Fred Olen May: CYCLONE (1987)

Perhaps the perfect ‘80s movie for fans of Joseph Kahn’s TORQUE, Fred Olen Ray’s CYCLONE lives on as a unique female-led action flick of its era. Fans of the director’s more horror-focused and nudity-laden work might balk at this little action film, but there’s an endearing charm to the motorcycle-based adventure he gave us in 1987.

Heather Thomas—fresh off a five season run as the blonde bombshell co-star of TV hit The Fall Guy—stars as Teri Marshall, who becomes a target when her boyfriend (Jeffrey Combs!) leaves her an experimental government motorcycle and all the secrets that come with it.

Teri gets mixed up with punk rock assassins, a slew of cops, and a smattering of government spooks—with many of the people on her trail played by well-traveled character actors including Martin Landau, Martine Beswick, Robert Quarry, and (Ronald’s adopted son!) Michael Reagan.

Teri is established as the heroine early, and in a way that feels perfect for the time period. CYCLONE starts off by showing her working with her friend/gym trainer (Ashley Ferrare), evading the advances of a trio of scruffy men, and outwitting a bug-eyed auto parts dealer.

I won’t go so far as to praise the film’s work at creating a “strong female lead”— in fact, the first 20 minutes don’t really tell us much about what the plot actually is—but it presents her well enough to make us want to follow Teri as the action ramps up.

The other star of the film is the titular motorcycle, which is described as being armor-plated and turbocharged, with firepower equal to a F16. (I have no idea how state-of-the-art a F16 is these days, but I’m sure it’s impressive.)

I’m glad the movie takes time to tell us that, because what the Cyclone looks like is a cheap Japanese motorcycle covered in plastic casing.

It’s understandable the machine isn’t flashier considering the film’s budget (and the fact that everything in 1987 looked blocky and weird), but the film’s biggest problem is certainly that the Cyclone isn’t more iconic.

Speaking of problems, Ray is on record as saying Heather Thomas was the most difficult star he’d ever worked with at the time. Allegedly she feuded heavily with co-star Ferrare and was rude to all on set, up to the point the director had to threaten to make her look unflattering on screen to get her to do her job. At first glance she certainly looks like someone who had the potential to at least be more of a star in the B-movie scene, so it’s sad to see that her behavior—paired with some problems with fans away from the screen—cut her career short within a few years of CYCLONE’s release.

If it seems like I’ve been dragging CYCLONE through the mud for the past few paragraphs, that’s because I have. Movies like this, made by people like Fred Olen Ray, aren’t often blessed with best case scenario productions. Thomas, who appears in almost every scene of the 86-minute runtime, only did three weeks of work on the film and I can’t imagine the likes of Combs and Landau spent more than a day or two on set for their supporting roles. When we consider how difficult it is to make an action movie in this little time and with so many things going against it on personal and financial levels, it’s safe to ask an obvious question: How did they do it?

It bears repeating that despite the warts, Thomas’ presence is enough to carry the film. She’s on record as being opposed to doing nudity on film (which is certainly in contrast to what we’ve seen in this director’s filmography) but still manages to pass the eye test and isn’t out of her depth as an actress. Ashley Ferrare also shines when paired with Thomas, and their scenes together provide both the eye candy and the powerful feminine presence the film requires.

Ray leans deep into the tropes of the time period, with playful montages including prerequisites like “mechanic at work, making it better one step at a time” and “driving at night, pondering how to survive a challenge.” And though the budget precludes the filmmaker from making a state-of-the-art action flick, he gets the most out of the few car stunts in the film. One particularly entertaining moment has the over-the-top assassins traveling in a station wagon that takes some cartoonish damage going under a semi trailer, and the director uses the wonderful ‘80s trick of showing the stunt multiple times, from multiple angles, so the viewer can really appreciate what they pulled off.

That cartoonish nature is also one of the film’s strengths, as it reminds the viewer not to take things too seriously. Ray has always been a playful director—notably seen in his 1992 Cinemax-meets-Roger Rabbit epic EVIL TOONS—and many of the fight sequences in Cyclone have a slapstick energy that helps them go down a little bit easier. The director had to know that most people weren’t going to pick up a film advertised like Cyclone for realism, and his willingness to play up the camp of a blonde on a motorcycle in a spy novel plot makes it impossible to be too annoyed by anything the film offers.

The final 20 minutes are when the action really takes off, and what the filmmaker and the stunt crew were able to pull off here would fit in any action movie of the time.

Thomas gets to lead a chase scene and go toe-to-toe with the villain, all while some laser effects finally show off what makes the Cyclone so special.

It ticks all the boxes with overdone explosions and more repeated crashes, sending everyone home with a smile on their face.

As is the case with a lot of low budget fare of the 1980s, it’s entirely up to the viewer how forgiving they’ll be to the film’s shortcomings. It would probably have been easier for me to flip this article upside down and tell you that CYCLONE has some good elements but ultimately fails to meet critical standards. Thankfully, Fred Olen Ray’s playful tone and his ability to get the most he can out of a small budget and a combative star make me more than willing to recommend CYCLONE as a victory for low budget action cinema.