Death Wish V: The Face of Death

Plot synopsis:
Back In New York City, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is in the federal Witness Protection Program using the name Paul Stuart, teaching architecture at a local college. Kersey is invited to a fashion show given by his girlfriend, Olivia Regent (Lesley-Anne Down), who was formerly married to mobster Tommy O'Shea (Michael Parks), and with whom he had a daughter Chelsea (Erica Lancaster). Backstage during the fashion show, O'Shea threatens Regent, insisting that he wants to see his daughter even though the courts removed his visitation rights.O'Shea and his goons are using the garment factory to launder dirty money, and demand that Albert, the factory manager, increase the amount of cash they launder. Kersey sees the bruises on Regent's wrist and learns O'Shea is downstairs. O'Shea meanwhile threatens Albert and insists he has to pass more cash.Albert resists, saying that it will create trouble, and O'Shea wounds Albert with a fabric knife. Reggie intervenes and is wounded as well. Reggie decides he has enough of O'Shea's abuse and takes Albert to the hospital. Tommy threatens Regent , and Kersey enters the factory floor. Kersey confronts O'Shea, but his goombah Tommy threatens Kersey and points a gun in his face. The daughter Chelsea appears and O'Shea leaves. Chelsea shows her mother the blood on the fabric knife.NYPD officers Tony Hoyle (Saul Rubinek) and Hector Vasquez (Miguel Sandoval) visit Kersey at his home. Kersey tells them about Tommy O'Shea and Hoyle reveals that they've been trying to nab Tommy for years. He asks if Regent is willing to testify. Kersey will talk it over with her. That night at a restaurant, Kersey proposes to Regent, and she accepts. Regent excuses herself to go to the ladies' room after spotting Tommy. An associate of Tommy's, named Freddie Flakes (Robert Joy) enters the bathroom in drag and ties her up tightly, and tapes her mouth shut. While mocking her and lecturing her about her possible testimony, he bashes her head in a mirror, permanently disfiguring her face. Flakes leaves, passing Kersey as goes to check on Regent. Kersey goes to the hospital, where he is told by a nurse that Regent will need to have reconstructive surgery. He then talks with Lt. Mickey King (Kenneth Welsh), who admits that they've been working on the O'Shea case for 16 years. Kersey is angered by this, but King wants Kersey not to pick up his old vigilante habits and let the police handle it for once.As this is going on, Tommy breaks into the factory and demands from Reggie information on who he talked to. He threatens him by burning his hand and face, before killing him. Lt. King and female officer Janice Omori (Lisa Inoue) set Albert up as an informant, but Sal sees through his act and runs Flakes down with the car, smashing through the window of a restaurant. Flakes then runs over Omori with the car, killing her. Kersey sees Omori die, but Flakes drives away before Kersey can do anything.The next day, Kersey takes Regent back to his apartment and informs Hoyle by phone that Regent will not testify. He then goes over to Hoyle's house at night and says that she will: Kersey couldn't tell Hoyle over the phone because someone else was listening in. Hoyle informs Vasquez, and they send a cop over. The cop comes over and Kersey answers it. Kersey stops and hesitates at letting him in, recognizing the cop as being Flakes. Kersey informs Olivia to use the fire escape to make her quick getaway, as Flakes and two other men break in and start shooting the place. Flakes follows Regent up to the fire escape, and shoots her in the back. Kersey escapes by jumping off the ledge, and falling into a pile of trash bags. Franke, Chicki (Kevin Lund) and Sal (Chuck Shamata) move in for the kill, but sounds of police sirens interrupt their plans.The following week, Kersey and Chelsea both mourn Regent 's death and watch TV to see that Tommy has been cleared of his involvement in his ex-wife's death. NYPD officer Tony arrives to offer his apologies to Paul, but Kersey orders him and the team sent to protect Kersey off his property. A short time later, Vazquez arrives with Tommy and handing him a court order: since Kersey wasn't legally married, Tommy has claim over his daughter. Kersey fights but gets knocked unconscious. Kersey now becomes a vigilante, and gets his gun ready.Kersey follows Chicki to an Italian restaurant where he orders cannoli. While Chicki is in the restroom, Kersey laces it with cyanide. Chicki finishes one cannoli, but dies shortly after starting the second one, and as he is choking, Kersey pushes his face into the plate. Vasquez reveals to O'Shea that