Kathy Long, a lonely loner on a lonely road, rolls into a lawless desert town wearing all black and looking to kick all kinds of hell out of anyone who crosses her. That’s The Stranger (1994), and that’s all it needs.
This was one of those straight-to-video 90s action movies that looked like it was filmed entirely on an abandoned set. It was created around the idea of five-time world kickboxing champion Kathy Long being able to carry an action movie, and to be fair, she’s up there with Brian Bosworth in Stone Cold, or Olivier Gruner in… well, anything. It’s less about charisma, and more about filling the screen with badassery and looking good doing it. And Kathy fills the screen nicely. Also. Danny Trejo.
Everything about The Stranger feels like it was made by people who wanted to make a Western but couldn’t afford horses, so they threw in dirt bikes, leather jackets, and Andrew Divoff, a villain who could just as well moonlight as a roadie for Slaughter.
Is it good? That depends on how much you enjoy a movie where Kathy Long high-kicks her way through a town full of men who exist solely to get kicked. But it’s a perfect time capsule of when every video store was littered with these cheapie straight-to-VHS action flicks with lone badasses beating the tar out of everyone. But this one, with its whole dusty High Plains Drifter vibe, was worth the price of the rental. -Pop