques the interest of Charles Bronson who is an investigative reporter for the Denver Tribune.
A Mormon blood feud might not be the reason for the massacre, the motive shall we say might be more commercial.Bronson's a reporter who carries a licensed weapon.
John Ireland and Jeff Corey pay a pair of feuding Mormon brothers, these two have some real hate for each other, they make some of those Appalachin mountain people feuds like the Oxford debating society.Bronson has two leading ladies with naught a hint of romance with either, in Denver Marilyn Hassett in the boonies, fellow newspaperperson Trish Van Devere.
He and Van Devere nearly get themselves killed by some tractor trailers in a nicely staged car chase.Look for good performances from Daniel Benzali as the ambitious Denver Police Chief and Laurence Luckinbill as the big mover and shaker in Denver politics.It's a good film with a peek into a world few of the rest of us ever get to see..
Revenge of the 80's: The Cannon films of Charles Bronson..
Messenger of Death (1988) was a huge disappointment for a Cannon film starring Charles Bronson.
After making some very violent, sleazy and exploitive fare for Cannon, this movie was a big let down for fans of his eighties films.
Too bad because this film could have been a much better than what it turned out to be.Charles Bronson had a good run during the early to mid eighties.
There's a decent cast  Bronson, van Devere, Benzali, Ireland, Corey  and an intriguing setting, but the plot is fatally anaemic and the direction, considering it comes from an old trooper like Thompson, is surprisingly shoddy.
For instance, Orville Beecham (Charles Dierkop), a clean-living Mormon farmer, is crazy for revenge after mysterious intruders murder his wives and children and yet is full of forgiveness after the rest of his family is wiped out in a gunfight.The film opens well, with an atmospheric prologue in which two mysterious gunmen massacre the wives and children, although why the gunmen's identities are concealed is something of a mystery as they disappear for the next thirty minutes and are immediately confirmed as the killers when they re-appear.
Charles Bronson plays a Denver reporter who gets involved with the warring Mormon clans who go to war over the killings, and he's pretty bad here.
Lee Thompson manages a couple of effective scenes, and there is a good sequence in which two water tankers attempt to crush Bronson's vehicle on a winding country road, but for the most part his direction is flat and uninspired and the story simply fails to engage.Bottom line: give this one a miss..
An '80's Golan-Globus/Cannon Charles Bronson Action Flick.
Especially when one of the factions believes that by killing some of their congregation they are helping them to find enlightenment in the afterlife.This is where Bronson as hardened reporter Garret Smith comes into the story.
In fact, there are quite a few good actors in this flick including, Laurence Luckinbill, Daniel Benzali, Jeff Corey, and John Ireland.
Even though "Messenger of Death" didn't get much of a theatrical release back in the 80's (nor did it deserve one), I know a lot of folks have seen this Bronson flick on TV and on video.
The movie's story had a lot of potential to be something different and interesting, with elements of mysterious religious cultism, political intrigue, and action.
For something completely different in a Charles Bronson movie, I recommend "Messenge of Death".
Gone is a lot of mindless action, being replaced by an intriguing story line involving Mormons, greed, and a "who done it?" Having a good supporting cast, including Daniel Benzali (pre chrome dome), Laurence Luckinbill, and Trish Van Devere helps.
Seems someone in Bronson's circle of rich and influential friends instigated a Mormon feud by slaughtering a family including children.
As Bronson pieces together a conspiracy to acquire water rights from the Mormons, the movie holds interest.
Messenger of Death (1988) ** (out of 4) After three women and several children of a Mormon family are brutally murdered, reporter Garret Smith (Charles Bronson) begins to investigate and it seems the possible suspect might be between two rival members of that family.
As the reporter gets deeper into his investigation his own life comes into jeopardy.MESSENGER OF DEATH is that Bronson movie where he kills nobody.
If you ask die-hard Bronson fans what their least favorite Cannon film is more than likely they're going to name this if they've even seen it.
MESSENGER OF DEATH doesn't completely work but it's still a mildly entertaining mystery that at least gives us a chance to see Bronson in a different type of role.J. Lee Thompson does a pretty good job in his directing duties and especially during the opening sequence where a mystery man enters a house and murders several people.