Chicki was killed by Paul. (Revealing two things at the same time: that Vasquez is dirty and O'Shea thought Kersey was his alias Stuart all along).Paul's next target is Flakes who is in the bedroom with his big breasted girlfriend, whom he manages to take out in his fortress-like home and blows him up with a rigged electronic soccer ball. Kersey then calls Hoyle and arranges to meet with him privately. As Hoyle hangs up, he hears another conversation (which signals to him Kersey was right regarding an earlier conversation). Kersey waits at Regent 's house, holding one of Chelsea's dolls until Vasquez comes and points a pistol at Kersey. Without hesitation, Kersey shoots Vasquez. Hoyle arrives and sees Vasquez dead, and finally understands how far deep this goes and Kersey's vendetta mission. Hoyle is in cahoots with Tommy, but finally lets Kersey handle it his way. "I was never here" he tells Kersey as he leaves.As a funeral procession for Flakes takes place at a local church attended by local mobsters, a young boy enters and gives O'Shea a receipt. Back at his headquarters, O'Shea's associates open the crate and it is revealed to contain the dead cop (Vasquez). Tommy talks to Sal back at his house, and the two resolve to take a final stand again Kersey by using Chelsea as bait. Sal grabs Chelsea and Kersey follows Sal, just as Tommy predicted.Back at his house, Tommy hires three more men, Frankie (Scott Spidell), Mickey (Tim MacMenamin), and Angel (Sandro Limotta) to take care of Paul. Kersey arrives at the factory and using his survival instincts, tricks the three into shooting up a dummy in a forklift with the presumption that it's him. Kersey appears and kills Frankie and Mickey and wounds Angel in the leg. Angel is led by Kersey to the plastic machine. Kersey turns it on to wrap him in plastic. Angel reveals Chelsea's location, and is hooked up on the movable rack by Paul. He then radios O'Shea using Frankie's channel, announcing that he is coming for him. Chelsea hears this and easily escapes Tommy's grasp. O'Shea orders Sal to find and kill Kersey. He comes across Angel and mistaking him for Kersey, shoots him. Sal turns off the machine and continues to search. Kersey appears and knocks Sal into a grinder in the next room. The police soon arrive as Chelsea escapes the factory building. Inside, Kersey manages to find Tommy and beats him. Lt. King arrives and is quickly wounded by Tommy. Kersey manages to defeat Tommy by knocking him in a pool of acid, and leaves him to die.The final scene shows Kersey making sure King is okay before he leaves, calling out "Hey Lieutenant, if you need any help, give me a call" before reuniting with Chelsea.

Tags: comedy, neo noir, murder, violence, cult, revenge

Review:
The beginning of this final installment of the long-running "Death Wish" series is shaky with inappropriate humor (even the title comes off as a tasteless pun, as a central character is disfigured by having her face bashed into a mirror) and a lot of mobster-movie clichés (the henchmen to Michael Parks' villain are howling stereotypes), writer-director Allan Goldstein transforms "Death Wish 5" into a surprisingly entertaining little crime thriller.
Add to that the stress on facial disfigurement and scenes involving torture by steam press, plastic wrapping machine, and radial saw  and you have a new and wonderfully vicious formula for more Death Wish mayhem.This is not the best in the series, but Bronson's presence alone gives it distinction, and it manages to make the most of the obviously very limited budget.
(By the way, Golan actually announced "Death Wish 6: The New Vigilante" in the trade papers not long after this one was released, though his company going bankrupt put an end to that plan.).
One of those who's at first viciously mutilated and later murdered by the O'Shea Mob is non other then Olivia,this brings the wild animal out of the peaceful and kind Paul Kersey.Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey takes on organized crime in "Death Wish 5" unlike the mostly unorganized street thugs and criminals that he took on in the previous four "Death Wish" films.
Even though he was 73 at the time in 1994 Charles Bronson is very believable as the avenging vigilante Paul Kersey knocking off the entire O'Shea Mob. Kersey does his unpleasant and bloody job not only with bullets but with cyanide-laced pastries exploding soccer balls and clothes making and knitting machinery.Tommy O'Shea, as well as his gang, gets his comeuppances by being dropped, by Paul, into a boiling vat of acid and made to look a lot slimmer and 150 ponds lighter.
Death Wish 5 had a good plot and plenty of bad guys for Bronson to play with.
