Trevor Douglas
Released here in Australia as Point Blank, my NTSC VHS studio tape is called Deadly Conspiracy. The end credits clearly say the year of production is 1991 and the prequel Frame- Up in 1990. The music by Bob Summers is quite upbeat, especially the end credit sequence. All the performers do a decent job and there is a lot of plot going on. From the moment we see John Saxon outside talking to his Henchmen Robert Dryer and Lee Arenberg, we know he is up to no good. Poor Margeaux Hemingway is wasted here and Morgan Jones who was in several episodes of the first season of Mannix as well as many other shows, has a few good scenes as Dr. Cantwell. Hard to believe it has been twenty five years since this film as made. Like most of Wings Hauser's films, it has never been released on DVD. Perhaps we should have Wings Hauser retrospective and bring some of his 80s and 90s films to today's audience. I remember in the Video store days always checking the new releases for these type of films. Apart from the obvious 'Top Title' tapes of the day, we always enjoyed these types of films for something different. Try finding Rutger Hauer's A Breed Apart (1983)on DVD. Anyway if you have an hour and a half to kill and want a trip down memory lane, try and seek this one out.
merklekranz
"Deadly Conspiracy" a.k.a. "Frame Up 2" has Wings Hauser small town sheriff, again romantically involved with with Francis Fisher while trying to raise his young daughter. Meanwhile, John Saxon turns loose two goons who go on a murdering spree to cover up Saxon's illegal corporate dealings. Margaux Hemingway, in a thankless role, plays Saxons drug addicted captive wife. Film annoyances abound, including elevator music, squirm inducing attempts at humor, and sinkhole size plot deficiencies. Despite these faults, it is difficult not to find enjoyment in a film that features Wings Hauser and John Saxon. For fans of the actors, "Deadly Conspiracy" is definitely watchable. - MERK
rsoonsa
This action/adventure film, originally titled FRAMEUP II, presents the continuing law enforcement adventures of Ralph Baker (Wings Hauser), Sheriff of an imaginary small unincorporated community, Orton Creek, California, located near Los Angeles, wherein Baker finds himself tasked with solving a series of homicides that are obviously in connection with a local businessman's desperate efforts to avoid a scandal associated with a bank that he owns. It appears that mentioned businessman Charles Searage (John Saxon), has been cooking his bank's books and, through illicit loan practices, pocketing a large sum of monies while plainly lacking any sort of ethics. Results from an internal audit reveal that something is not quite right with the firm's recordkeeping. This data that the auditors have gathered leads to their murders. Because the primary Sheriff's Office duties in Orton Creek apparently involve the suppression of "chickens in the roadway", the slayings offer an exciting opportunity for Baker and his small staff to prove their worth, as in the prior film, by utilizing their crime solving skills. Writer/director Paul Leder creates sundry other obstacles for Ralph, such as a matrimonial snare set for him by the Sheriff dispatcher, Jo (Frances Fisher); the onset of puberty for widower Baker's own daughter; and a patent lack of cooperation that he faces from among County officialdom that will stand in the way of his succeeding at his sworn duty. Additionally, second-billed Patti D'Arbanville performs as "Babs", a secretary at the bank whose affair of the loins with one of the fatally dispatched auditors has placed her very much in harm's way and providing one of many Leder sub-plots as the film moves on. Killings continue apace, and other significant characters make their appearances, notably a pair of oft-seen thugs in the employ of Searage, and also the latter's wife (Margaux Hemingway) whose profound problems with alcohol and other drugs mirror the ill-starred Hemingway's actual ending. These comprise only a portion of a common Leder handicap that operates against him throughout his film career: a surfeit of ancillary story lines that proves too much for weaving into an acceptable tale. Here, as writer, director, as well as producer, he is obviously more than he himself can handle in his fourth role: editor, since a good deal of plot prolixity wants for excision. Besides Hauser, three characters are returned from the initial FRAMEUP, Deputy Bob Sprague (Jeff MacKay), Hauser's girl friend Jo, and his 12 year old daughter Sue (played by 16 year old Lauren Woodland). An interlaced relationship between Baker and the two women may evoke a feeling of general indifference from a number of viewers; however, the physical struggle between the females and two Searage henchmen provides these roles with more importance than their initial appearances indicate will be likely. D'Arbanville shares acting honours with Hauser, each of whom works hard at creating a part, and Saxon is effective as usual, in this instance cast as the primary agent of the Forces of Evil. Always arresting Lee Arenberg is only seldom seen as a goon in the employ of Searage. Taken as a whole, this is a rather simple-minded action affair, with overly ample plot detours that interfere with the film's narrative flow.
