n Angel City in 1975, little Darcy can’t sleep, consternated about her mother having left – much to the dismay of her father, police lieutenant Stan Walker (Rick Rossovich). A bank robbery calls him into action, as the getaway driver happens to be careening through his neighborhood. It’s a deadly ordeal for one of the pursuing officers, while the two suspects end up carted away to the hospital. Once there, a shootout ensues, leading to the death of an additional lawman, a doctor (Casey Siemaszko as Noah Goddard), and both bank robbers. And the death of the doctor is entirely the fault of Walker.

18 years later, Officer Darcy Walker (Joan Severance) goes undercover as a hooker with Tender Lovin (Terri J. Vaughn), a prostitute whose pimp has gone on a serial killing streak. Patrolman Michael Russo (Bruce Abbott) waits in a car nearby as the two women enter a strip club to talk with the suspect, E-Z Street (Darryl M. Bell), to negotiate terms of a territorial shift – something that feels unconvincing even in the context of this poorly designed sting operation. Later, at the police station, Darcy exhibits her desire to be fiercely independent and in charge; she despises Michael’s insistence at protecting her and interfering with scenarios that she believes she could escape unscathed all by herself. While fretting over the eventual failure of the arrest, Darcy witnesses District Attorney Thomas Aldridge (John Sanderford) murder her now-retired father – for seemingly no reason whatsoever – setting into motion Darcy’s quest for vengeance … outside of the law.

“I want answers!” It takes more than 20 minutes before the first obvious sign of a superhero movie appears: a figure dressed in an ominous costume (a metallic mask, armor, and cape), resembling something from Mortal Kombat or Flash Gordon. But even then, it’s nothing more than a brief image; Darcy contends with setbacks on the force, further pushing her towards vigilantism, which is where the story becomes more recognizable – as something of a blend of Batman and Catwoman, but with a heightened sense of sexuality, as she dons fishnet stockings, black leather boots and gloves and bra, and a mask, and ties her hair into a long ponytail with a scorpion-like barb at the end. And Severance isn’t afraid to show some skin to make this an R-rated endeavor.

“At least the streets are safer.” The characters here are terribly generic and uninspired, which makes it difficult to care about their various plights. To give the new superheroine more of a purpose, she’s given a comic-book-like nemesis (the Breathtaker) to combat, complete with his own take-over-the-world scheme involving a contaminated asthma drug, as well as goofy henchmen (and henchwomen) with garish makeup, brightly colored costumes, and maniacal laughs. And Darcy acquires her own behind-the-scenes sidekick of sorts in car thief Argyle (Garrett Morris), who outfits her with a custom scorpionmobile. None of these ideas, of course, suggest any level of originality.

As the vigilante crashes criminals’ parties, the design resembles incredibly low-budget versions of “Robocop” or “The Crow.” Unfortunately, even with the modest amusement of a Z-grade ripoff of popular superhero extravaganzas, or the hilariously cringe-inducing romance between Darcy and Michael, the pacing is too slow and the content too uneventful; it’s evident that even with the film’s short running time, the creators don’t know what to do with these characters and situations. And it certainly doesn’t help that the feeble fight choreography can’t conceal Severance’s inability to actually engage in martial arts duels; the thugs have to swing awfully high or low, awkwardly avoiding the protagonist with their kicks and punches. The action is incredibly lacking, though attention is often paid to a different kind of action, as the Black Scorpion fulfills Michael’s fantasy of having an aggressive, dominant, anonymous woman take charge in the bedroom – leaving her mask on for the naughty deed.

“Well, if it isn’t the Black Scorpion.” The dialogue is atrocious and phony, which lends to pitiful comic relief and flimsy conversations to explain motives and intentions. And it includes sci-fi jargon that absolutely doesn’t fit in the somewhat grounded world of a Batman derivation, especially when it comes to Darcy’s car, which boasts nonsensically advanced technology and can rearrange its atoms to transform into an entirely different vehicle. The acting is comparably mediocre, though it would be tough for anyone to demonstrate chops with this script. As bad as this production is, it wasn’t exactly unsuccessful; a sequel followed, as well as a 22-episode television series. “It’s over, captain. The city’s safe.”

– Mike Massie