The mystery aspect could have been played up a lot better but too often the film falls back to a formula action picture where we see Bronson whooping up on people.
MESSENGER OF DEATH isn't your typical Bronson movie but it's certainly not the worst of his career..
After a massacre was committed on a family of Mormons, newspaper reporter Garret Smith decides to dig a little deeper into the story, to only find out that there might just be more to it then just two feuding brothers.Another IMDb reviewer mentioned "Messenger of Death" is somewhat a change of pace for Bronson compared with his other efforts within this period, and definitely they got that right.
'Avenging Angels' or as it is known as elsewhere ' Messenger of Death' is a modestly entertaining Charles Bronson film which goes to show that the over the hill legend still has what it takes, The superbly photographed eerie opening see's Wifes and children of the Mormon household become victims of a massacre.
Bronson is Journalist Smith who is out to investigate the gruesome case and and finds out about economic motives behind the murders.
Bronsan warns the brother moments before a shootout begins and during the fire fight learns this piece of land has billions of gallons of water under it , that guess what some nearby water company has been dying to get their hands on , even with all the pieces he can't stop both brothers from killing one another .Afterwards , the tanker truck returns with its friends , and demolishes the vehicle Bronson Is leaving in.
Bronson intervenes when the two feuding families begin to exchange shots but both Corey and Ireland are offed -- not by their opposing clans but by outside snipers on a distant hill.
So someone is trying to start a feud between Corey's clan and Ireland's clan in hopes that, with the land passing into other hands, the Colorado Water Company can buy it up.But who's behind it all?
Bronson, through his newspaper, knows some of Denver's elite, including the owners of the Water Company.
And there are the owners of Colorado Water, the husband who gave the company to his wife as a Christmas present, and the pretty wife who seems to know nothing about managing the company.The film is more of a mystery than an action movie, and that's rather refreshing in itself.
I always find myself wondering why the driver of the car doesn't just stop his vehicle and let the two trucks keep going.If you or I were to make a "Charles Bronson Movie", we might do it exactly the way that Golan/Globus did.
It doesn't matter if, like Charles Dierkop, the patriarch of the slaughtered family, you can hardly act at all.
A well renowned newspaper reporter, Garret Smith(Charles Bronson),for the Denver Tribune, writes an article on the slaughter of a Mormon family, soon investigating it.
He discovers that the massacred family's patriarch, Orville Beecham(Charles Dierkop) is feuding with his brother, Zenas(John Ireland) over a religious separation, a change in doctrine which divided them to the point of hatred.
Smith believes someone else hired an assassin to kill the family(which included seven children)and it could be over artesian water rights Zenas wouldn't sell to the Colorado Water Company because it was farm land going back generations.
MESSENGER OF DEATH is a bit different than the usual Bronson fare for Cannon Group, his Garret Smith more of a peacemaker trying to keep two families from annihilating each other, almost successful until the hit-man returns to sniper shoot one of the Beechams instigating a shootout which leaves very little men left.
There's a hairy, suspenseful near-death sequence for Smith and Van Devere's Jastra Watson when two huge Colorado Water Company trucks attempt to crash them.
As she does once again, Van Devere's warm, pleasant presence adds quality to the film as does the old timers like Ireland and Jeff Corey(as Willis Beecham, leader of his family's village, moving his men to act against Zenas who he believes killed Orville's family).
As a fan of Charles Bronson it pains me to have witnessed the disaster that is "Messenger Of Death," a "movie" so insipid and poorly-made that all existing prints should be destroyed for the good of mankind.The movie seems to have been shot in seven days, with turgid acting, embarrassing direction, and a laughable script.
Journalist Smith persuades him to help him in the investigation - and finds out about the economic motives for the murder......Coming from Cannon pictures, and being released between two of Bronsons greatest films of the eighties, I was expecting some silly action film that would make me laugh for all,the wrong reasons, but blimey, this is something else.It's basically Bronson playing a nosey reporter who gets involved in other people's business and spends the majority of the film in a long warm coat.To say its his most annoying performance is an understatement, there are time when you really start to root for the bad guys, because Bronson just turns up every now and again with that smug look on his face, and you know he's going to go a snooping again.Now, I'm quite aware that's a journalists job, but he really takes it up to 11 at times.But there are a couple of pluses.