A young, unstable man hacks to death the lady and man he lives with, and Texan Sheriff Dan Stevens comes face to face with the killer, to only see him gunned down by his men after he tries to escape when captured. At the hospital, he's pronounced dead, but secretly he's used in an experiment by some surgeons working on a formula to help the body genetically heal in quick succession. They thought they could control him and this development would bring them success, but now this homicidal murderer is an unstoppable killing machine and Sheriff Stevens and his rookie Deputy are on the trail.

Norris' fans might dig it, but others might find this cheap-jack b-film a boring chore. I thought it was fair. Anyhow who's the man, Chuck's the man. Not much of an actor though, but we know. He gets by with that golden blonde hair and legendary chop-suey who-ha…. And not forgetting that distinguishable fuzz above the lip. The premise is like an over-extended episode of "Walker, Texas Ranger" meets John Carpenter's "Halloween (1977)". Actually a lot scenes and filming techniques closely resemble "Halloween" and even its first sequel, but the main difference it's headed by Norrissssssss. The far-fetched concept isn't bad with slasher tones, a lady in peril get-up and a mad scientist theme, but it throws so much in that there seems to be too much useless filler (like the corny romance sequences, biker trouble (nice work in the bar Chuck, but we already know how good you are),scientific moral dilemmas and non-effective comic humour) interrupting what could've been more fun. Silly it is to begin with, but do we want to see Norris romancing, or kicking ass? These redundant acts only slowed it up and got in the way on the main story. What outweighs the film is the weakly lacking script with many clumsy dialogues. Norris even gets time to share some heart-warming advice. Director Michael Millar starts off pretty slowly, but in the second half demonstrates well-shot camera placement and steady pockets of poignant tension. The atmospheric synthesizer score seemed to work. Chuck gets his hands dirty with some gusty scuffles involving the super-human killing machine, like the modest, if unspectacular showdown with him using his jump-kicks (in slow-motion of course) and sudden close-ups to show that focuses on his face. Norris' chimes in with a stoic performance, but goes gusty when the action calls. Brian Libby's menacingly towering figure is effective. Ron Silver sticks out as the humane doctor, while William Finley goes all-smarmy as deceitfully mad doctor looking for that Nobel Prize award. Stephen Furst as the overweight, downright clueless deputy was there for the laughs, but where were they. Toni Kalem looks all-sweet as Norris old flame.

By 1982, Chuck Norris had made several very successful martial arts films. So, it wasn't any surprise that the powers that be wanted to try something different...and "Silent Rage" certainly is different! Try to imagine the studio merging two of the hottest genres of that time....a Chuck Norris martial arts flick AND a slasher horror film! Yes, in many ways, the film is like Chuck Norris versus Jason from "Friday the 13th"....with a little bit of "Frankenstein" tossed in as well! Hmmm...perhaps not "Frankenstein" since it's the 1980s...let's just say "Reanimator" instead.

When the film begins, a severely mentally ill guy loses it and goes on a killing rampage...killing a husband and wife with an axe before law enforcement arrives. Naturally, the Sheriff is played by Chuck Norris and this maniac taxes his considerable skills. After FINALLY subduing the man and cuffing him, this guy then breaks the cuffs and tries to start up the killing once again!! This time, cops shoot the suspect many, many times.

In the next scene, doctors are working frantically to try to save the killer's life. When that fails, the doctor in charge decides to play god...administering a drug on the guy which somehow has amazing curative powers. It cures everything very quickly...except for his brain, which is still bent on murder. Soon, he's even able to sneak out of the hospital and his murder spree begins all over again...with one exception. This time, wounds heal almost instantly....making the killer practically invincible. Is Chuck up for the rematch??

Overall, this is among the least intellectually taxing of Chuck Norris' films. This isn't necessarily a complaint...more an observation that it's pretty much non-stop killing and action and the plot isn't exactly deep or believable. In other words, it's a film you best enjoy by turning off your brain....which isn't surprising since it's really mostly a slasher flick. It's no dumber than a typical slasher film...but really no better either. One bad cliche I hated in the film was when the killer was trying to kill a deputy...and the lady seeing there just stood there and did nothing...even though the cop's gun fell on the floor right near her! If this wasn't bad enough, later when Sheriff Chuck was fighting the maniac, she stood by and did nothing to help other than to tell him to 'watch out'!



By the way, if you do watch this film, after the second killing spree, there are two bodies in the house...one of which is pinned to a door. Later, when the door is opened, watch carefully....you can see the man's eyes move as the door swings open!!

Also by the way, I watched this on the Roku channel, Tubi...and Tubi unintentionally did something very funny. Whenever commercials are about to start, a message in the top left corner of the screen says 'break coming in 5'....and at that exact moment, the serial killer snapped a guy's neck. Talk about interesting timing.

Chuck Norris meets THE TERMINATOR on HALLOWEEN – that's the best summation I can think of to get across this film's tone, plot, and mood. The easiest thing for me to do is to split the focus of the film equally into those three sections. First of all, you get a blond Chuck Norris at the very pinnacle of his career; he's in his prime here, physically, and his good ol' boy sheriff is a wooden joy to behold. Of course, Chuck Norris wouldn't be around if he didn't have any ass to kick, and he's in his element when he brawls with a gang of bikers in a bar. Additionally, I don't think the film will be spoiled if I tell you it all boils down to a barnstorming battle between our moustachioed hero and the evil serial killer, and it's a real corker. Expect hard knuckle punches and roundhouse kicks all, well, round when Chuck gets into it.

As for the TERMINATOR influence – well, it's possibly more of a Lovecraft influence, as a trio of dopey docs get some of that serum from RE-ANIMATOR and use it to bring a bag guy back from the brink. Basically, the chap is pumped full of chemicals which make his body immune to damage, which we see thanks to some cool special effects of knife wounds on his chest healing themselves straight away. The result is an unstoppable killer that just keeps coming back for more, even when he gets set on fire in an exploding car, or pumped full of lead from Chuck's revolver.

Finally, HALLOWEEN is a massive inspiration for the stalk-and-slash sequences that populate this movie, and if you're going to copy, you might as well copy from the best! Cue lots of spooky atmosphere as young heroines find themselves stalked through dark houses by a lurking psychopath (all enhanced by a cool syntho score) and some excellent tracking shots that put us behind the eyes of the killer! The opening shot, displaying a man driven to madness by a mundane world, finally taking an axe to a family of innocents, has some great low-budget camera-work that really makes it special.

SILENT RAGE has its moments of cheese, which is the norm for a Chuck Norris outing. Stephen Furst, as the deputy, is a total buffoon, and his attempts at humour are very poor indeed. On the plus side, the reliable Ron Silver lends a hand as a doctor struggling with his conscience, whilst it's great to see the Phantom of the Paradise himself, William Finley, make another film appearance – this time as a nerdy doc who you'll end up loving. Brian Libby's outrageous gurning killer is a good 'un, so kudos to the guy for making his freak so memorable; however, it's all left to Chuck Norris to tie up the loose ends, and he does so with relish. Special mention has to go to Toni Kalem's screaming heroine, a good example of her type – and she certainly isn't shy when it comes to losing her clothing