It is a very interesting character and portrait of a time and a frame of mind.And the bad guys are not as comical as in some other Death Wishes, they are somehow more realistic.From the start setting of this film some mental professional would suggest that Bronson's character is begging for blood and violence in his life: He has hooked up with some psycho-sadist-mob boss's ex-wife, who has a daughter with the mentioned.
Give this a try, I'm not saying your guaranteed to like it, but its a very good film for Bronson who has finally come to an end with his acting career..
I am a great fan of the Death Wish films as I love to watch Bronson knocking off one by one the scum of society.
Death Wish : The face of death¨(1994) that would be the last and it was then not made for about another seven years , being starred by with Leslie Anne Down , Michael Parks , Chuck Shamata , Saul Rubinek and Miguel Sandoval .
Sequel to successful crime thriller that created the Vigilante genre with Bronson as the main star as architect Paul Kersey (wooding acting by Bronson who looks bored and tired with this rehash material) turned the one-man vigilante when his sweetheart , a clothing manufacturer (Leslie Anne Down) , has her business threatened , being attacked by mobsters , one of whom turns out to be her sadistic ex (Michael Parks) and a hired killer (Robert Joy) hitting her on a mirror .
The original film ¨Death wish¨ had great commercial hit , it was followed by various extremely violent sequels to this successful 1974 movie , that's , of course , the best from the series , being starred by Hope Lange , Stuart Margolin , William Redfield and Jeff Goldblum .
This first big hit motion picture was middling directed by Michael Winner such as the successive films with his main star, Charles Bronson , usually giving wooden performance .
It's the basic revenge scenario, but without the senseless killing in Death Wish IV.At least this movie spent the first half setting up the reasons for Kersey's revenge and gave his efforts at having the law do their job.He was also original in his dispatches with powdered canolies, recycling, and some dermatology assistance.Criminals don't come any sleazier than Michael Parks (Kill Bill, Grindhouse).
Death wish 5 ...Bronson is about 74 and hasn't lost his knack of knocking off the villains ...sum good graphic violence and typically vile villains ...( played to perfection by Michael parks) they don't make stuff like this anymore ...becoz u idiots prefare Borefests like " Miami vice " and weak soft core crap like the transporter check this one out its Better than number 4 !!.
The Vigilante Killer Versus The Mob. Charles Bronson's last theatrical film was a return to his most popular character, the vigilante killer Paul Kersey.
Well, it's easy to be scornful of this movie, after all it is "Part V" of a disreputable series, and Charles Bronson is so old to be playing in an action picture it's almost funny, but the fact remains that it's actually competently made, and possibly the most mean-spirited, sadistic "Death Wish" chapter of them all.
Charles Bronson's last theatrical film was a return to his most popular character, the vigilante killer Paul Kersey.
He's also Lancaster's father as well.As is the pattern of all the Death Wish movies Bronson springs into action when a woman close to him dies.
He's also Lancaster's father as well.As is the pattern of all the Death Wish movies Bronson springs into action when a woman close to him dies.
"Death Wish V" is the fifth and final movie in the series, and I really don`t see why Charles Bronson bothered being in this movie since he was 73 years old, and that is not the best age to be in when you want to do an action-film.
Odd, huh?Now, I have already mentioned that "Death Wish V: The Face of Death" is the best of the five movies, and that is attributed to the fact that it had the most mature and well-rounded of all five storylines told in the franchise.Funny how Paul Kersey loses someone he loves in every single movie, and yet he keeps going.
Not with the 2018 remake with Bruce Willis hitting the cinema.Personally, I think that the "Death Wish" movies will always belong to Charles Bronson, because he embodied the Paul Kersey character and he was the face representing the franchise.If you enjoyed the previous four movies, then you definitely also will enjoy the fifth and final, yes final!, movie in the "Death Wish" franchise..
This time Paul Kersey(Once again Bronson in his final Death Wish appearance) takes on the mobsters responsible for the murder of his new disposable foil.
Good Way to End. Death Wish 5 (1994) *** (out of 4) Final film in the series has Charles Bronson returning as Kersey.
Death Wish 5 is a very good dark Thriller & very early 90s & that's cool, BRONSON is very good & very weary as this older version of Vigilante Paul Kersey in this AWESOME 5th film in the DW franchise!!!
