Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

There is a great deal of snobbery directed at low budget movies. 1973's 'Big Zapper' is a good example of this. It is certainly not a lowpoint in British cinema, as one reviewer has stated. This energetic spoof of private eye movies is directed by Lindsay Shonteff, and stars the luscious Linda Marlowe as white-clad, sexy investigator 'Harriet Zapper'. After putting an ad in the Village Gazette, she is hired by wealthy 'Jeremiah Horn' ( Jack May ) to find his missing daughter 'Pandora'. The trail takes her to the deranged crime-boss 'Kono' ( Gary Hope ) who dispatches an army of killers to deal with Harriet. Of course, she's more than capable of looking after herself. Why did I enjoy this movie so much? Possibly because it serves as a perfect antidote to the increasingly anodyne fare currently served up by Hollywood. C.G.I. is awful when used as the focal point of a movie. 'Big Zapper' is tremendous, insane fun, and Marlowe is a knockout in the title role. Its impossible to take seriously a movie which features characters with names like 'Rock Hard' and 'Strawberry Jim'. There are the odd moments of Pythonesque humour, such as a bright light appearing when Harriet drops her knickers, and a severed head uttering an apology. Never mind the low budget, just enjoy the ride.

Director Lindsay Shonteff apparently saw himself as neglected genius frozen out by the film establishment on both sides of the Atlantic, but on the basis of Big Zapper, they were right! It is simply awful in every department - bad acting, a terrible script, shoddy action and lame attempts at 'humour'. The only thing good about this movie is Shonteff gives the female lead all the action, unlike so many action heroines who are relegated to second fiddle behind a male star. Unfortunately, Linda Marlowe, who must have been cast because a slight facial resemblance to the wonderful Diana Rigg is thoroughly unconvincing as a screen fighter. Then again, the likes of Pam Grier or Reiko Ike would probably look just as bad being directed by Shonteff.The action scenes are simply absurd, with pride of place going to a scene near the end of the movie. Confronted by about ten guys, she somersaults through the air landing behind a handy heavy machine gun and shoots them down like ninepins! As a fan of female action cinema, this one was a huge disappointment. looking at the late Mr Shonteff's website it seems there was a sequel made which features the respected actor Alan Lake as a villain. It's a measure of how low things had got in the British film industry that he was forced to act in stuff like this.

As the female version of Dirty Harry and one of the most vicious comic book adaptations Big Zapper is a cult favorite that lives on! After Sin City it has become even more acceptable and one can see that it was just ahead of it's time! It's an unbelievable mixture of surreal sex scenes and nasty slap stick violence and the cynical attitude of the main character is absolutely unbelievable! Plus the way the goofs are saved by the voice over like "I had time just to change my clothes" when Zapper's outfit is changed in the middle the scene! Absolutely great work!

Having caught this movie late one night on cable, I had to see it again just to check if it was as bad as I remembered. It was actually worse. Big Zapper is an attempt to cash in on the 'Kung Fu' craze & also the U.S female action sleaze of Pam Grier & Cheri Caffaro which fails miserably.Linda Marlowe stars as Harriet Zapper, a private eye who is targeted for elimination by a gangland boss. Ms Marlowe has absolutely no martial arts skills, and the inept director Lindsay Shonteff in the days before CGI has no means of disguising this. - usually she kills her inept opponents with a single limp punch!. The film features plenty of action, but it's all badly done & the director can't seem to make up his mind whether this is a comedy or a thriller!. One minute she is punching her enemies through walls like a WB cartoon character, the next she's bloodily skewering a guy with a knife. If the action is badly done, the comedy is even worse, her sidekick being a moron who spends the whole film trying to get her to have sex with him. Big Zapper is 70's British cinema at it's very lowest - the acting and cinematography are laughable & it's a film so bad it isn't even unintentionally funny. Shonteff was also responsible for a couple of equally bad spy spoofs featuring actor Nicky Henson & Gareth (New Avengers) Hunt .If you are a fan of female action cinema, this has to be seen to be believed, just to make one appreciate Hong Kong cinema & U.S grindhouse even more!.