Michael Parks is a very entertaining actor, he gives the movie that spark of life that Charles Bronson couldn't really deliver in the later sequels.
DEATH WISH saw him play Paul Kersey , a mild mannered family man who after his wife is murdered and his daughter raped turns in to a one man vigilante army .
Death Wish V: The Face of Old. Even at about 109 years old Paul Kersey is still getting the babes.
This being a Death Wish movie, this woman is living on borrowed time and like all females in this series, she's going to get riddled with bullets, or explode or get raped.
Many years after Part IV, Paul Kersey is now living in the witness protection program(for undisclosed reasons) whose girlfriend(Lesley -Anne Down) is the ex-wife of a powerful mobster, who wants sole custody of their daughter, and retaliates against her, while at the same time trying to expand his empire in New York.
Kersey must come out of retirement, and become the famous vigilante again.Charles Bronson is still remarkably game for his age, though looks bored in the film, which, despite some potential, is just tired and uninspired, though Michael Parks is good as the mob leader.
Poorly directed , and filmed cheaply, sequel will be an unsatisfying end to the series, though Paul Kersey's last line to a policeman is good, and a nice coda for the character.
After Death Wish 4 in (1987) many people thought that was the end of the Death Wish series, But 7 years later Charles Bronson returned for one final Sequel, Frankly i wish it hadn't been made and heres why.Lets begin with the plot, The Plot involves Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) Now living the quiet life with his new wife Olivia (Lesley Ann Down)who runs a fashion trade, and her previous husband was a psychotic mob leader.
Everything seems to be going good for kersey and his new wife until, Olivia's ex-husband Tommy O'Shea (Michael Parks)returns to muscle in on her fashion trade, and after seeing her with Kersey he gets a bit jealous and decides to disfigure her, of course this Angers Kersey and once again he decides to pull out his guns and get the bad guys.CONS: OK, first things first, This film came way too late, Charles Bronson was 73 years old when he made this film & It's Really hard to buy Bronson at 73 taking on A bunch Bad Guys In his old age, Not only that, his wife in the movie is like half his age and I really cannot believe she married him, I mean seriously, she is rich and famous in the fashion trade and she can have any man she wants and she chooses a 73 year old man, Its a bit Unusual if you ask me, and another thing is there is not much excitement in this film I never felt involved in the action or drama scenes because it's acted half heartedly, For me the film doesn't seem to get you involved.PROS: Now I complained about Bronson being too old to play Mr.Vigilante again, Because Lets face it by 73 years old he should be having problems handling bad guys half his age, which would've been an interesting approach to the film, but no they tried to make it seem like he was in his 40s again, which at this point was silly, But to be fair From a Performance Standpoint Bronson really does well, He still seems fit, and has no problems doing the action and it's amazing to see him in great physical condition, Also the Main Villain is really ruthless, Michael Parks really does a good job playing the laid back mobster who could snap at any moment when pushed, and the ending fight between Him and Kersey is pretty cool, and of course there are some funny one liners from both Kersey and O'Shea.OVERALL: 4/10 While it has it's Moments, It really Doesn't work, Bronson is Exceedingly old to buy as an action man, and overall the film fails to get you involved, It's worth a rental but not worth Buying.TRIVIA: Believe it or not there was plans for another sequel without Charles Bronson entitled DEATH WISH 6: The New Vigilante, Would've been Interesting to see what they would've done with it..
A very very tired and much older Charles Bronson reprises his role as the one man crusade himself, Paul Kersey, the poor man who every time he says 'I love you' to a woman, she gets murdered in the next sequence.
The revenge sequences seem to focus more on torture than anything and correct me if I'm wrong but that wasn't what Paul Kersey was all about in the first four Death Wish films.
It's no wonder Paul is so compelled to make up for the inadequacies of the injustice system.Helping this final (at the time) entry in the "Death Wish" series is the fact that the filmmakers know damn well what they're doing, and that's making a trashy B movie with violence aplenty.
Paul is not content to just shoot people here, getting more creative with his kills (a poisoned cannoli, a booby trapped soccer ball, etc.) Charles Bronson is good in his full-on tough guy mode, but it's the supporting actors that bring life to the tired scenario.
In fact, simply based on how the film looked and started right off the bat, I was not at all expecting it to go where it ultimately did in terms of the action and violence.Poor Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson).
In either case, you can bet your ass that when it comes to the "revenge" aspect to the film, Death Wish V: The Face of Death does in fact deliver the goods in a big way.Despite all my praises, because it is indeed a highly enjoyable film and better than I was expecting, it doesn't come off as one of the best in the series.
Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994) 18 | 95 min | Action, Crime, Drama | 14 January 1994 (USA) plot Paul Kersey is back at working vigilante justice when his fiancée, Olivia, has her business threatened by mobsters .
Death wish 5 is the final film in the series starring Charles Bronson is a middle aged man who is also a vigilante battles mobsters who are led by Michael parks who are trying to sabotage his girlfriends soon to be fiancé olive regent played by Lesley Anne down from continuing .
Anyway the film isn't as bad as that bad as some people might say sure the script is ineptly riddled with clichés seen in other movies of this genre its preposterous to watch Charlie boy running about dodging bullets and killing off bad guys in macabre ways at the age of 75 but .
'Death Wish V' breaks that mold by trying to be something the audience doesn't want to see, a low quality mainstream Hollywood action film.Paul Kersey's (Charles Bronson) back in NYC after his stint as a California vigilante in 'Death Wish IV' and remarried to a beautiful rich fashion designer on 9th Avenue.
Paul Kersey Takes On The Mob. The original "Death Wish" was a genuine masterpiece, and, without doubt, the single most memorable vigilante film of all-time.
The fifth and final entry to the series that lowered in quality with each film, namely "Death Wish V: The Face Of Death" is actually quite a bit better than the (dreadful) fourth part.After the events in part four, architect-turned-vigilante Paul Kersey has once again re-settled in New York, under a different name.
His wife-to-be, however, is still being stalked by her ex-husband, mobster Tommy O'Shea (Michael Parks), and as everybody knows, messing with Paul Kersey is not a good idea.
man,this movie is pretty bad.this time Kersey(Charles Bronson) jumps into action when his girlfriend is brutally facially disfigured and then killed,by order of her ex husband,local mobster and all around sh*t bag.the only somewhat decent thing in this movie is the creative deaths of some of the mobster's underlings.other than that,there's not much to recommend it.it slow and ponderous.it's not even fun to watch.all you want is for it to end.and,thankfully,it eventually does.honestly,you'd have to be pretty bored to watch this thing.clearly,the worst of the series,and made for no good discernible reason i can think of.i guess if i try really hard,i can squeeze out a 4/10.
Charles Bronson returns as Paul Kersey who this time becomes vigilante after the murder of his girlfriend Olivia (Lesley Anne-Down) who was killed by her ex-husband Tommy O'Shea (Michael Parks) a sadistic mobster who orders the hit to prevent her from testifying against him in this very mediocre sequel.
Paul Kersey had his first wife raped and murdered, his daughter rapped then killed in the second film in the series.
When Death Wish came out in the early 70's it was original, and Paul Kersey was seen as a hero for fighting back against the street scum that killed his wife and rapped his daughter.
The sequels fall into cheap B-movie category and give a bad name to the famous original."Death wish 5" was obviously made for money since Bronson's career was pretty much dead at the end of the 80's .
We may as well watch Death Wish 5: The Face of Death.It turns out that Olivia has been paying protection money to her evil mobster ex-husband Tommy O'Shea, who is Michael Parks!
Death Wish V: The Face of Death is set in Los Angeles where ex vigilante & architect Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) lives happily with his fiancé fashion designer Olivia Regent (Lesley-Anne Down) & her teenage daughter Chelsae (Erica Lancaster), trying to break away from her past proves harder than she thought & her ex husband big time mobster Toomy O'Shea (Michael Parks) uses her fashion business to launder dirty money.
The cast is alright & Michael parks turns in a good performance as the main bad guy.Death Wish V: The Face of Death is average at best & not as good as the previous two entries, there's a lack of action, plot & a story that really does feel very familiar.
For those familiar with the series, the original "Death Wish" (1974) was actually a well-acted and thoughtful piece of film-making that resonated with that time period.
Charles Bronson is back, in his 70s and whupping criminal behind once more in this, the final entry in the DEATH WISH franchise.
Bronson is great as always, but the man was in his seventies.If you can overlook this though, you get the funniest hit and run and go flying through the window scene, and of course the final act, which features a man being gift wrapped.Not a bad film, but the fifth best Death Wish movie.